Yeah thats right people, we be high tech redneck now!
Seriously though, the seek thermal imager is a handy tool to have… I hope. I picked it up for around $300 as a demo model. It is like new and is pretty amazing tech. Just playing with it around the house it showed me where I was losing energy by showing where the heat was leaking out. Sweet! I mean the thing is super cool to play with.
Out in the woods, well the usefulness is debatable. The time I shot a deer I forgot I had the thing along… Basically its a pain to use in the woods and for scanning. Not the imaging itself, no that would have been a huge plus, but the form that the device is in makes for a uncomfortable hold and half the time you cant find the thing your looking for, because of the degree in which the thing sits in your hand it makes the screen hard to see and to aim. Good concept but the seek revealxr is just not aim-able and makes the device pretty useless in the woods for scanning. With that being said if the device was made to with better ergonomics this thing would be a game changer! You can see thru certain amount of brush and grass, especially in the cold environment of the late fall deer woods. I see other makers with a much better designed unit which puts the screen at a better angle to view. Maybe I can 3d print a fix for this one.
All in all it makes a nice toy and perhaps if I had to track a wounded deer down it would be ok for that. fortunately the last deer I got was an easy find and a quick kill.
Specs:
- thermal sensor: 206×156
- detection distance: 300 yards
- FOV: 20 degrees
- temp range: -40f to 626f
- frame rate: 15hz
- focus: fixed
- color palettes: 7
- storage: microsd
The color palettes are a nice touch and I mostly use iron. The range of the device is listed as 300 yards, which I think may pick up that far but with the resolution being what it is only very large heat signals are showing or being made out.
For a home security device it is also limited, as any thermal imager is, by the fact it can not see thru glass… I did not know that until I had one. Interesting fact to know. Here are some pics I took with it around the house and out hunting.
