If you have the MD, is it the 320 or 640? Do you miss not being able to pan and scan? Are you happy with the range and width of field of view? How much value do you find it adds (assuming you already have/had and use GPS and Radar at night)?
Anyone here have FLIR M or MD series?
- Thread starter jff
- Start date
fyi in case anyone looks at the thread to see what I learned - after a bunch of research I decided to order the FLIR 640x480 MD system. Lot less than the M series, high res, decent field of view (will serve my purposes for an extra collision avoidance device), etc.
Jet Rooster
New Member
Jason,
Have you found any shortcomings with the MD? Do you feel the ability to zoom and/or point to to an AIS target would be a "must have" now??
Thx, Doug
Doug,
Okay, where to start. First off, I should say that I love the FLIR and it's made a HUGE difference in my comfort level of taking (slow) cruises home at night after we take the boat out for dinner. I had some trouble with corruption in the signal and we tried all kinds of things, eventually I just swapped it to the other E120 and now it works perfectly. At night what I do is typically split one screen between GPS/map and Radar, the other screen I go with the FLIR full screen. The FLIR is a huge help for collision avoidance. Yes I would/do see 'the big things' on radar but thanks to the FLIR I have avoided things like logs, pieces of docks, wood and other debris in the water. It's just superb for collision avoidance. As far as shortcomings, probably the main thing is I wish the field of view was even wider. It does the job from a collision avoidance standpoint - it shows you what's in front of you. And perhaps if it was a lot wider it wouldn't even do that as well, but a bit wider would be nice. I think. The resolution is superb. I do not miss the zoom or pan and scan capability at all, I wouldn't pay extra for those still. I was told they are great for demos but not really used so much while underway when primarily you want to just make sure you don't hit/run over anything and I agree with that assessment (obviously others may have different opinions). If I had it to do over again I'd buy the exact same unit, I wouldn't pay more for the next model up (which is actually lower resolution unless you go two models up - at least that's how it was when I purchased).
On a humorous note - I was tied up to a dock at Lake Lanier pointed towards the shore. The boat was pointed towards the shore and people were walking down the dock as I did a demo of the unit. The guy and I noticed some interesting things as certain females walked by - apparently implants aren't quite the same temperature as the rest of the body. You get the idea.
Bottom line - if you do any running at night at all - this device is worth the $$$.
Hope that helps.
Regards,
Jason
PS - If you're ever in the Atlanta area PM me and I'll take you for a ride on Lake Lanier!
Okay, where to start. First off, I should say that I love the FLIR and it's made a HUGE difference in my comfort level of taking (slow) cruises home at night after we take the boat out for dinner. I had some trouble with corruption in the signal and we tried all kinds of things, eventually I just swapped it to the other E120 and now it works perfectly. At night what I do is typically split one screen between GPS/map and Radar, the other screen I go with the FLIR full screen. The FLIR is a huge help for collision avoidance. Yes I would/do see 'the big things' on radar but thanks to the FLIR I have avoided things like logs, pieces of docks, wood and other debris in the water. It's just superb for collision avoidance. As far as shortcomings, probably the main thing is I wish the field of view was even wider. It does the job from a collision avoidance standpoint - it shows you what's in front of you. And perhaps if it was a lot wider it wouldn't even do that as well, but a bit wider would be nice. I think. The resolution is superb. I do not miss the zoom or pan and scan capability at all, I wouldn't pay extra for those still. I was told they are great for demos but not really used so much while underway when primarily you want to just make sure you don't hit/run over anything and I agree with that assessment (obviously others may have different opinions). If I had it to do over again I'd buy the exact same unit, I wouldn't pay more for the next model up (which is actually lower resolution unless you go two models up - at least that's how it was when I purchased).
On a humorous note - I was tied up to a dock at Lake Lanier pointed towards the shore. The boat was pointed towards the shore and people were walking down the dock as I did a demo of the unit. The guy and I noticed some interesting things as certain females walked by - apparently implants aren't quite the same temperature as the rest of the body. You get the idea.
Bottom line - if you do any running at night at all - this device is worth the $$$.
Hope that helps.
Regards,
Jason
PS - If you're ever in the Atlanta area PM me and I'll take you for a ride on Lake Lanier!
DF470DA
New Member
Jason - thanks for the post, it is something I have wondered about the benefits of especially relative to debris, logs etc - which we have plenty of up here on the Ohio ...while it seems costly, compared to a Zues POD it's def something to consider. If you can, post a pic or two of your screen, would be interesting to see.......thx...df
Ctsearay
Member
- Apr 19, 2009
- 857
- Boat Info
- Formula 40PC Volvo IPS500's Pod Drives Joystick- SOLD 2002 360 Sundancer
- Engines
- Twin Volvo IPS 500s with Pod Drives
LONG GONE Twin Mercruiser 8.1 HO's
Thanks A LOT guys for getting me on the track of yet ANOTHER want for the new boat!
Jeff - darn, was at the boat today/tonight and forgot to get a pic of the mount. I know the local guys had to fabricate a mount for it, I'll try and remember to get some pictures this week.
I did get a picture and a few movies of the FLIR in action on the way home tonight. Anyone interested in the movies, send me a PM with your email address and I will send them to you, here is a pic though:
It was nearly pitch black out. If you look closely at the bottom of the frame you can see my bow rail, I worked hard to exactly position the FLIR so that there would be a tiny bit of bow rail - having them made a huge difference for me, it gives you perspective on exactly where the front of the boat is in relation to the image.
Regards,
Jason
I did get a picture and a few movies of the FLIR in action on the way home tonight. Anyone interested in the movies, send me a PM with your email address and I will send them to you, here is a pic though:
It was nearly pitch black out. If you look closely at the bottom of the frame you can see my bow rail, I worked hard to exactly position the FLIR so that there would be a tiny bit of bow rail - having them made a huge difference for me, it gives you perspective on exactly where the front of the boat is in relation to the image.
Regards,
Jason
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skylark
Member
That's awesome, love the sea temp!
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Despite what my display shows, no, Lake Lanier is not a hot tub - my Sea Temp sensor doesn't exist (or if it's there it definitely doesn't work, I haven't bothered figuring that out) so there is always some bogus number there. It does provide good entertainment value though. 
h_gerry
Well-Known Member
- Jun 19, 2013
- 1,338
- Boat Info
- 400 Express Cruiser - 1994 with
Raymarine RL80C, Northstar 6000i GPS
Kohler 5E
- Engines
- 454 Mercruiser Inboards
Noticed something else on your display, do you have 53 feet of water at your dock?
Jeff,
You asked for a picture of my mount - I had the boat out yesterday and thought about that, unfortunately there is no real good way to get a picture of the mount without me climbing up onto the hardtop. I can pull myself up through the glass in the hardtop but it's a pain in the neck and not my favorite thing to do. From the bow this is the best I could get but I'm guessing it doesn't help (I'm assuming you wanted to see the actual mount, not just the location?).
Regards,
Jason
You asked for a picture of my mount - I had the boat out yesterday and thought about that, unfortunately there is no real good way to get a picture of the mount without me climbing up onto the hardtop. I can pull myself up through the glass in the hardtop but it's a pain in the neck and not my favorite thing to do. From the bow this is the best I could get but I'm guessing it doesn't help (I'm assuming you wanted to see the actual mount, not just the location?).
Regards,
Jason
