Question 1

How large is a Thermal Radar?

Accepted Answer

Thermal Radar is small and light weight. It is 5.75 inches wide and 7.75 inches tall (146mm by 197mm) and weighs only 4.5 pounds (1.8Kg)

Question 2

How is Thermal Radar mounted?

Accepted Answer

Due to its small form factor and light weight, Thermal Radar is easily mountable to a variety of surfaces including poles, walls, corners, vehicles, and trailers. The important factor for successful operation is that Thermal Radar is stationary and stable during operation.

Question 3

How is Thermal Radar different from a standard Pan and Tilt thermal camera?

Accepted Answer

Standard pan and tilt systems rotate but the user can only see one where the camera is pointing at that particular point in time. The Thermal Radar solution continuously rotates a single thermal sensor allowing it to gather thermal images from the full 360 degree FOV. This constantly updating 360 degree panoramic image allows the user to view and monitor an entire perimeter at all times.

Question 4

Can I use Thermal Radar indoors?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Thermal Radar can be used very effectively indoors. The same principles of observation and detection can be used indoors with the use of Thermal Radar. In fact, entire facilities can often be covered with a single Thermal Radar Unit.

Question 5

Can Thermal Radar see through buildings?

Accepted Answer

No. Thermal Radar, like any camera or radar system, requires line of site. Thermal Radar can, unlike many radar sytems, see through chain link fencing.

Question 6

Does Thermal Radar use active radar?

Accepted Answer

No. Thermal Radar is a completely passive solution that continuously creates 360-degree panoramic thermal images using a single sensor. This system gets it’s name “Radar” from the fact that intrusions can be located in three dimensional space just as with conventional radar systems but without the active emissions. This renders the Thermal Radar solution completely undetectable.

Question 7

Does Thermal Radar have analytic capabilities?

Accepted Answer

Yes. TIR’s unique “inside-out coverage” approach to observation and detection is an industry changing philosophy. This approach allows the Thermal Radar system to detect not only intruders who breech the established perimeter but detect them while on their approach. Conventional systems will typically focus on perimeter protection utilizing a number of cameras focused on real or virtual fences and detect intruders as they cross these lines.

Question 8

Can I integrate Thermal Radar into my VMS?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Thermal Radar can be integrated into most widely used VMS platforms, turning the views from up to 16 different fields of view into one video stream for the VMS, offering unparalleled situational awareness without using excessive VMS inputs.

Question 9

How does VMS integration work?

Accepted Answer

The 360-degree thermal images are converted into a single ONVIF-compliant RTSP stream that is readily viewed and recorded in a VMS, while alerts are sent via custom API integrations with industry leading VMS platforms.

Question 10

Can I choose which PTZ to use with the Hydra?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The Hydra can be built with many different brands of PTZ camera. Contact us to discuss your needs.

Question 11

Is Thermal Radar CE certified for sale in Europe?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Contact us for documentation.

Question 12

The camera manage shows "CONNECTED" for the selected Thermal Radar, but when I try to launch the viewer, I don't see a stream and the camera manager shows "NO SIGNAL""

Accepted Answer

There are two common causes for this: 1) The Camera Manager is not broadcasting the correct host IP to the Thermal Radar 2) A firewall (typically Windows Firewall) is blocking the video stream. Here’s what to do: 1) In the camera manager press ctrl-shft-o (o is the small letter o), this will launch an options dialog. Check to make sure the Local IP Address is the IP Address of the PC running the Camera Manager. If you have multiple IP Addresses you can select the proper one from the drop-down dialog. 2) Turn off Windows Firewall. If this corrects the issue you can go to the advanced options for Windows Firewall and make sure the TR Camera Manager and TR Viewer are set up to allow UDP over ports 50000-65000, then turn the firewall back on.

Question 13

I plug a Thermal Radar into my POE, but the sensor never starts spinning"

Accepted Answer

For V2:

1) Verify the unit does it's calibration turn supon startup. These are the motor controller running a calibration of the rotary encoder, and will be executed upon every startup. If your unit fails to do these initial turns within a minute of startup, please contact support@thermalradar.com.

2) In order to spin, the unit must be connected to a network. The unit will need either a DHCP server or, if it has a static IP, you may be able to start it by running a continuous ping to that address on a laptop directly into the data line of the injector.

For V1:

1) Verify the Thermal Radar is receiving power
a. Carefully remove the lens cover
b. Rotate the sensor so it is not facing the motor housing protruding from the side, where the information sticker can be found
c. Plug the Ethernet cable back in
d. The unit should rotate back to the motor housing, or “home” position, this indicates unit is receiving power

2) If the unit is not receiving power make sure the POE is working correctly and is the correct type for the Thermal Radar settings (see User Manual)

3) If the unit is receiving power, but never starts rotating, contact tech support

Question 14

I am getting a lot of false alarms in grass and/or shrubs

Accepted Answer

Don’t be afraid to apply a blur mask to an entire AOI, especially in areas where there is a lot of movement caused by wind or lights. You can also increase sensitivity of an area where a blur mask is applied above what you would normally use in an area of interest. If you do not need to detect both people and vehicles, try deselecting the one you do not need to detect and increasing confidence above 50%.

Question 15

I see movement in the distance in the viewer, but Thermal Radar doesn't seem to detect it / put a box around it"

Accepted Answer

Try unchecking Person and Vehicles in the Area of interest and setting sensitivity to 14-16. This will turn off the classification filter. For extreme distances, you may want to create AOI’s with both boxes unchecked and more sensitivity with a blur mask. You will lose classification, but pick up more movement in the distance.

Question 16

When I click "PERSON AND/OR VEHICLE" for an AOI, I stop seeing any directions from Thermal Radar"

Accepted Answer

For classification to work the Thermal Radar must be configured with the correct height and angle. Run the setup program, check these values, resend them to the Thermal Radar then restart the unit.

Question 17

Ensure Mounting is completely stable and level

Accepted Answer

If the unit is not level then it will negatively affect PTZ pointing and object classification. If the unit is even slightly unstable then it can increase the likelihood of false detections resulting in overuse of blur causing a reduction in sensitivity and range.

Question 18

Use the appropriate seals

Accepted Answer

Make sure to use the recommended gasket seals and weathertight CAT-5 termination to connect to the camera to ensure long term stable operation by preventing water ingress into cabling system.

Question 19

Ensure Proper Connections

Accepted Answer

Ensure you have a good quality and new POE switch.

Ensure cable between POE injector and Thermal Radar doesn't exceed 250 ft as transmission losses beyond that can cause the unit to be underpowered in some instances where cable damage can create additional resistance in the line.
 Use Recommended PTZ injector that ships with the Thermal Radar whenever possible. There are many Standards of POE and active injectors that may have issues with "handshakes".   Always test cables in the network prior to install to ensure stable operation and ensure there is enough slack to prevent any tension on cables and connectors.

Question 20

Powering your Unit

Accepted Answer

For a substation (or anywhere with “dirty power”) we recommend relying on dual conditioning UPS’s with battery backup to keep everything clean. 
Ensure you have a good quality and new POE switch. 
Also you should include a surge protector to be installed in the junction box. 
These steps should help prevent power spikes and assist with ‘dirty power’.

Question 21

Switches + Remote Power

Accepted Answer

We recommend implementing a small form factor Industrial IoT controller into the enclosure. This will allow you to remotely power cycle the unit and will help take your remote monitoring to the next level.