Spots hotspots
September 1st 2007 Thermoteknix Systems' South
African distributor, Dynamic
Instrumentation was approached
by the maintenance division of
Metro rail in Pretoria for help with
scanning overhead cables for
hotspots.
Clive Dignon, MD, suggested
using Thermoteknix VisIR Ti 200
infrared camera. This real-time,
handheld thermal imaging camera
takes both IR and visible still
images simultaneously.
Metro's carriages are not set up
for technical surveys of this type,
so a customised system using a
standard pan/tilt photography
tripod and bracket was used to
mount the camera on the roof of
the train. The camera's real time
image output signal was converted
from LVDS output into IP Packets
by a Pleora iPort GigE engine and
fed into a laptop over a CAT5
Ethernet link. Data was captured
and viewed using a Thermoteknix
ThermaGRAM software program.
The trial identified hotspots on the
cables and quite a few birds' nests
which could be a safety hazard. More articles from Thermoteknix Systems Ltd: | 
