Guide TD210 - any users? (1 Viewer)

[Winterdune]

Thinking of getting this as my first thermal imaging device. Will use it for scanning tangled ditches, reed beds, bushes and hedges on my local patch then use my binoculars to try to locate any heat sources. Will it be any good? It's far cheaper than eg the Pulsar or Zeiss models but I think they probably have many more functions than I need.

I'm totally new to this area and have never used or even handled one of these devices, so any guidance or advice will be very welcome!

Thanks
Sean

 

[etudiant]

There is a realistic review here; Guide TD210 Thermal Imaging Review | Optics Trade Reviews - Optics Trade Blog

Winter is of course the best time for using this, but keep your expectations reasonable.
It is a very low powered unit (2x plus digital zoom), so not much like a night time binocular. You will need to get really close to see small animals as more than a blob of light.
Please do keep us posted as to your experience with it, we've not had much 'from the field' feedback here.

 

[Winterdune]

A friend who uses a thermal imager for birding in the same way I want to says he only ever uses his at the lowest magnification as when scanning to pick stuff up you want it as wide as possible.

I'm trying to make up my mind between the Guide and the Pulsar XM30F and I think I need to see them in the flesh before deciding.

 

[pppppvvvv]

A friend who uses a thermal imager for birding in the same way I want to says he only ever uses his at the lowest magnification as when scanning to pick stuff up you want it as wide as possible.

I'm trying to make up my mind between the Guide and the Pulsar XM30F and I think I need to see them in the flesh before deciding.

That's how I use mine. It's on steroids at the moment on winter mornings.. Firecrests about 20m away were shining like a beacon. No idea what they were until switching to the binocs. Ditto with Dartford Warbler.
From memory it still works good in warmer weather. You get moss, and stones litnup, but a bird still looks different with a bit of practice.

I use it sideways, in portrait view, if that makes sense. Then a single sweep right to left tends to cover more vegetation

Magnification is a disadvantage, as you lose some idea of the surrounding area, and where the bird is in relation to the background.

I like the fact the td210 has a replaceable battery, and it looks like it's a generic battery as well?
My pulsar battery failed, and pulsar didn't want to know, "out of warranty". Buy a new one for £50. I don't think I'd get another pulsar based on that alone.

Hope some these cheaper models do work out. I'd happily "downgrade".

 

[Winterdune]

I think I'm going to get the Guide and will update here with my thoughts on it.

 

[wllmspd]

Wait to hear how you get on. As there are no zoom lenses yet due to cost I recommend more magnification and the most pixels so you get the detail you’ll want and the field of view so you don’t miss stuff. Good to see how things continue to develop. I use mine at night and for finding snipe in the daytime. Very useful tool.

Peter

 

[Winterdune]

Others are recommending the lowest magnification for my purpose - which is scanning to identify where birds are then using bins to see them, as _ _? (secret service birder??) describes above.

 

[Winterdune]

Been carrying on my research and seen that a phone adapter thermal imager, the Seek Thermal Compact Pro, is cheaper and has a larger sensor. Has anyone tried one of these?

 

[Mono]

Thermal imagers fall into two main markets; industrial and observation.

The industrial market imagers are designed for looking at heat in circuit boards and heating systems. They generally have no magnification and are very configurable to look at a wide range of temperatures. They usually have screens rather than eyepieces.

The observation market imagers are for looking at people/other animals at range. They have optical magnification and an eyepiece rather than a screen. They generally have less adjustability as they are designed to look at a much narrower temperature range.

The phone module thermals are very much aimed at the engineering end of the market. They would be less than optimal for nature observation at any range.

 

[wllmspd]

Wide field thermal will only ever give you dots in the distance, it helps to have more magnification and more pixels, though this can mean you need to scan around a lot to get a good idea about what’s around. Another thing to be wary of is the refresh rate, my old seek thermal is 9hz limited and suffers from quite a bit of fixed pattern noise (does flat field corrections quite often to mitigate), no real use. The handheld monocular units starting around £800 (or so) are probably the best bet, I’ve not kept up with specific models and there are more manufacturers now then when I looked. You’ll not be able to get more that 380x? pixels and so the only real option is the magnification and any special functions they might provide. Certainly good for counting snipe in bushes and nocturnal wildlife watching.

Peter

 

[Winterdune]

I'm not interested in magnification or in identifying stuff with the thermal devce, as I have said. I simply want to use it to search around and locate birds in bushes etc, then try to see them with my binoculars.

So I have ordered the Guide, and if it is no good for me I will return it and probably get the Pulsar XM30F.

I'll report my findings on here.

 

[Winterdune]

So I got the little Guide TD210 and have also compared it with a friend's £2000+ Pulsar. No surprise that the Pulsar is way better, but the Guide actually seems pretty adequate for my purposes.

It tells me when there are birds on bushes as long as the bushes aren't too dense and the birds aren't too far in. The range is certainly smaller than the Pulsar I compared it with but again, my use is really just to check what's in bushes/hedges I'm approaching and it does that fairly well at a range of maybe 10 metres and closer.

For example there were some House Sparrows chattering away in a tangle of brambles, and I could see 3 of them through bins. A quick look through the Guide and I could see there were 4 more. And I am very impressed by how hot Goldcrests must be as they shine out as vivid balls of light as they flick through foliage - hopefully my Firecrest find rate might increase!

One thing I haven't got used to yet is the effect of prolonged scanning on the eye - the electronic signal, even on a low brightness setting, can make it initially visually difficult to go back to binoculars. Because of this I don't scan for ages.

Anyway, for my purposes, and for the money, I'm not at all unhappy with it.

 

[Vollmeise]

You’ll not be able to get more that 380x? pixels and so the only real option is the magnification and any special functions they might provide

Peter, just to keep You up, there are lots of models which offer a sensor resolution of 640 x 480 or 640 x 512 px and a sensitivity of 25mK now. They are in the 2.500 - 3.500 EUR price range today. And Yes, there are no models with optical zoom yet. But there is a thermal with a switchable lens wide / tele and there are models with interchangeable lenses too.

Latest news is Pulsars Merger LRF XP50, announced some months ago. It's a thermal bino with a sensor resolution of 1024 x 768 px. Price around 6.500,- EUR.

 

[GMS]

So I got the little Guide TD210 and have also compared it with a friend's £2000+ Pulsar. No surprise that the Pulsar is way better, but the Guide actually seems pretty adequate for my purposes.

It tells me when there are birds on bushes as long as the bushes aren't too dense and the birds aren't too far in. The range is certainly smaller than the Pulsar I compared it with but again, my use is really just to check what's in bushes/hedges I'm approaching and it does that fairly well at a range of maybe 10 metres and closer.

For example there were some House Sparrows chattering away in a tangle of brambles, and I could see 3 of them through bins. A quick look through the Guide and I could see there were 4 more. And I am very impressed by how hot Goldcrests must be as they shine out as vivid balls of light as they flick through foliage - hopefully my Firecrest find rate might increase!

One thing I haven't got used to yet is the effect of prolonged scanning on the eye - the electronic signal, even on a low brightness setting, can make it initially visually difficult to go back to binoculars. Because of this I don't scan for ages.

Anyway, for my purposes, and for the money, I'm not at all unhappy with it.

I had wondered about this and asked in previous thread. I would want to use it exactly for the same purpose, find the birds by heat source and then use bins. What distance can it cover? Would it e.g. detect the heat source of a Wheatear 200m away in a field? Not interested in doing any more with it.
Hoping someone will provide a user review for the infiray T2 pro, that plugs into you mobile phone.

 

[Winterdune]

No it won't pick up a Wheatear at 200m.

 

[GMS]

Shame, do you think the more expensive ones could do that? How far a reach do you think yours has?

 

[pppppvvvv]

Skylark at about 50m in early morning conditions I would guess (axiom key xm22).
It detects most species before they are too wary of you, if that makes sense.

 

[Winterdune]

Yes I concur - about 50m max. And the environment needs to be cool. No point trying to use it in the heat of summer.