TeflonTrout :bc: he/him on Nostr: Well...damn, that was a fast response. I guess I better get on it. Let's start with ...
Well...damn, that was a fast response. I guess I better get on it.
Let's start with my favorite:FLIR!
How does it work? Well, people generally call it variations on "heat vision," and...yeah, but...not exactly. What makes FLIR special is not that it sees heat, in the same way that our eyes aren't special because they see light: it's the detection of variation that makes it special.
FLIR is a computer aided system, and what it does best is see the difference in temperatures, over a wide scale of...scales. On a cold night, a poor bastard shivering in a desert stands out like a searchlight in the middle of nowhere. On a hot night, it's a little different. EVERYTHING is bright. However, you can tune the sensitivity of the system: you can make hot things bright or dark, you can make tiny differences stand out like road flares on snow. This makes FLIR incredibly versatile in a huge array of environments. It'll always work best in the cold, but it will always WORK.
Think about this for a second. Look up FLIR videos, too.
How the FUCK do you hide from that?
Easy! Either break line of sight, or saturate the system.
Saturation is not really practical for obvious reasons, as doing that will create a TON of light and draw attention like crazy, but it can be done. If you absolutely have to be in a specific place, a bunch of road flares or hot bonfires will make it very hard for FLIR to tell what the fuck your doing, and to follow specific people. So a subject being followed at night walks up to a crowd standing uncomfortably close to a big, roaring bonfire, mingles for a while, and everyone leaves at once in different directions? The FLIR operator will be very unlikely to tell who is who.
Of course, all they have to do is switch to the normal camera, and then the light actually helps. Big problem for big UAS, but a quadcopter? Not necessarily a huge issue, especially considering that there will have to be people nearby on the ground who can talk the drone back onto the right person.
However, if you are staying still and trying to avoid detection at night? Get an umbrella. This channel goes over multiple shortcomings of FLIR and does an outstanding job. https://youtube.com/shorts/gSDpovJmE-o
Other things FLIR can't see through: Walls. Glass. Fabric.
Remember though: Heat seeps through EVERYTHING, and FLIR is VERY good at measuring heat differentials! If you are touching the thing, you are warming it up. That will get you spotted. Hence...umbrellas. seriously, watch that video, it's a real eye opener for the average person.
So, an easy-up cover with the legs fully retracted could hide a person very effectively on a moonless, hot night for quite a while, so long as you camouflage the edges. I intend to cover camo later, but we're talking heat now. On a cold night, that fabric will gradually heat up, so your time there should be kept short.
That's the basics, feel free to ask questions and I'll append them with their answers to the applicable post.
Let's start with my favorite:FLIR!
How does it work? Well, people generally call it variations on "heat vision," and...yeah, but...not exactly. What makes FLIR special is not that it sees heat, in the same way that our eyes aren't special because they see light: it's the detection of variation that makes it special.
FLIR is a computer aided system, and what it does best is see the difference in temperatures, over a wide scale of...scales. On a cold night, a poor bastard shivering in a desert stands out like a searchlight in the middle of nowhere. On a hot night, it's a little different. EVERYTHING is bright. However, you can tune the sensitivity of the system: you can make hot things bright or dark, you can make tiny differences stand out like road flares on snow. This makes FLIR incredibly versatile in a huge array of environments. It'll always work best in the cold, but it will always WORK.
Think about this for a second. Look up FLIR videos, too.
How the FUCK do you hide from that?
Easy! Either break line of sight, or saturate the system.
Saturation is not really practical for obvious reasons, as doing that will create a TON of light and draw attention like crazy, but it can be done. If you absolutely have to be in a specific place, a bunch of road flares or hot bonfires will make it very hard for FLIR to tell what the fuck your doing, and to follow specific people. So a subject being followed at night walks up to a crowd standing uncomfortably close to a big, roaring bonfire, mingles for a while, and everyone leaves at once in different directions? The FLIR operator will be very unlikely to tell who is who.
Of course, all they have to do is switch to the normal camera, and then the light actually helps. Big problem for big UAS, but a quadcopter? Not necessarily a huge issue, especially considering that there will have to be people nearby on the ground who can talk the drone back onto the right person.
However, if you are staying still and trying to avoid detection at night? Get an umbrella. This channel goes over multiple shortcomings of FLIR and does an outstanding job. https://youtube.com/shorts/gSDpovJmE-o
Other things FLIR can't see through: Walls. Glass. Fabric.
Remember though: Heat seeps through EVERYTHING, and FLIR is VERY good at measuring heat differentials! If you are touching the thing, you are warming it up. That will get you spotted. Hence...umbrellas. seriously, watch that video, it's a real eye opener for the average person.
So, an easy-up cover with the legs fully retracted could hide a person very effectively on a moonless, hot night for quite a while, so long as you camouflage the edges. I intend to cover camo later, but we're talking heat now. On a cold night, that fabric will gradually heat up, so your time there should be kept short.
That's the basics, feel free to ask questions and I'll append them with their answers to the applicable post.