FLIR Systems' First Mate MS uses the same thermal imaging technology as its Navigator 11, Voyager 11 and M-Series thermal night-vision systems, but significantly smaller and lighter.
Thermal imagers are very effective in marine environments. They can detect objects in the water that may damage or even sink a vessel, such as other vessels, shipping-lane traffic, floating containers and buoys, both in open water and in harbours and ports. First Mate MS makes pictures from heat not light, so even in complete darkness sailors can now navigate safely around landmarks, rocks, other vessels, people in the water, bridges and other harbour structures. First Mate MS thermal imaging provides clear vision in total darkness and through smoke and light fog. Since it's completely portable and battery powered, it is not permanently mounted to a vessel and can be transferred between vessels, or elsewhere.
At 340 grams and just over 17 centimetres long, First Mate MS fits easily into the palm of the hand, and it can spot a small vessel in pitch blackness at almost 900 metres or a person at 320 metres. Other First Mate MS models can spot a vessel at 1.23 kilometres distance, with no illumination or moonlight, in most weathers. Other features of the First Mate MS include a rugged all-weather design with a simple three-button operation, a choice of resolutions (240 x 180, or 320 x 240), and LED tasklight and a long-life rechargeable li-ion battery. Optional features on certain models include digital zoom and freeze frame.
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