HQ series · Two-axis · EO + IR

HQ-64DA two-axis gimbal camera

The lightest dual-sensor head in the range — 2K daylight plus thermal on 260 g. Because it uses the same stabilisation stack and control protocol as the rest of the HQ series, it can share a mount and a cable run with other heads in the range.

Weight 260 g
Two-axis stabilised
EO 2688 × 1520
Thermal 640 × 512
AI detection & tracking

CE / RoHS documentation available on request
Export compliance statement available on request
Calibration and test report supplied with every unit

What the HQ-64DA is

The HQ-64DA is the smallest head in the range that carries a daylight sensor and a thermal core together: a 2688 × 1520 visible array behind a fixed 8.5 mm lens, a 640 × 512 long-wave core behind a fixed 19 mm lens, and two stabilised axes carrying both in 260 g. Nothing in the turret moves except pitch and yaw, so the mass goes into optics rather than into mechanics. Draw is 10 W / 20 W. The cost is stated rather than hidden: 0.73 km on a person and 3.3 km on a vehicle from the visible channel, 0.53 km and 2.5 km from the thermal.

Two fixed lenses on one boresight

A wide daylight frame and a thermal frame, both bolted down, both on the same optical line.

EO / visible

2688 × 1520, 8.5 mm fixed

Short lens, large array: 0.73 km person, 3.3 km vehicle.

Thermal / IR

640 × 512, 19 mm fixed

Uncooled long-wave. 0.53 km on a person, 2.5 km on a vehicle, NETD ≤ 40 mK.

The visible lens does not zoom, and that is the design

8.5 mm is a wide field by intent. From a few hundred metres of altitude one pass covers a strip of ground rather than a single object, and 2688 × 1520 leaves enough pixels across that strip to read what is in it. A fixed group also removes the two things a zoom introduces: an element that can drift off boresight, and a mechanism that can lose alignment after a hard landing. Detection stands at 0.73 km on a person and 3.3 km on a vehicle, so a crack in a fitting at those distances is work for a longer lens than this head carries.

Daylight EO imagery from a HITS camera payload with vehicles detected and boxed automatically — Daylight frame, vehicles boxed automatically.

A thermal core sitting on the visible axis

640 × 512 through 19 mm, uncooled long-wave, NETD ≤ 40 mK. The core is set so its axis matches the daylight channel, which means a warm body found after dark sits where it occupies the daylight frame, with no re-alignment in flight and no second sweep to find it again. Thermal detection is 0.53 km on a person and 2.5 km on a vehicle, and those figures do not change with the light. That, and nothing else, is what 260 g buys over a daylight-only head of the same size.

Thermal imagery from a HITS camera payload with a target held by the onboard tracker — Heat frame at 640 × 512 with the tracker on a moving target.

Read as a pair, the channels split by question rather than range: daylight says what is down there, thermal says whether anything warm is.

Stabilisation and mechanical design

Pitch and yaw, held tight

Two axes are stabilised, pitch and yaw. Each turns on a brushless motor mounted direct to its axis, encoding closing the loop, no gear stage between motor and optic. Roll is left to the aircraft, which supplies that reference in steady attitude. Line-of-sight error holds at ≤ 100 μrad (1σ), the loop drawing on ≥ 60°/s.

260 g inside Φ64 × 88.5 mm

260 g inside Φ64 × 88.5 mm, on 11–28 VDC and 10 W / 20 W. That fits a man-portable airframe or a small multirotor without a dedicated hard point; both are catalogue limits, so the load case closes before hardware exists.

Detection and tracking at the edge

The detector runs on the head

People, vehicles, vessels and aircraft are found by a module inside the payload, so a box on screen does not depend on the downlink and no frame leaves the aircraft. Up to 20 targets at once, one actively locked.

What the crew watches

A lock that survives rotation and scale change, and comes back after a mast, a tree line or a building takes the target away. Recording happens on board as well, so a pass that outlives the link still exists as a file once the aircraft is down.

Airframe integration

What the aircraft has to provide, and what travels in the crate.

Mount and envelope

Clamp and wiring points follow the range: a quick-release face on a vibration-isolated base, plus adapter plates for airframes with a different bolt circle. At 260 g in Φ64 × 88.5 mm it fits a small multirotor or a hand-launched aircraft with no bespoke bracket, and the mount is drawn against those two catalogue limits.

Power, control, video

An aircraft bus between 11 and 28 VDC feeds it. Commands arrive on RS-422, RS-232 or TTL, and SBUS or MAVLink if the autopilot speaks them. Imagery leaves as H.264 or H.265 over 100 Mbps Ethernet, and lands on 128 GB of internal storage as well. Sealing covers dust and rotor wash; the rating is −20 °C to +60 °C running, −40 °C to +70 °C in store. This is the range layer rather than something this model adds, and the technology pages describe it.

On the aircraft

One cable carries power, commands and video. The mount absorbs vibration and the two axes take what is left.

Five papers ride with the maiden head: control protocol, video pipeline note, three-view outline with pinout, calibration record, test report. Export screening covers paper as well as hardware.

Where the HQ-64DA is used

Three jobs that suit 260 g, two axes and a wide pair of lenses.

Switchyard rounds
A switchyard is a wide scene with a few hot joints in it. The 8.5 mm frame takes in a bay in one look and the thermal core marks the connection running warmer than its neighbours, so the crew leaves with a wide record plus a flagged frame instead of a folder of narrow ones. At 260 g it costs the aircraft little endurance, which matters when the round is weekly.
UAV inspection →
Perimeter watch after dark
The thermal channel picks a person out at 0.53 km and does not care about light, dust or the gaps in a hedge. A head this light keeps a small multirotor on station through the hours when a fixed camera is least useful, and the detector marks the contact so the operator watches a box on a dark field rather than the dark field itself.
UAV security →
Hand-launched reconnaissance
When the aircraft goes into a rucksack, payload budget is the first constraint, and 260 g inside Φ64 × 88.5 mm is why this head exists. Two axes, two channels and the family control protocol: the ground station that flies a larger turret flies this one too.
Military UAV →

Full specifications

Model	HQ-64DA
Series	Gimbal Camera Series (HQ series)
Stabilisation	Two-axis gyro-stabilised, ≤ 100 μrad
Sensor configuration	EO + IR
Visible channel	2688 × 1520, 8.5 mm fixed
Thermal channel	640 × 512, 19 mm fixed
Weight	≤260 g
Dimensions	≤Φ64 × 88.5 mm
Power consumption	10 W / 20 W
Detection (EO)	0.73 km person / 3.3 km vehicle
Detection (IR)	0.53 km person / 2.5 km vehicle

Detection distances follow the standard 1.7 m person / 2.3 m vehicle convention. Rows marked as shared are common across the HQ series.

Control software: Windows as standard. An Android version can be customised for OEM/ODM projects.

Shared across the HQ series

Video output: Ethernet, H.264 / H.265
Gimbal control: RS-422 / RS-232 / TTL, SBUS, MAVLink
Input voltage: 11–28 VDC
Operating temperature: −20 °C to +60 °C
Sealing: Sealed housing for dust, wind and rotor wash
Recording: On-board recording, imagery retained if the link drops
AI module: Onboard detection, classification and multi-target tracking
Mounting: Quick-release interface, adapters available for OEM airframes

Three-view outline drawing with connector pinout, available on request.

Outline and interface drawingThree-view outline with dimensions and the connector pinout for this head. The drawing set is released with the datasheet — ask for it with your quotation and we will send the PDF for your airframe review.

Questions engineers ask about the HQ-64DA

How far does the HQ-64DA detect a person or a vehicle?

0.73 km and 3.3 km on the daylight channel for a person and a vehicle respectively, 0.53 km and 2.5 km on the thermal channel, against the standard 1.7 m person and 2.3 m vehicle targets. Both are detection figures; recognition and identification arrive at shorter range, and the datasheet carries them.

What are the order terms and the delivery time?

One unit buys a stock configuration; a custom build starts at 100 units. Inventory heads are dispatched as they stand, so waiting time is freight rather than a build slot, while a larger or bespoke batch has its date agreed in the quotation. Settlement is T/T, and the warranty covers one year from delivery.

Why two fixed lenses rather than one zoom?

Because 260 g will not carry a zoom group and a thermal core at once. An 8.5 mm daylight lens and a 19 mm thermal lens give a wide frame and a heat frame on a single boresight with nothing to move, which is also why the head survives handling that a zoom barrel would not.

Does a two-axis head ask anything extra of the airframe?

Roll. Pitch and yaw are stabilised to ≤ 100 μrad (1σ) with ≥ 60°/s to the loop, but the mount leaves roll to the aircraft, so the platform has to hold attitude steadily enough for that loop to work with. A multirotor or a fixed-wing in level flight normally does; in gusty air it is worth checking before the mount is drawn.

Designed and manufactured by HITS

Optics, servo hardware, stabilisation firmware and the AI tracking module are developed in house, and every unit is assembled, calibrated and environmentally tested on our own line before it ships.

HITS engineer testing a stabilised gimbal camera payload on the test bench before dispatch

Production line assembling stabilised gimbal camera payloads at the HITS factory

Engineer assembling the internal components of a HITS stabilised gimbal camera payload

Gimbal payloads on the calibration and environmental test rack at the HITS factory

Next steps for this payload: how it is inspected and tested · export licensing and documentation · ordering and integration FAQ

Request a quotation for the HQ-64DA

Tell us the platform, the range you need to identify and how many units you are planning. Every configuration is quoted individually, so you get a written price against your own requirement rather than a list figure that does not fit it. We answer within one working day.

MOQFrom 1 unit

Small ordersUsually held in stock, shipped straight away

Volume ordersDelivery schedule confirmed with your quotation

Reply timeWithin one working day

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