Author Topic: Fraser has been selling his cameras - yes it is true :)  (Read 6016 times)

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Offline JayNi

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Re: Fraser has been selling his cameras - yes it is true :)
« Reply #25 on: March 07, 2018, 01:39:59 pm »
I have need for a thermal imager for finding bad chips on 45+ ic multiprocessor boards. What is my lowest price solution? Chips can run 20C to 100C. I'm a starving disabled student and might just try a sheet of LCD(forehead thermometer stuff) if I can't go IR.  |O

Please help!
« Last Edit: March 07, 2018, 10:53:41 pm by JayNi »
 

Offline JayNi

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Re: Fraser has been selling his cameras - yes it is true :)
« Reply #26 on: March 10, 2018, 07:07:33 pm »
Um, hello?
 

Offline FraserTopic starter

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Re: Fraser has been selling his cameras - yes it is true :)
« Reply #27 on: March 10, 2018, 08:45:54 pm »
Lowest priced suitable solution is FLIR One G2 at around £250, or SEEK Thermal camera. Sadly your budget may not be adequate for any of my remaining cameras.

Fraser
« Last Edit: March 10, 2018, 11:15:56 pm by Fraser »
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Offline FraserTopic starter

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Re: Fraser has been selling his cameras - yes it is true :)
« Reply #28 on: March 13, 2018, 12:12:47 pm »
I have been away from home for a week but two more very nice thermal cameras have found new deserving homes in that time :)

I had a quick look through my Pevicon and BST technology cameras last night. They are all Ex fire service so many are 'well used'. I need to decide what to do with them. IIRC many of the Pevicon units need attention to get them running and the Talisman WASP BST units need repairs. The challenge I face is whether to spend time repairing what are likely simple faults, or sell them as projects and so avoid investing my time in them. In the commercial world the return on such cameras may not be worth the time spent repairing them. Just the lens assembly in them is likely worth more to me than what I would be offered on a 'project camera'. It seems a shame to tear them down to parts and bin the excess though :( I might restore a nice example of the ARGUS 1, ARGUS 2 and one Talisman and just scrap the rest for their parts value to me. I am no businessman but I do understand that investing ones time in a unit that will never repay that time in cash is foolish, unless it is for the pleasure, experience or other non-commercial reason. They sure do take up a lot of room in their waterproof transit cases though !

Fraser
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Offline nidlaX

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Re: Fraser has been selling his cameras - yes it is true :)
« Reply #29 on: March 20, 2018, 02:03:01 am »
Hi Fraser, for the Ideal / Irisys cameras, do you know:
1. what their framerates are?
2. whether they are software limited in resolution?
 

Offline FraserTopic starter

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Re: Fraser has been selling his cameras - yes it is true :)
« Reply #30 on: March 20, 2018, 03:07:35 am »
<9fps

Resolution is not software limited

Fraser
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Offline FraserTopic starter

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Re: Fraser has been selling his cameras - yes it is true :)
« Reply #31 on: March 22, 2018, 11:19:18 pm »
Well my neat little FLIR i5 is off to a new home tomorrow. It was an eventful rehoming as during my extensive functionality testing before despatch I discovered a really weird bug that meant the camera did not always recover correctly from its sleep mode. A lot of investigation (more hours and effort than the unit is worth really) and I had enough proof of a firmware bug to present to FLIR Customer support for help. I was not hopeful as the i5 is now a legacy model. I had already tried the very latest firmware for the MK1 i5 and that just made the situation worse !  I had even tried grafting certain pertinent files from later MK2 firmware into the MK1 camera. No harm was done, but neither did it rectify the issue.

I actually resist messing with firmware in my cameras unless there is very good reason to do so, like in this case. I am very much an advocate of "if it aint broke, don't fix it". I know some newer firmwares address issues but I would only update if those issues or additional facilities are of interest to me
Later firmware can actually cause issues with a camera that was working perfectly well previously. I have heard that from techs who deal with several thermal cameras that I own. So resist that temptation to play with your firmware unless you have very good reasons to do so and the ability to revert to the previous version.

FLIR Customer support were brilliant. Within 16 hours of my submitting the request for assistance, they sent me a new Firmware that fixed the problem totally. That firmware is version 4.3.2 and is later than the version 4.2 found on the download page. It was a weird issue But I have now tracked down to an occasional I2C bus conflict that the new firmware addresses.

The other nice feature of the firmware update is that it erases the firmware memory area and installs a nice fresh Windows CE5 OS and camera firmware. There are no potential 'loose ends' from the previous firmware installations or my experiments :) The calibration and configuration files are retained of course but they were not the problem.

I learnt a lot more about the FLIR firmware during that little investigation so the time was not wasted. most importantly, the camera now passes my tests so will be going to its new home, where I hope it provides excellent service.

I actually liked testing the compact i5, it is a very neat design with some good quality image processing present.

So long little i5 and serve your new master well :)

Fraser
« Last Edit: March 22, 2018, 11:25:48 pm by Fraser »
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Offline joe-c

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Re: Fraser has been selling his cameras - yes it is true :)
« Reply #32 on: March 23, 2018, 07:10:20 pm »
Very interesting, I am surprised you get help from FLIR directly.

greetings  :-+
Freeware Thermal Analysis Software: ThermoVision_Joe-C
Some Thermal cameras: Kameras
 

Offline FraserTopic starter

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Re: Fraser has been selling his cameras - yes it is true :)
« Reply #33 on: March 23, 2018, 07:29:20 pm »
FLIR and I go back a very long way :)

I have always got on well with them at all levels of support and management. In my personal experience, they are a company that does want to support its products well. How many companies happily allow / encourage you to communicate directly with a VP ? Bill T  is a great guy and I consider him a friend.

Fraser
« Last Edit: March 23, 2018, 07:36:38 pm by Fraser »
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Offline FraserTopic starter

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Re: Fraser has been selling his cameras - yes it is true :)
« Reply #34 on: March 23, 2018, 10:48:15 pm »
I think the next camera I will be sending to a new home will be the Fluke/Raytek Ti30. It is a 160 x 120 pixel unit. IIRC it is 20fps and fitted with a nice manual focus lens.

This was a unit that I purchased because of its unusual looks. It appears to belong on the set of Star Trek as a laser weapon :) I wonder what inspired the designer to produce such a shape. Maybe they were a Star Trek fan ? The battery loads like a magazine in an automatic pistol !

The design is also unusual in that it has buttons on the screen panel plus a hatch on top of the camera that covers a number of other functions, each accessible through the use of switches, buttons and knobs. Not something you see on more modern cameras where drop down menu's and D Pads minimise the user interface controls.

My unit is dressed as the Raytek version that is also available in the FLUKE branding. They are identical units behind the different colour schemes and labels.

These units seem to sell well so they must have a decent following in the marketplace. Mine needs a new home though as I do not need it. The unit comes with its USB download and charging dock.

Fraser
« Last Edit: March 23, 2018, 10:55:27 pm by Fraser »
If I have helped you please consider a donation : https://gofund.me/c86b0a2c
 


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