Keysight U5855A TrueIR thermal imager

[Marioka]

Hi Fraser.
How I can make custom colors plate and update in my camera.
Can you teach me.
Thank you.

[Fraser]

I regret I cannot help with such at this time.

Others on the forum may be able to assist.

Fraser

[onesixright]

@Marioka

If you want to know "where can i create my own palette" ?

You need to download the Keysight software. There you can create your own palette. That you can then save, and load (via your SD card) in your camera.

Open the software, load a image. On the right (top) you can choose a palette, next to it you see a pencel icon. If you click the pencil, you can set your own color for each value.

[Marioka]

Hi,Onesixright
Thank you very much.

[komet]

I finally received a working unit! Very pleased with Keysight service.

[Fraser]

Excellent news

Fraser

[nfmax]

I took mine out into the garden the other evening. The compost bins 'glow' brightly! Interestingly, I found I can clearly see the locations of the ants nests under the lawn, as they show up slightly warmer than the surrounding grass.

[Fraser]

Look out for bats flying around at dusk. We have a cute pair of bats that do an aerobatic display every evening. I also own some bat detectors so can hear when they are around 

Fraser

[ollihd]

Would you guys say that this camera could replace an unhackable E4?

[Fraser]

In a comparison between a standard E4 and the U5855A, the Keysight product wins on all levels.

The E4 in its standard 80 x 60 pixel configuration is not a great choice when compared to the other , higher resolution, cameras that are now available at a similar price point.
80 x 60 is IMHO, a poor resolution for all but the crudest of thermography tasks. I consider 160 x 120 pixels to be the minimum entry level resolution that has broad usage capabilities.

Alternatives to the E4 include, Therm-App, Thermal Expert, Keysight U5855A (when heavily discounted as in this thread) and some of the better Chinese camera that are using the ULIS sensors.

There is always the option to either buy a new pre 2017 or a used pre 2017 E4 though. The E4 is a VERY nice and capable camera when fully upgraded to E8+ spec. For info, the Exx series beat the Upgraded E4 in all respects. Used FLIR E30/E30bx cameras have been selling for around £1K recently and can be upgraded to full E60/E60bx specification. I bought an E40 and love it.

Never before have we had so much choice in Thermal imaging cameras at such affordable prices. A revolution has taken place over the past few years.
Used thermal cameras have been appearing in the market at amazing prices as a result of industrial user equipment refresh cycles etc.

Finally, do not underestimate the benefits of a decent quality manual focus lens. With manual focus it is often possible to obtain a sharper image than that offered by the deep depth of field provided by a fixed focus lens. Fixed focus lenses will always be a compromise solution, they are still very acceptable in many scenarios. A cheap close up lens may be fitted to either type of lens and the E4 performs well with a 100mm or 50mm FL ZnSe lens in front of its objective.

Fraser

[ollihd]

I have an older E4, but when it was in warranty repair the HW got upgraded. I'm sure I can get it sold so now I'm looking for analternative for the E4 (hacked). I would mainly usr it for circuitboard work. Would the Keysight U5855A suffice? I could get one pretty cheap. Btw: the E40 is also hackable?

[Fraser]

The Keysight U5855A is very capable and IMHO, perfect for PCB work. Its manual focus pay dividends and the image quality is more than good enough for most PCB profiling and examination tasks. I now own three U5855A cameras and I am both fussy and very critical of thermal camera performance.
Do not be swayed by FLIR's MSX..... such is really only needed to add context to an image and it is not essential for 160 x 120 pixel or higher images . MSX is useless for Close-up work like PCB component inspection. You are always fighting the parallax error.

From what I know, all of the Exx range may be upgraded to E60/E60bx specification. I would avoid buying a new one though as new firmware may have been released. There is plenty of information in this forums E40 upgrade thread. I have a MK1 E40 that can definitely be upgraded to full E60 spec without any issues. The E40 gives you great images from a very nice quality microbolometer/lens combination. You also gain full 60fps Thermal image update, composite video output, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, video streaming and MP4 video recording. The Exx range are superb value for money on the used market at the moment. Given the choice of a new E4 for £900 or a 'as new' used E40 for around £1300, I would buy the E40 without hesitation.

Then again, I am a collector and heavy user of thermal camera technology. I just bought an 'as new' Ideal 61-848 HeatSeeker 320 camera with 320 x 240 pixels ULIS sensor array for only £280. It has a large manual focus lens, superb image quality and decent build quality. Such bargains are becoming more common if you know where to look for them.

The Keysight U5855A is another bargain camera. Considering its original price, it's pedigree and its performance, it is a genuine bargain asking price from Keysight. A classic case of a very large company wanting to sell-off excess inventory at a knock down price. The stock holding is finite though.

Fraser

[ollihd]

Thanks ALOT for the info! I will start selling my unhackable E4 and in the meanwhile buy a Keysight U5855A or Flir E40 (if I find one used for a smart price).

[ollihd]

After a whole day of pondering and going back and forth I ordered an U5855A from Ebay (official Keysight seller) used with new battery. Cost was 515eur + VAT. I'm sure it will suffice until the new E4 FW gets hacked. Thanks again Fraser!

[Fraser]

Glad I was of some help. You will likely be able to sell the Keysight camera with little or no loss if you decide to do so after the current limited stock is exhausted at Keysight

Fraser

[Fraser]

The poorly U5855A has arrived from Komet

I have no spare time this week to investigate its ailment, but a full teardown is likely to be part of the diagnostics process as I need to better understand the design. I shall post pictures and further comment on the fault as and when I have news.

Fraser

[ixfd64]

Anyone know whether the U5855A can be hacked into an U5857A?

[Fraser]

It is unlikely.

A thermal camera uses 1,2,3 or 4 ranges to cover a specified temperature capability. The ranges each apply different bias voltages to the microbolometer pixels. Many cameras have 1 or 2 ranges, but in order to cover high temperatures 3 ranges are used. The U5857A uses 3 to cover up to 1200C. The FLIR Exx series use 2 ranges to cover up to 650C. Range 1 usually covers up to 150C.

A camera is calibrated using the enabled ranges. If the dormant additional range for high temperature is enabled in firmware on a U5855A,  the required calibration points will be absent leading to large measurement errors.

Note that the higher temperature ranges and their associated bias voltages cause a reduction in thermal sensitivity. In the U5857A, Range 1 has a spec of 0.08C but Range 3 has a spec of 0.5C !

Fraser

[Fraser]

Keysight are now selling off Heavily discounted U5857A cameras via their eBay shop
The U5857A provides extended temperature coverage to 1200C.

Fraser

[TheSteve]

I also had the dream of "upgrading" my camera but noticed the u5855a's Keysight are clearing out were made before the u5857a was even available. I had a quick look inside mine and saw nothing obvious related to the model number. When Fraser does a more detailed teardown maybe something will jump out but it is likely just a firmware difference. Maybe we'll see a JTAG interface or two.

[Fraser]

U585xA Model capability is set by firmware configuration. No hardware difference.

Fraser

[ixfd64]

U585xA Model capability is set by firmware configuration. No hardware difference.

Fraser

So it can theoretically be upgraded after all?

[TheSteve]

U585xA Model capability is set by firmware configuration. No hardware difference.

Fraser

So it can theoretically be upgraded after all?

I suspect it can be upgraded but if it isn't calibrated it may not be that useful. I guess I could still tell which are the hottest parts on my BBQ grill.
There has been no calibration information released by Keysight on the cameras.

[DaJMasta]

It's also worth mentioning that the 350C upper limit of the U5855A is already well above the entry level of most comparably priced units (not list price, but what people are paying secondhand), so there's sort of less of a need for such an upgrade.  Still may be worth trying, and it seems like many of the units Keysight is sending out through their ebay store are still on the 1.00 firmware.

I got mine a couple days ago, and while I was happy with my first look at it, the charger I was expecting to fit ended up being a 2.1mm center pin, so I'm waiting for a new one that will fit and the battery has died.  Though it was corrected earlier, it's worth mentioning that you need a 2.5mm center pin in your barrel jack - something I didn't even have a spare connector to fit!

In my limited time, it seemed to be quite sensitive and auto-ranged pretty well, but some of the color palates appear noisier than others because of how much the colors scale - I think I'd prefer something like Flir's red/blue combination mode, though for instances when the palate appears noisy, grayscale or iron palates work well.  The manual focus seems to work fine, but you have to tweak it more at distance - your in-focus working distance within half a meter or so seems to be pretty wide and you don't have to adjust almost at all, whereas farther targets take more lining up.  It's useful to turn on the visible camera to help line up the focus, because when the images look properly overlaid and centered, you're in focus.

I'm new to thermography, but it's been pretty intuitive to use.  I find that a lot of reflective surfaces aren't as misleading as they may seem - sure it doesn't read the right temperature, but it also has the same glare and sheen as a normal glossy or reflective object, so it's usually easy to tell that it's not the right thing, even in thermal-only mode.  It also helps that anything that's really generating heat also warms up the stuff around it, so even if the finish is high polish, the stuff it's mounted on will give it a nice warm halo to give you an idea of what's really going on.  I look forward to charging it up and taking a look at the house, inside some more equipment, and down to the park to see if I can spot any critters i can't usually.

[Fraser]

Regarding palettes ..... remember you can create your own custom palettes with this camera A nice feature not found on the FLIR Ex or Exx series.

Fraser