Feelelec FR01C

[pmaggi]

Has anyone tried the new FR01C multimeter from Feelelec?
Multimeter specifications are not very impressive, but the combination with a thermal camera seems to be something good.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005469024877.html?spm=a2g0o.store_pc_groupList.8148356.3.2951798eHUki4S&pdp_npi=3%40dis%21USD%21US%20%24220.38%21US%20%24143.25%21%21%21%21%21%402103228816853215370645711e74bb%2112000033204633143%21sh%21UY%21184926361

[Markus2801A]

Ive also seen this new Type of DMM a few days ago, and I'm very interested in the first reviews from the community. Hopefully we will see them asap. ;-)

[coromonadalix]

4000 count dmm and a very basic  90x120 low res     ir imager ??


tried the Uni-T usb android / Pc    ir imager around theses low resolutions,   not practical  a bare minimum

[DaneLaw]

Not gonna do much with that microbolometer-resolution 120x90 (10.800 pixels) and likely a far from well-optimized sharpening algorithm, but atleast it aint 32x24 (768 pixels) as the A & B model seems to carry.

320x240 (77k pix) or 256x192 (57k pix) as a minimum if you want any detailed information when working on circuit boards/components.
I still tend to use a very old Seek compact Pr. FF from 2016/2017 for electronic.
and quite decent for macroshots or video, with an adjustable arm to hold it, with a ext. cable to a display.
Also recall Flir had a series of DMM with inbuilt thermal camsensors.

4S LIPO with a single vented cell.

Resolution certainly valid for looking at a circuits, though a manual focus goes a long way, and these mobile dongles, work well for electronics if you're on a budget in regards to a DMM with a touchscreen, and no manual focus control on a tiny core with ltd resolution..
and nowadays, they have come down in price a lot, after China is mass-producing these microbolometer sensors.

Example of the resolution on these cheap ones from China.. IMO quite ideal for electronics with a manual focus wheel, and you can obviously use it for many other things, even running around with one of these cableless standalone modern VR headsets and see the world in thermal radiation, - you just need a TypeC socket and Android OS.

[LinuxHata]

I ordered it yesterday, will have it on hands in 10-12 days and will provide more info

[KungFuJosh]

320x240 (77k pix) or 256x192 (57k pix) as a minimum if you want any detailed information when working on circuit boards/components.

256 x 192 still sucks. I have an Amcrest thermal camera with 256 x 192, and it's useless for any kind of details. The thermal sensing works fine, and gives me the thermal data I need, but beyond that, no useful info. Impossible to see any small details.

[LinuxHata]

You need to add a macro lens.

I have Flir E4, with E8 firmware (320x240 real resolution). Without macro lens it is unusable for small size electronics, but with macro lens, I can distinguish 0201 SMD components with ease.
For macro lens you can use 50mm lens from CO2 lasers - they are much, much cheaper than "native" macro lens, while delivering same great result.

[LinuxHata]

So I received it.

1. Thermal camera here is of educational grade - just to get the idea how it works, finding fine details will be a hard task with it. I'm going to add macro lens, so let's see.

2. It can capture screenshots into internal memory, which you can later transfer to PC via USB. There is no live video streaming over USB.

3. It has two useful features, which even much more expensive multimeters are lacking - you can configure auto off time and also completely turn it off. Also, you can configure, to which mode device goes during startup - infrared or multimeter, and for multimeter, you can even select where it will go, volts, ohms, etc. Very nice feature!

4. Screen is reasonably bright but contrast is low and angles are poor. Visibility under direct sunlight is close to none.

5. Touch screen is of resistive type, so you have to press it quite hard and there is no multi-touch.

[Nitrous]

did you happen to check out the sensor resolution on the FLUKE-279FC/IFLEX Thermal Multimeter? (~$1281USD)

80x60 with a very small LCD display.

No  matter how good the software is or isn't, the FR01C is a heck of a price drop compared to the Fluke.

Just an observation

[DaneLaw]

320x240 (77k pix) or 256x192 (57k pix) as a minimum if you want any detailed information when working on circuit boards/components.

256 x 192 still sucks. I have an Amcrest thermal camera with 256 x 192, and it's useless for any kind of details. The thermal sensing works fine, and gives me the thermal data I need, but beyond that, no useful info. Impossible to see any small details.

It's likely because of the fixed focus that all aspect of details is out with the bathwater.
A small 8-dollar 8mm to 20mm cheap ZnSE lens from Aliexpress.. can make a big difference.
when using them in a closed-up macro view, like 1.25mm components.. I tried to stack them, both ZnSE and GaAS lenses, as Germanium lenses are very expensive.

There are certain consumer-based dongles, that nowadays seem to carry full-fledged autofocus.. was very close to pulling the trigger on one a few days ago under the singles day sale as they were going around 50% of the previous cost. fx Guide IR Mobir 2S (zoomed view) or 2T (wide) was down 200 to 250 US and GuideSense IR-algorithm called "Sensesmart" was pretty decent on the gun-style models like PC200/210 - but took a pass.. don't need another unit with 192x256 res / autofocus or not, - and it's such a hit or miss with these dongle-based thermal cameras that are eeking out of China the last few years, how well their app is.

One of the big Chinese microbolometer players IRay that mothers the company Infiray.. Even their better models with manual focus dials, like Infiray T3 series (384x288) and some of the T2 series like T2L etc (256x192).. are still relying on the app Xtherm, and its rubbish,  with no manual span-control, and when asked why it aint implemented on their higher end models that goes up in the four digit, and only on the very cheap models between 100 to 200 bucks... the answer is usually - here is our SDK "you go and make your own app"
But there are some user-made apk's for Android and Windows, but the sharpening algorithm often leaves some to be desired.. very crude sharpening

Maybe it has changed, it's been a year or two back, since I checked it.
- but 256x192 can look pretty decent.. if I recall this video I made with a 256x192 core and a cheap battery heating device from CN, but the picture will often be a lot cleaner when in B/W and not with false colors.. https://i.imgur.com/v7vG9zZ.mp4 decent thermal-footage with so low resolution.

Seek (2016/17) Compact pro, which is a pretty noisy 320x240 core, and not much cleanup on the image, if any)
ZnSE + GAaS stacked, when look at some small 1.25mm components..interesting to sense how the actual components & heat/IR behave on the different traces.
- An example of the manual span adjustment on some 1.25mm resistors. (FF unit that peaks around 18hz )