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Products => Test Equipment => Topic started by: ixfd64 on October 16, 2013, 07:09:44 pm

Title: General Tools thermal imagers - are they any good?
Post by: ixfd64 on October 16, 2013, 07:09:44 pm

General Tools has a line of thermal cameras at very attractive prices. For example, the GTi50 has an IR resolution of 384 x 288 but only costs less than $5,500: http://www.tequipment.net/GeneralGTi50.html (http://www.tequipment.net/GeneralGTi50.html)

However, I could not find any reviews on this brand of cameras. Does anyone know if they're any good?

Title: Re: General Tools thermal imagers - are they any good?
Post by: Stonent on October 17, 2013, 07:58:27 pm

Depends on your need.  That FLIR unit that Mike reviewed was about $1,000. The resolution was lower but the camera with edge detect compensates for the lower res.

Title: Re: General Tools thermal imagers - are they any good?
Post by: ixfd64 on October 19, 2013, 09:46:08 pm

I looked at the specs, and it appears the General Tools cameras do not have the hybrid imaging capabilities that FLIR (MSX) and Fluke (IR-Fusion) units offer. I suspect that may account for the differences in price.

Overall, I don't think General Tools would be a bad choice because I've never seen any complaints about their cameras, and General Tools is generally (no pun intended) a respected brand. Still, I guess some reviews would be nice. Maybe we can convince them to send a unit or two over to Dave. :-)

Title: Re: General Tools thermal imagers - are they any good?
Post by: Psi on October 20, 2013, 12:14:02 am

I don't see much point spending 5k when the 1k Flir is good enough for electronic use.

And with the full sensor data coming out on that pin that mike found, i'm sure someone will build an external display system to use the full sensor res and framerate.
Perhaps even a mod to get it running at high res on its own screen.