FLIR - Interesting dual FOV thermal camera on eBay. Save me from myself !

[Fraser]

Pin-out of the PM570 I/O connector is attached 

[Fraser]

Regarding a means to locally controlling the camera via RS232, there are several options....

1. Buy the official THV PM series remote controller (sadly rare and expensive as Industry pays serious money for them)

2. Build a simple pre-programmed RS232 remote controller that sends the command strings in response to a button press. Arduino can easily do this task.

3. Buy a programmable RS232 keypad and program it with the RS232 command strings as key macros. Genovation made such keypads but they cost around £100.

4. Find a suitable Audio Visual remote control panel used to control AV equipment over RS232 links. These are expensive new, but available on eBay at reasonable prices

5. Use a laptop or tablet PC to control the camera via a program that can send RS232 command strings in response to button or mouse inputs. This has the disadvantage of boot time and bulk but the advantage of versatility.


I have the original AGEMA/FLIR remote controllers so do not have a great need for an alternative solution I have bought a few Audio Visual equipment RS232 control panels from Extron, Procon and AMX. I have some 6 key, 8 key and 16 key types. Each controller has individually programmable keys and is designed to send a RS232 command string when the key is pressed. A software utility assists with the programming side of things, including data format and baud rate. Procon was bought by AMX so the control panels are the same. Care is needed to buy 'Master' controllers and not 'Slaves' and the controllers must include AV equipment control via RS232. Some are designed to control a video switch or operate on a network to a main controller. Those do not always offer direct RS232 output for equipment control as well. 'IR Blaster' LED output is common and of no concern as long as RS232 is also present.

I attach a picture of my favourite AMX control panel. I bought this particular one recently. It has 16 keys arranged in a useful layout for controlling a Thermovision camera  All key legends may be changed and are just acetate sheet. You can print new ones with a laser printer and laser compatible transparent sheet. The keys are all backlit with blue LED's. Lovely bits of kit and very versatile so I have bought a few over the years.The 16 key control panel supports multiple RS232 appliances via its three RS232 output ports. Expect to pay between £12 and £40 for such a unit on eBay.

Fraser

[Fraser]

For anyone wanting a cheap AMX controller there are some here:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AMX-YP2016-03-16-Button-Novara-ControlPad-Control-Pad-2/202905858987?hash=item2f3e21b3ab:g:CUIAAOSwmU9eSAYc

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AMX-YP2016-01-16-Button-Novara-ControlPad-Control-Pad-W-Mounting-Plate-2/123964575361?epid=1105048497&hash=item1cdcdd4e81:g:Mi8AAOSwLARdwWri

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AMX-YP2016-03-16-Button-Novara-ControlPad-Control-Pad-With-PSU/123968527251?hash=item1cdd199b93:g:a~YAAOSwJwFdxYg6

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AMX-YP2016-01-16-Button-Novara-ControlPad-Control-Pad-W-Mounting-Plate/123964556795?epid=1105048497&hash=item1cdcdd05fb:g:b2UAAOSwTm1dwWTw


You buy at your own risk though so do not blame me if they are not suited to your task! Do your own research 

Fraser

[Fraser]

The Genovation programmable RS232 keypad .....

https://www.dsi-keyboards.com/shop/brands-category/genovation/genovation-controlpad-684-programmable-rs-232-serial-keypad/

Fraser

[Fraser]

My latest AMX programmable RS232 keypad purchase has just arrived. I have several brushed stainless steel versions but wanted this white variant with its nice pin stripe around the keys. Looks to be in excellent condition.

Fraser

[Ultrapurple]

IT LIVES!!!

I X-Rayed the power board so I might get a clue what pins did what. I was helped somewhat by FLIR's decision to populate the main power connector with red wires for +12V and black for 0V (although the colours were re-used on other pins so it wasn't as simple as it sounds). (Note that the X-Ray here is a composite of three exposures. The rectangular area is screened by a metal box that my X-Ray system I could only just penetrate, but at least it showed that there was something suspiciously like a switch mode PSU in there).

Knowing the camera was supposed to run from 12V and that there was a 3A fuse between the input pin and the rest of the circuitry, I set my trusty bench PSY to twelve-and-a-bit volts, set the current limit to 2A and connected up.

There were some weird graunching noises from within the camera that stopped after a second or so. They were, I believe, the dual field of view and focus systems stretching their muscles. The only sound after that was the very, very quiet internal fan.

After 20 or 30 seconds the monitor lit up with the FLIR ThermoVision Integrator 5/20 splash screen. The monitor reported that the signal was PAL, which was useful to know. Definitely a good start. Shortly after that I was rewarded with a very nice thermal image!

As yet I have no means of adjusting the focus or field of view but I was able to get good quality, 25Hz (possibly 50Hz) images in good focus simply by pointing the camera at something about the right distance away.

Finally, I tried the time-honoured handprint on the wall test. The handprint was very visible after one minute and still detectable after more than 3 minutes. This bodes very well for sensitivity!

I have purchased one of the RS-232 macro keypads that Fraser mentioned in the preceding post (mine appears identical). Now 'all' I have to do is find out the command set and figure out the comms pinouts, baud rate and start/stop bit format.

Thanks and kudos to everyone who has helped me to get this far.

[Ultrapurple]

Just as an aside, while I had the camera in pieces I tried putting a Therm-App camera sans lens against the optical block. I was pleased to discover I could get a nice, sharp image quite easily. Given that the Therm-App sensor is much smaller than the one the optical system was designed for, I wasn't surprised to see pretty fantastic magnification - something like a 2° field of view.

Using the optical block with a Therm-App was really only a fallback position in case the camera didn't work; I'm pleased to report it all works very nicely.

[Miek]

Nice! 

Now 'all' I have to do is find out the command set and figure out the comms pinouts, baud rate and start/stop bit format.

If it's the same as the other ThermoVision cameras, it should be 19200Bd 8N1. It should also print a bunch of info on bootup so you can look out for that.
Most of the commands are documented in the SC3000 manual available here: https://flir.custhelp.com/app/account/fl_download_manuals

[Fraser]

In case anyone has trouble finding the configuration client for the AMX RS232 keypads I mentioned. They were originally made by PROCON and AMX bought them in 2008. The PROCON configuration client is available via Wayback Machine. AMX may also provide the configuration client upon request.

WWW.PROCON.CO.UK

Fraser

[Ultrapurple]

Here's a direct video capture from the analogue output. There is a better sample video still here]Here's how I got it using an Easycap dongle and an old phone.

The black borders are the same as we saw in the off-screen photos posted previously (particularly the 'first light' image, which was deliberately cropped loosely to show the whole monitor).

[Fraser]

The first thing I saw when looking at your Picture was a Frog looking back at me 

I have highlighted froggy in the image 

Fraser

[Ultrapurple]

I see what you mean!

[Ultrapurple]

Here's the basic pinout that I can confirm works and produces good video. I'll add details of RS-232 etc when I have established communication with the camera.

I recommend you remove the black lid that houses the electronics and unplug the tape-style heater element that's attached to the lid. It would normally be off but if it does turn on you can expect the current consumption to increase substantially from the 600mA or so when the camera is displaying a static picture. Current consumption is higher - but I don't know by how much - when activating the focus or FoV motors.

[Fraser]

It will be interesting to see whether the camera is also able to supply a S-Video output like that found on the PM series.

In case anyone is wondering... the PM series cameras use a conventional RS232 interface. That is to say, it adheres to the RS232 standard signal levels and polarity. It is not the “UART RS232” that is found on FLIR cores like the TAU series. I would expect the Dual FOV core to be using standard RS232 as well. The UART to RS232 level converter should be easy to find on the cameras RiCo PCB, as seen on the PM series LiCo PCB.

It is also worth noting that the PM series LiCo boards contain two RS232 ports, of which only one is brought out to the I/O port. I believe the second RS232 port is associated with engineering tests etc.

Fraser

[Fraser]

As expected the same RS232 level converter IC as found on the PM series is to be found on the RiCo board of the dual FOV camera. It is an LT1381 and I have marked its location on the attached image.

https://www.analog.com/media/en/technical-documentation/data-sheets/1381fas.pdf

Fraser

[Fraser]

The location of the LT1381 IC is different on a PM series board.

[Fraser]

Interestingly the PM675 uses a MAX232 RS232 level shifter IC

[Ultrapurple]

The plot thickens.

I realised that I was getting composite video the opposite way round from that shown in Fraser's pinout of the PM570. So I thought it would be worth investigating further. I X-Rayed the RICO and RISL boards and marked up a portion of the RICO boards with the PM570 pin functions (red), colours of the wires that are plugged in (black), wires that are twisted together in two sets (cyan) and the known functions or resistance measurements to ground (magenta).

It's fairly clear that the pinout doesn't match the PM570. Initially I wondered if the pinout was a mirror image (as the composite out appeared on the same pins, but swapped), however it soon became clear this wasn't the case.

Unless anyone has any bright ideas to the contrary I guess my next move will be to hang a scope off the pins during startup (to see if I can spot a RS-232 output talking) and then check the voltages when the camera is booted and in a steady state. Any thoughts?

[Fraser]

Hi Ultrapurple,

I did have the pin out mirrored in my first draft of the connector due to the way I was testing the cable. I thought I corrected that in my image that I added to this thread but I will check.

To locate the RS232 RX and TX I would suggest a continuity check between the LT1381 RX and TX pins and the pins of that white connector. The S-Video can be spotted with an oscilloscope.

Fraser

[Fraser]

PM570 Pin out checked and confirmed 

The dual FOV camera may have more than one composite video output to provide both a local and remote monitor video signal. There can also be things like Genloc inputs for image synchronisation, especially as the camera is often used in harmony with a visible light camera. The presence of an S-Video port is often given away by a dual core coaxial cable. Shield = S-Video ground plus the C and Y signals on the two cores. There can also be a 12V out power rail for a local monitor, or remote control, but that does not come from this white connector on a PM570 (it comes directly from the power supply board).

Fraser

[Ultrapurple]

To locate the RS232 RX and TX I would suggest a continuity check between the LT1381 RX and TX pins and the pins of that white connector.

That quite simply hadn't occurred to me!

Checking the datasheet for the LT1381 shows there to be an internal 5k to ground on the input pins so I checked for that and soon found the single pin on the white connector that matched that description. Then I had to work out which chip it connected to. After fruitlessly checking the chips on the RISL board I took another look at the larger RICO and found one LT1381 on that board that, perhaps unsurprisingly, belled out to the socket. (Yes, it was the one Fraser had pointed out earlier...) From there it wasn't hard to discover the output pin.

I have updated the X-Ray image accordingly; the revised version is below.

Next step: work out which of the D-connector pins are connected to the RS-232 port, and establish comms.

[Fraser]

I ringed the RS232 LT1381 location for you on the RiCo picture, above 

Glad you identified the pins 

Fraser

[Ultrapurple]

Comms established!

As suggested, 19200 baud, 8 bit / n / 1, Xon/Xoff.

I can get into the camera and control many of the functions, including switching between narrow and wide field of views, though I have yet to discover how to adjust the focus. Control is a little tedious at the moment, as I have to simulate button presses with, for example, "button:esc" to 'press' the escape key. But I do have a panel I can program with these keystrokes so it's just a matter of finding what commands I need (particularly for focus) and programming the panel.

Here are some screenshots. Do I really believe the camera has clocked 93,640 hours of runtime? 11 years or so? Maybe, particularly if it was made circa 2005.

[Fraser]

The hours count is likely genuine. I have Ex Military Getac rugged laptops with similar accumulated hours as they were part of 24/7 systems. At least you know the unit has been well and truly ‘burnt-in’

If the camera follows the same design as the PM series units, the on-screen menu does not provide the focus adjustment. The focus becomes active using the on-camera joystick or the navigation pad on the remote control. I suspect you will need to send discrete commands for joystick up, down, left and right to access functions not available whilst the menu is active. Alternatively you may have to send focus- and focus+ commands rather than simulating joystick inputs.

You have yourself a very nice camera now 

Fraser

[Ultrapurple]

Some useful commands I have found in various bits of documentation. This list is far from exhaustive: it's just notes of the ones I think are most useful. I will expand it as I find more.

A command followed by a colon means 'set this thing to whatever is after the colon'
A command followed by a question mark means 'tell me the current setting of this thing'

Send these from a terminal program, typed as shown, followed by <enter>. Commands are not case-sensitive.

echo:on
echoes characters back to the terminal so you can see what you've typed

focuspos:0
initiates autofocus

focuspos?
reports focus position as a number

focusmov:up
moves focus (quickly!) to near limit

focusmov:down
moves focus (quickly!) to infinity

focusmov:stop
stops any focus movement in progress

I think there are further ways of using these focus commands to jog forwards / backwards; more investigation needed

button:f2
force FFC flag event and optimise image

button:fov
swap field of view 5>20 or 20>5

spot:vis
seems to turn off central crosshair

button:ent
presses 'enter'; brings up onscreen menu

button:esc
presses 'escape'; turns off onscreen menu

button:inv
swaps between white hot and black hot (or equivalent on other pallettes)

button:u
presses 'up button' (for navigating menus etc)

button:d
presses 'down button'

button:l
presses 'left button'

button:r
presses 'right button'

palette:grey
palette:ironbow
palette:rainbow
sets the named palette (you can get a list of available palettes by sending palettes?)

palette:lin
sets linear palette

freeze:on
freezes display

freeze:off
restores live display
a cycle of freeze:on followed by freeze:off will save current settings (palette, display modes, screen furniture etc) as a new power-on default