Photon 160 Help

[packetbob]

I have a Indigo Photon camera module (circa 2010)..
I think it may be a Photon 160 as it has the 6.3mm lens and according to a spec sheet, this was the only one available with the 6.3mm lens. It has the 15 pin D-Sub connector on the back. I have managed to power it up and get black and white streaming video out of the unit from the appropriate pins. However I want to be able to control the features via the serial port and have a few questions:

1) Software - I have a copy of the FLIR Camera Controller v119 (got it from the FLIR site) but not sure of this is compatible with the old module. There is this thread (https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/searching-flir-photon-gui/) about finding a copy of the older software. Does anyone have any of these older apps?

2) Serial Hardware - The serial control interface is RS-232 but uses 3.3V signaling. Does this mean it uses 3.3V TTL logic levels (in which a simple USB to 3.3V serial module can be used) or does it mean is uses +3/-3 (instead of +12/-12)RS-232 signaling. I have found a few related threads here (https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/thermal-camera-teardown-the-flir-tau-320-by-fraser/msg1004215/#msg1004215) but I'm still not 1--% clear on who to connect to a PC serial port. Does anyone have a wiring diagram of a required convertor?

Thanks for any help...

[RO]

I don't have software, a wiring diagram or a required convertor; and sadly no photon either.

But just wanted to inform you user RDTECH from topic:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/flir-photon-160320-control-firmware-completed-(non-pc-control-msa-50005200)/
has developed a very nice RS232 Control board

[hitechtalent]

Hello Packet Bob!

Rather than use a converter, I used an inexpensive FTDI FT232R USB UART re-configured with FT_PROG to invert the signals and then wired it directly to the Photon core TX, RX, and Ground leads.

FT232RL FTDI USB 3.3V to TTL Serial Adapter Module

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2251832087235392.html

FT_PROG User Guide

http://www.ftdichip.com/Support/Documents/AppNotes/AN_124_User_Guide_For_FT_PROG.pdf

FT_PROG can be downloaded from here.

https://ftdichip.com/utilities/

Photon 160 SAMTEC pinout

http://alacron.com/clientuploads/directory/Cameras/INDIGO/indigo-photon_data.pdf

regards,

hitechtalent