thermal cam for electronics repair, low cost about 350€

[frank10]

I want to buy a thermal cam to inspect some electronic boards to repair with voltage injection.
It's for hobby (I'll use it also for some house analysis), so I'll buy a low cost one: I think about 350€ max.
I'm looking at these, it seems all are capable of near focusing 15cm:
1)    seek Compact        289€ 
or    Seek Compact XR              349€
focusable lens
thermal sensor 206x156
8-14um
Compact:      FOV: 36°    15cm   9Hz
Compact XR:      FOV: 20°    15cm   9Hz
Pro: manual focus, 20°?
Cons: less sensor res, 9Hz

2) HT-201              345€
fixed lens
ht-201: thermal sensor 320x240 8-14um  Field angle/focus length 26°×34   15cm   9Hz (but I saw 15fps with ThermoVision on W10)
(for comparison, Ht-301 (too much money...): Field of view: 28.2 * 21.3  Lens: 13mm)
Pro: better sensor, 15fps on W10 (but I suppose also Seek could do it with thermalView)
Cons: fixed lens
video with 201 + CO2 lens at 15fps:


So:
1) FOV: Which FOV (or focal length) is better to inspect boards? 20°-26°-36° ?
2) MACRO: Is 15cm focus sufficient? Or which macro lens should I buy to achieve better result? With the XR 20° is it still necessary a macro lens? Will it focus anyway better?
3) MANUAL FOCUS: Is it really manual focusable better than HT fixed one? I saw many here bought HT-301...

[Bill W]

So:
1) FOV: Which FOV (or focal length) is better to inspect boards? 20°-26°-36° ?
2) MACRO: Is 15cm focus sufficient? Or which macro lens should I buy to achieve better result? With the XR 20° is it still necessary a macro lens? Will it focus anyway better?
3) MANUAL FOCUS: Is it really manual focusable better than HT fixed one? I saw many here bought HT-301...

You need to work out how big a pixel will be for the given sensor / field of view / focus range, and then compare that to the size of things you want to see on your PCB.  If it is OK, no need for the Macro lens

Manual focus will always be better

Bill

[Hamelec]

personally, i would prefer a standalone cam..
nothing which will or will not work with my actual Phone.

[frank10]

I discovered that the Seek models does not improve fps on Windows prog.
So only the HT-201 has better sensor and better fps at the same price.

I think I'll go with HT.

Eventually for the macro thing it's not clear to me how to choose one...
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https://www.amazon.it/dp/B07MC4D4JL/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?pd_rd_i=B07MLX3SNS&pd_rd_w=eSD7k&pf_rd_p=96761fa3-4234-49dd-8d6b-59aa6f96396a&pd_rd_wg=top52&pf_rd_r=FWDZTXMSZGF6CV8Z2T26&pd_rd_r=b677e435-ff05-4f9b-b743-15e82a6f781f&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFXQk1LMThHUUpUSzQmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAzNDQ2NTFES05CTUZLTVQyRzMmZW5jcnlwdGVkQWRJZD1BMDI3MTQxNzIxU0NFT0FJSVBDQU4md2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWxfdGhlbWF0aWMmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl&th=1



Which Dia mm should I choose for ht-201?
38.1mm/1.5''   or    50.8mm/2''  :   /1.5'' or /2'' does it mean the focus distance I'll reach? Apart the native focal lens?
i.e. Ht-201 has a native 34mm + 38.1mm macro: what focal lens will be finally? Will it focus at 1.5''?

[riccardo.pittini]

I have an HT-201. 

It works nicely and I made a 3d printed adapter for close focus (buy 50mm or 35mm lens, the ones i got 75mm is still too far).
I used on my P30 lie (USBC) and ona  an older phone (microusb). works also with PC (USBC cable) if you have a software for it (you can also script your own python drivers).

For the price I found it as a very good deal.

[Irving]

I've just bought an HT-201. Could you explain how you made the HT-201 work on Windows, and which USB cable did you buy?