EEVblog Electronics Community Forum
Products => Thermal Imaging => Topic started by: panzer04 on October 11, 2020, 09:41:15 am
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Hi all,
I bought a TE-Q1 last year, and found myself quite impressed and pleased with what it can do. However, I have recently been attempting to observe animal activity with it, and run into its limitations. While it has good performance and resolution compared to most any other thermal imager for the price, It's not quite sufficient for that purpose. Additionally, while 9Hz framerate is certainly passable for most purposes, birds and the like can often only be present for a few frames if in flight, so I'm hoping to upgrade that too.
As such, I've found myself looking into VGA imagers; namely the thermapp pro and the TE-V1. I've seen it referenced previously that the thermapp pro is a superior camera to the V1, but unfortunately it seems to be all but unobtainable right now, due to Opgal shifting focus during the pandemic. Information on the V1 is pretty limited, with few examples online, and most of what I can find on the thermapp comes from what I've seen from @UltraPurple (who has generally glowing things to say about it). Can anyone comment much on their personal experience with a V1? From what I've seen it looks good, but an anecdote or two never hurts.
I've also since also noticed that Thermal Expert is selling a new 1024x768 camera (The EX2). Information seems fairly limited on it aside from what I can find from TE themselves. Regardless, I'm looking into it; 1024x768 is some pretty ludicrous resolution for a thermal camera. Does anyone here have any information about it, or used it (Software wise as well, as TE's Windows software does not list it like all their other cameras)? TE unfortunately does not provide the best demonstrations of it's capabilities, IMO, aside from just showing the sheer resolution it has.
Since I'm currently aiming to obtain a 30Hz camera, I'll have to try and sort out legal export from Korea to AU from TE. Whether that's successful or not is up in the air, but if it is I'll have to decide on whether it's worth upgrading to an EX2, as that is only available in 30Hz... In a valuation sense it's not, I don't make money off thermal, but the hardware geek inside me wants one anyway :p.. Can anyone comment on getting 30Hz direct from TE?
I suspect I'll sort out a lot of these details with TE directly once I establish whether an export from Korea will even be possible, as there's rather not much point looking too deeply into it before then.
For those curious, I have been quoted $2700 USD for a V1, and $7500 USD for an EX2 (Couched with the caveat that 30Hz variants are export controlled :(). The EX2 price is about the same price per pixel as the V1, and it does include a lens.
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Is there any particular reason you want a phone dongle? If you main intention is to go out and spot wildlife, why not look into monoculars instead? Those are up to 50/60 Hz rugged, standalone and often feature detail enhancement options.
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The idea is to be able to leave it out, recording, and capture activity. Moreover, I personally prefer the flexibility of dongles - It's easy to use for other purposes and images, compared to a built-for-purpose monocular. I did check up on monoculars, and must say I was surprised that FLIR sells a 640x480 60Hz for $4k AUD, though.
We've tried leaving out the Q1 for a proof of concept - it's a little bit awkward, since the software they have for capturing the image seems to fail on longer videos, but running a screencap software on a laptop while running the camera allows for easy, long video captures. It also requires a windows device - laptops fit the bill, and it's reasonably simple to set up.
EDIT: To be clear, it's not that we can't see wildlife with a Q1; it's merely a matter of it lacking detail. We can discern rabbits and birds out to ~20m from our porch, but you have to look for characteristics to do it (eg. rabbit ears and the like :p).
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With dongles you may end up with dead weigh long term, either new phones will no longer be compatible or the camera manufacture will drop software support for older camera models. Something to consider.
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With dongles you may end up with dead weigh long term, either new phones will no longer be compatible or the camera manufacture will drop software support for older camera models. Something to consider.
I have a Therm-app TH, and there is little software available to go with it. It only works with a few pieces of software that all run on Android. I would not count on long term support, nor being able to easily talk to the camera with anything but an aging and limited set of software. It's still usable, and there is limited support, but frankly I think it's a dead end and I wish I had gotten something else. But, it works well, so I have not had to replace it.
Just my $0.02,
John
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With dongles you may end up with dead weigh long term, either new phones will no longer be compatible or the camera manufacture will drop software support for older camera models. Something to consider.
I don’t think this is as big a negative as it’s often made out to be - most thermal imagers are integrated pieces of equipment that go obsolete anyway. Being unable to upgrade to a newer device for it is, if anything, a unique but limited benefit of dongles. If you are worried about newer phones not supporting it, just keep one around for it - I have an S7 from a friend that upgraded that I use pretty much solely for the thermal camera.
I don’t know how this applies to other imagers, but the TE dongles have a basic but functional windows program as well, which will pretty much never go obsolete given Microsoft’s dedication to backwards compatibility.