Uni-t UTi260B

[discrete]

Hi Guys,

I need something for occasional home use (building insulation, electric/electronic devices, PCBs). This one ticks many boxes, but there are no reviews or mention of it anywhere:

https://www.uni-trend.com/html/product/NewProducts/UTi%20industrial%20Series/UTi260B.html

- 256x192 IR pixels with some visible light blending modes
- 25 Hz!
- USB C connectivity with PC side software
- Suspiciously cheap at around USD300

EDIT: The more I look at the options, the more this one looks like a no-brainer. What am I missing? Would a Seek or HTi phone module be a better option?

Thanks for any thoughts on this!

[Fux]

Hi,

sounds really good according to the technical data.
I would have the same usecases.
There is discount code for Banggood available: BGherra. So you can get it for USD 280.
Sounds like a good Christmas present (for myself :-)

[Fraser]

Just ensure that the 256x192 pixels are physical pixels and not the result of interpolation.

I have seen a description of the camera that states “80x60 to 256x192” for the IR resolution. That read as interpolation or an electronic zoom function. Such is an unusual way to describe the resolution unless it meant there were several different models with differing resolution.

Fraser

[Fraser]

UTi-260B would appear to have been replaced by the UTi-260K so the discontinued model may be available at a good price, as noted by the OP.

https://www.uni-trend.com/html/product/NewProducts/UTi165/

https://www.uni-trend.com/html/product/NewProducts/UTi165/UTi260K.html

I have not found any useful information to suggest interpolation is used on the cameras microbolometer but upscaling will be needed to fit the 320 x 240 pixel LCD display.

With thermal imaging cameras, you tend to get what you pay for unless heavily discounted for some reason. If a camera looks too cheap compared to similar offerings from other manufacturers, there is often a dirty little secret waiting to be exposed  Interpolation of a low resolution FPA is one such ‘trick’ to catch the unwary buyer. The word “resolution” actually means nothing unless defined as physical or processed.

Fraser

[Unix5566]

i tend to buy this model too, atm i use the Seek Thermal Compact with the Hti Xintai Apps for more Options

so does the Uti260B hast the 256x192 Sensor Resolution?

On Banggood i fount this chart

[Fraser]

For info, the UTi-260K sells for around $700 which is more like what I would expect for the stated resolution.

Fraser

[Unix5566]

but if you consider that thermal imagers that released this year got much better in price and resolution... if you search on Ali for the Hikvision H10 you get 160x120 @25Hz for 240€

[Fraser]

Unix5566,

It is not easy to find out except to ask UNI-T what the physical resolution of the microbolometer is. Manufacturers sometime obscure that information deliberately.

The UNI-T camera range appears similar to others that offer different resolutions at different price points. They normally use a single microbolometer across the whole range but either artificially reduce the resolution in the lower cost cameras or use the opposite technique and create higher resolution models using interpolation.

At first glance the UNI-T UTi-260b does appear to be an ‘honest’ resolution of 256x192 pixels and I can find no evidence of interpolation being used to deceive the buyer. My earlier comment regarding the “80x60 to 256x192” resolution may be explained as a description of the complete range of cameras in this series. They offer 80x60 up to 256x192 pixels resolution, depending upon the model purchased.

This seems a very good price for a 256x192 pixel self contained thermal camera. It might be wise to buy from a source that accepts returns though as some thermal cameras disappoint once received.

Fraser

[Unix5566]

in the BG Q&A's i found this

Version K is aimed towards measuing fever in people (Limited range around 30ºC but increased accuracy ±0.5ºC).
Version B is for industrial use, the accuracy is lower but allows for a vast measurement range

so the older K Version had a better sensitivity... sadly China is right now the only place to get this device

[Fraser]

H10 is obsolete.

Current model

https://www.tequipment.net/Hikvision/DS-2TP-HF13-AUF/Thermal-Temperature-Screening-Systems/

$545

[Unix5566]

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001422640955.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.72795e18oR6o9a&algo_pvid=792b7732-cd57-4d05-9eeb-fc91f510058a&algo_expid=792b7732-cd57-4d05-9eeb-fc91f510058a-6&btsid=2100bddb16054480998757824ee392&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

[Fraser]

Unix5566,

China is currently in the midst of a frantic challenge to produce accurate “fever screening” thermal cameras. It was an edict from the Chinese Government that thermal camera manufacturers focus on fever screening technology. The problem is that most/all thermal cameras are not accurate enough for the task when configured for general use. The error is commonly stated as +-2C or 2%, whichever is greater. The Chinese Government requires an accuracy of 0.3% for fever screening cameras. The best way to achieve such accuracy is to reduce the range over which the thermal camera provides measurements and very carefully calibrate the camera. That combined with lock-in thermography using a temperature reference in the FOV meets the desired accuracy specifications.

A fever screening camera may not be that useful for general use if it does not have wider measurement capability as well. Some cameras have general and medical modes to meet the needs of a more varied customer base.

Fraser

[Fraser]

Try finding the H10 on Hikvision’s web site 

It looks to be an obsolete model so some may be available at a discount.

Fraser

[discrete]

Thanks Fraser, Fux!

Good to know about the resolution trickery. I guess these could also be b-grade sensors, with high dead-pixels count or similar?

On the Uni-t site, the 260B is also under 'new products', but in the 'industrial series' category.
The 260K seems to be targeted to fever scanning as Unix5566 mentioned, so I am hoping the price premium is mostly due to the increased sensitivity and the current demand.

I pulled the trigger on that Banggood deal. I do not have anything to compare it with, but hopefully I can give some feedback in a month or two. 

[Unix5566]

what to loose  i mean even if it may disappoints it will be easy to resell it on eBay or else

i think i will give it a try too

[Fraser]

Discrete,

It does look like a good deal 

I hope it performs well for you.

Regarding the quality of microbolometers used...... whilst it is true that science grade microbolometers are of the highest quality with the minimum of dead pixels, most general use microbolometers are still of very good quality with 99.6% or 99.8% pixels within specification. Many microbolometers are far better than that specification. I am not sure that microbolometer makers actually release FPA’s with high dead pixel counts. The acceptance testing criteria for a thermal imaging FPA is pretty specific and tight. This is good news for buyers of the technology.

Now that China is producing its own microbolometers, we may see a change in the production acceptance criteria for cheaper cameras, but that is not something I know about.

Enjoy your camera 

Fraser

[Fraser]

Unix5566

 

[bap2703]

Fraser: can you even know how many dead pixels are in a sensor?
I mean, after all the corrections it's pretty hard to notice them.

[Fraser]

bap2703,

It is difficult for a user to establish how many non functioning pixels are present on a thermal sensor FPA for the reason that you detail. All FPA’s will contain pixels that are either faulty or produce an output that falls outside of the acceptable specification. The image data from the ROIC is normally RAW and subsequent image processing stages create the Non Uniformity Correction and Flat Field Correction tables that both capture ‘out of specification’ pixels and try to correct other pixel outputs to achieve a good Flat Field output. The dead pixel map is created by the NUC ‘calibration’ process carried out at the factory. Any pixel that produces an unacceptable pixel output value is marked as ‘Dead’.

Once the Dead Pixel map has been produced the image processing stages of the camera do their best to disguise those pixels from the users view. This is relatively easy in most cases as the values of surrounding pixels may be used to create an average value to replace that of the dead pixel position in the array. Life becomes a little more challenging when a cluster of dead pixels or a dead column is detected. A cluster can cause a dead spot in the image displayed that cannot be concealed by the image processing and a dead column can be a challenge to hide from the human brain that sees pixel correlation and recreates the defective line in some cases. For these reasons a thermal FPA sensor specification normally states that the FPA shall not contain more than a certain number of pixels in a cluster and adjacent to each other. Dead Columns may also be a reason to reject an FPA.

Whilst dead pixel concealment is very effective, in applications where EVERY pixel output is being analysed, such as in some science applications, it is important for the user to know which pixels are not truly active and their data should be discounted from the results. This is limited to science applications though and not really an issue with general camera use.

If a camera is received and it is displaying dead pixels on its display..... it has suffered pixel failures since original calibration and should be sent for a new NUC and dead pixel map creation. Dead pixels are not truly a “Fault” in terms of a camera containing them..... they are a fact of life that the image processing system is designed to cope with.

So how can you find out how many dead pixels your cameras FPA actually contains ?

It is not that easy to discover the dead pixel count without entering the cameras engineering modes or accessing the dead pixel map. A dead pixel map often exists as an image file containing all the pixels present on the FPA but highlighting those that are market based. The image processing stages read the dead pixel locations out of the image file. Gaining access to the dead pixel map is not a simple task on many cameras unless access can be gained to the operating system and configuration files.

It may be possible to detect pixels that are bing disguised by image processing by sweeping a thin IR source wire across the FOV and analysing the image output for deformations in the imaged line. Not something I have ever done and a purely theoretical process. There is normally no need to analyse the dead pixel content of an FPA unless an issue arises in the cameras correction process or damage is suspected, such as laser induced pixel distortion etc.

Most manufacturers of microbolometers clearly state the percentage of functional pixels expected to exist on a production FPA. This is generally 99.6% or 99.8% as I have already stated. Many microbolometers provide far more functional pixels as tests on the E4 and it’s dead pixel map image showed. The service mode on many cameras tells you how many pixels are marked as bad. The service modes can sometimes provide the option to carry out a fresh NUC process and create a new dead pixel map to correct pixels that have drifted badly or failed in use. Thankfully most FPA’s work their whole life with the original NUC table and dead pixel map created at the time of production.

Fraser

[Bill W]

If a camera is received and it is displaying dead pixels on its display.....

You are likely to get displays with dead pixels too, commonly fixed on ones at that.  Those of course cannot be fixed, or maybe some black paint......   

It may be possible to detect pixels that are being disguised by image processing by sweeping a thi IR source wire across the FOV and analysing the image output for deformations in the imaged line. Not something I have ever done and a purely theoretical process.

This does indeed work, with any good edge.  How easily does depend on the replacement system being used.  A Raytheon BST does a simple 'copy next' so produces horizontal lines, some tend to copy down/right, some will do an average of the good neighbours.


What might be surprising was that a 320x240 (76k pixels) gives a perfectly acceptable image with over 1000 dead as long as they are scattered.
These were caused by assembly misadventure, not from the supplier like it.  One where the cross check between supplier test data ( say 10 dead) and final camera test (8 bit overflow error) came in useful.


Bill

[ir.ukrm]

How many dead pixels are there in E4?

[edigi]

I've pulled the trigger on this one and it arrived today (shipping was very fast).
A 16GB microSD card and an USB cable was included in the package as well beyond a brief but reasonable manual.
I don't have much experience with this kind of cameras, so far I've used only a Mestek IR01C to check PCBs or building insulation mistakes. This naturally will make it a lot easier.
Thus my expected use of the camera is pretty much the same as of the OP's.

It probably won't see much scientific usage so should there be any pixel errors it's not my concern (the display has none, and sensor pixel fault is hard to detect as probably similar interpolating algorithms are used as with photography cameras so I don't know if it has one).

The boot time is around 20s (mostly there is a progress bar) and the switching between the low and high gain takes also around 20-25s (there is no progress bar here). High gain is -15-150C, low gain 150-550C.
I suspect that the refresh rate is not reaching the spec (or because it's < it's not even close to it) and there is also some lag if I move the camera but for my use it's OK.
Sometimes there is some clicking noise that can be heard in silent environment.
It drains battery quite fast (or I've played a lot with it without noticing) but it seems to be charging when it's used while connected to USB as well (or at least battery indicator is stepping).

I can't say much about accuracy as I don't have anything similar to compare but it agrees with my other measurement methods (temperature probe of DMM included as well).

In overall I feel it will cover my use cases and I like it.
I have no doubt though that for more money there are better cameras but at this price point I have probably nothing to complain about.

Attached 2 photos (both high gain mode; I had to convert them to JPG as BMP does not seem to work). One from my laptop and second one is the towel dryer in our bathroom.

[Fraser]

That is very respectable imaging at that price point 

Fraser

[Fraser]

This camera looks to use the iRay Tiny1 imaging engine.....

http://www.infiray.com/tiny1.html

iRay are a big player in thermal imagining equipment manufacture in China 

Fraser

[Fraser]

Looking around at other thermal cameras that use the iRay Tiny1 imaging engine, you have got a camera at a very good price 

Fraser

[edigi]

Probably you're right, spec-wise it's a good match.

I've checked the link and it occurred to me very soon what's the clicking noise: Aperture (or is diaphragm the correct word?) change.
I don't know if it's common with all such cameras but the purpose is the very same as with photo cameras: The amount of light can be controlled so good sensitivity can be kept without over driving the sensor in case of strong light (heat) source.
I just did not expect it to be used also here.

[Fraser]

It is the mechanically operated Flat Field Correction (FFC) flag being activated to correct for pixel drift in the sensor array. Most microbolometer based cameras have them but some manage to avoid using an FFC flag by using compensation tables and maths. Some high temperature cameras do have a calibrated diaphragm that is brought into the optical path to assist the microbolometer in coping with the high levels of energy present in high temperature situations. Not a common item on budget cameras however.

Fraser

[edigi]

Thank you, I think I've learned something also in this area today.

Is guess FFC is somewhat comparable to dark noise (current) extraction of astro cameras but it tries to do a pixel sensitivity calibration at the same time, doesn't it?
I've made a quick check of the acronym but to me it's not obvious how the uniformity of pixel sensitivity is achieved.
Is some reference object placed very briefly in front or the sensor? is that then the clicking noise?

UPDATE: I've checked the clicking noise once more: It's roughly periodic with a 5-6s period (maybe it also depends on a lot of factors like ambient temperature etc.) and after the click the LCD update freezes for roughly 0.5s. This frequent correction is crazy but I couldn't find a way in the manual to make it less frequent.

[chofroa]

Hello,

. is there, in the caracteristics of this camera, any one(s) that would make it inappropriate or less appropriate for a home inspection ?
https://www.uni-trend.com/html/product/NewProducts/UTi%20industrial%20Series/UTi260B.html
Specifications
Model        UTi260B
Certifications    CE/RoHS
Temperature range      -15~550℃
IR resolution        256x192 pixel
Field of view (FOV)    56°x 42°
Thermal sensitivity (NETD)    50mk
Spatial resolution (IFOV)    3.8mrad
Frame rate        25Hz
Measurement accuracy    ±2℃ or ±2% whichever is greater
Palettes        7
Emissivity    Adjustable (0.01-1)
Focus        Focus free
Display modes     Thermal, blending, visible, PIP
Display       2.8”LCD
ROI (eliminates interference)    √

. what could be the distance min and max from the target to measure ?

thanks !

[Fraser]

From the provided specification, the UTI-260B will be OK for personal home inspection purposes. It is not up to the standard expected for commercial home energy audits and building inspections though.

The unit has a relatively wide 56 degree horizontal field of view which suits both interior and close range exterior building inspection. Minimum focus distance from the fixed focus lens will be around 1 metre and it will provide reasonable focus all the way to infinity. Practical measurement distance is likely to be limited by the resolution as the pixel size ‘on-target’ gets larger the further away you get. The IFOV is 3.8mrad so you can use that to see how large a measurement pixel is on the target at a particular distance.

This camera appears to be a reasonable ‘general use’ budget product that will meet the less demanding users needs. I would place it in a similar category to the Seek Thermal Dongles and Reveal series in terms of market segment. In terms of price, it looks to be value for money but you do get what you pay fir so expectations needs to be managed.

Fraser

[Fraser]

edigi

The FFC event is used by the core to recalibrate its temperature measurement system and to maintain a relatively flat field output from the pixels. It is some times called “touch-up” as the FFC trims the pixel gains to maintain a nice even output for a given input across the whole sensor array. Without the FFC event or a replacement mathematical correction, the image can degrade due to pixel drift and measurement accuracy is also degraded.
The FFC flag acts as a thermally flat scene in front of the microbolometer against which the image processing and measurement systems calibrate. The period between FFC events is dependant upon several factors including the manufacturers preference for the intended use. An FFC event is normally periodic, as set in the cameras configuration but may be instigated at will be the user or when the cameras ambient temperature changes significantly.

When a microbolometer based thermal camera is first switched on, the microbolometer die begins to warm up to normal operating temperature and stabilises at a point of equilibrium that is often in the range 30C to 34C. During the warming up period that can last up to 2 minutes, the FFC events occur more regularly as the camera self calibrates to compensate for the temperature rise in the microbolometer. Once the camera has warmed up to operating temperature the frequency of FFC events drops back to the period set by the manufacturer for ‘maintain accuracy and flat field’ purposes. The period is chosen based upon the manufacturers experience of the microbolometers behaviour during environmental testing at the design stage. As stated, a common FFC event interval is 2 minutes but some cameras permit this interval to be changed or even switched off altogether for video recordings etc.

In the case of the Seek Thermal thermal imaging cores, we saw a very regular FFC event but the duration is very short. SEEK Thermal are regularly applying the FFC event to maintain their microbolometers flat field and accuracy. It could be that the microbolometer is somewhat thermally unstable or it may be a way to maintain image quality on the 12um pixel based tiny microbolometer. It would seem that the Imaging core in the UTi-260B behaves in a similar way. It is unlikely that the FFC event period can be changed on this budget camera. This may just be something that must be tolerated as part of owning an inexpensive thermal camera. There is no such thing as a free lunch in life

Fraser

[chofroa]

thank you very much Fraser,

It is not up to the standard expected for commercial home energy audits and building inspections though.

may I ask you what caracteristics/numbers you would mainly look for ?

[Fraser]

This article should answer your questions.

https://irinfo.org/04-01-2014-warner/

Fraser

[Fraser]

RESNET guidance from 2010

https://www.efficiencyvermont.com/Media/Default/bbd/2011/docs/presentations/efficiency-vermont-schwoegler-resnetir-standard-2010.pdf

Fraser

[Fraser]

RESNET 2011 interim recommendations......

https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/resnet/resnet-guidelines-forthromographicinspections

Fraser

[Fraser]

Some more reading....

http://obec.on.ca/sites/default/uploads/files/members/CCBST-Oct-2014/A6-3-a.pdf

https://irinfo.org/08-01-2012-peacock/

Fraser

[Fraser]

RESNET....

https://www.resnet.us/about/standards/

Fraser

[chofroa]

thanks, I go reading

[edigi]

I've made a quick series of my GPSDO (serial socket as main subject) from approx. 15, 10 and 5cm distance to show how close distance photos look like.

Even 10 minutes after switch on clicking is as frequent as 10 sec.

[discrete]

Got my unit in yesterday.

+ It works about as well as expected and nothing to complain about the basic design or user interface.
+ The resolution is high enough to not need the visible light camera image mixing. This is fortunate, because the visible light image has some lag and does a snail trail when panning.
+ The PC app is basic but responsive. You can have a live mirror of the imager's screen, or play around on the recorded images to get point readings.
- Initially I had one or two startup- hiccups and it even reverted to Chinese once. These problems went away once I fully charged the battery. But it hints to flaky power management or a bad/missing cap somewhere.
- It seems to be held together with screws, but the screws are hidden below glued rubber inserts. So will be tricky to swap out the battery when eventually needed.
- Unfortunately my unit developed a kind of 'hot spot' after the first few uses. It was fine in the morning and when I used it again in the afternoon I had this:



Of course it is somewhat exaggerated in that 'flat' image that spans only 2 C, but when you know it is there you can see it on most images.

Here is a span of 10 C:



And with a different palette:

[Vipitis]

that is not a hot pixel or line. It seems like some debris on either lens or sensor. Or a wrong correction, because it is actually warmer.

[analogRF]

I would like to get this thermal camera but my only use (almost) is looking at circuit boards and inside instruments looking for hot components

so can somebody confirm if this camera is suitable with acceptable resolution (I mean differentiating between closely spaced components)?

can someone post some thermal pictures of a circuit board at various distances, please?

thanks

[discrete]

This is at 10-12 cm from the top board. Focus is not great, but it does a reasonable job.
Three of the 7 available palettes, visible images also included for comparison.

There is an option to mix the visible and IR image in steps of 25% opacity, but image offset makes it kind of useless at short range.

[edigi]

RPi4. Those components next to the USB-C plug are 3-5mm ones.
All pictures are probably taken closer than the min distance spec of the camera (0.25m).

So while it can be used to check PCBs to a certain extent it's far from ideal.
If you need to check small SMD components (like 0805 or even 0612) and you use the camera almost exclusively for this look for a camera that has adjustable focus. Fixed focus cameras like this result in blurred images if you move it too close to the PCB (that is required as it does not have very good spatial resolution).

I don't know if special macro lens could improve this. I'd be also definitely interested to try one if someone could recommend such reasonable priced variant that works also with this fixed focus camera (I can 3D print, so mounting would not be an issue).

Note: I always have to convert the camera images to jpg as the forum engine does not seem to like bmp.

[frenky]

This is at 10-12 cm from the top board. Focus is not great, but it does a reasonable job.

Based on tech specs "Focus: Focus free" it has fixed focus lens.
Perhaps lens are mounted on plastic screw so you could screw them out more to get closer focus.

There is always an option of mounting cheap ZnSe lens with focal length between 50mm and 100mm in front of existing lens to get sharp focus at close range.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=znse+lens&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=znse+100mm

[analogRF]

RPi4. Those components next to the USB-C plug are 3-5mm ones.
All pictures are probably taken closer than the min distance spec of the camera (0.25m).

So while it can be used to check PCBs to a certain extent it's far from ideal.
If you need to check small SMD components (like 0805 or even 0612) and you use the camera almost exclusively for this look for a camera that has adjustable focus. Fixed focus cameras like this result in blurred images if you move it too close to the PCB (that is required as it does not have very good spatial resolution).

I don't know if special macro lens could improve this. I'd be also definitely interested to try one if someone could recommend such reasonable priced variant that works also with this fixed focus camera (I can 3D print, so mounting would not be an issue).

Note: I always have to convert the camera images to jpg as the forum engine does not seem to like bmp.
(Attachment Link) (Attachment Link) (Attachment Link)

still  it's not that bad. how does it look like if you do look at the board at 25cm?
variable focus thermal cameras are way beyond anything I can pay :-(
even this one is not so cheap unless you have more than one application for it so i'm still undecided 

[edigi]

how does it look like if you do look at the board at 25cm?

The spatial resolution (IFOV) of this camera is 3.8mrad as per data sheet. That means that around 25cm each pixel corresponds to roughly 1mm (unless I've miscalculated it), so although the picture will be slightly less blurry (the transition is continuous) you won't get more detail (actually less; and also as hotspots are smeared a bit, so lower temperate will be measured as in reality or when you move the camera closer).
If you check my earlier photo of the keyboard of my laptop that's was made from around 25cm distance.

I plan to make a try with the ZnSe lens proposed above (unfortunately any shipping takes ages and is totally unreliable nowadays so it won't happen anytime soon).

[picazzo]

Hello, I bought a uni-t uti260b thermal camera, but for some time the video and photos still show two points in the same place (marked) that falsify the measurements are quite large, about 5 mm in diameter. What can it be, thank you.

[Fraser]

Those appear to be caused by contamination of the microbolometer window with specs of dirt.

This could be caused by poor build area hygiene or rubbish inside the cores casing that moved onto the microbolometer in transit. Accessing the microbolometer to inspect it may not be a simple task depending upon how the OEM constructed it and whether any screws are hidden under labels etc.

If you can access the microbolometer you will likely need to remove the lens by unscrewing it and look at the microbolometer window under magnification. Cleaning the window must be done with great care and in some cores, such as the Seek Thermal types, the FFC flag sits across the microbolometer window when the camera is off.

If you can send the camera back for an exchange, I recommend that you take that path.

Fraser

[picazzo]

Thank you for the answer, unfortunately it will be difficult, although the price was a bargain, I noticed it only after some time. Generally, the housing is dust-proof and impact-resistant, but there is dust in it, can it be lightly blown with compressed air from a sufficient distance?

[Fraser]

You could try unscrewing the lens assembly with a suitable tool. The lens is normally a threaded mount and may be locked in position with some epoxy. This is why it is best to dismantle the camera to inspect the core construction before trying to remove the lens. If the lens can be removed it may be possible to clean the microbolometer window with an air duster or even direct cleaning using an appropriate technique and tools. Great care is needed though. Also make sure the focus setting of the camera is noted and correctly set once the lens is refitted.

Fraser

[edigi]

I've promised an update with the ZnSe lens when I receive it and I've received it (D is 20mm and FL 63.5mm).
I've quickly designed a holder for the lens that can be pushed on the front of the camera and 3D printed it.

There is no question about that I can get more details with it now and such lens easily worth the extra US $10 investment (printing was virtually free). It's also clear that it cannot compete with the variable focus cameras but it's good enough for me (maybe it could be still enhanced, I don't know...). The attached pictures show my earlier subjects so the improvement can be compared.
Note: The lens attached the camera it can be used only for close distance as things further away get blurry with it, so you have to decide which distance to use.
 lensholder.zip (3.09 kB - downloaded 416 times.)

I try to attach the STL file as well so if you wish you can try (print) it as well.
Notes for the printing: I've used black PLA as it was pulled to the extruder already but probably there are other materials better suited for this (I also have red filament that would probably look better on the cam). As I don't have soluble support capable printer I had to simplify my initial (fancier) design so that it can be printed without any support printing switched on (I've tried with support but it was very hard to remove the support). Instead however a generous amount of brim has to be used for good adhesion.

update: lens must be glued to the holder.
 lensholder.zip (3.09 kB - downloaded 416 times.)

[Fraser]

Note that the ZnSe lenses come in Planar-Convex and Bi-Convex. With Planar Convex you may get a better image quality but you would need to experiment with which surface (Flat or Convex) faces the item under observation. With my commercial Meniscus close-up lenses the concave side faces the object under observation but users of Planar Convex ZnSe lenses report that they get best results with the convex side facing the target.

The ZnSe supplemental lens is just like placing reading spectacles on your camera. It provides close focus but you lose distance imaging and there is a definite small depth of field over which good focus is available. The camera may need to be held on a tripod for best focus stability.

There are different qualities of ZnSe lens. Some are designed for use on cameras and in labs. They cost a lot of money. The cheaper ZnSe and GaAs lenses we buy from Asia are intended for use in CO2 laser systems and are of variable quality. There is a standard lens type that is the cheapest and an ‘HQ’ lens that is said to be better optical quality. The HQ lens is a bit more expensive but still not a bad price. Expect to pay $30 to $50 for one. Neither type of CO2 laser lens is actually designed for use on a thermal camera and the manufacturers advise that the lenses are for non critical optical applications where some distortion is acceptable. It is a happy coincidence that the CO2 operating wavelength falls within the LWIR band and so the CO2 laser lenses are AR coated to work at LWIR. Whilst they work well as a close-up lens in our application, do not expect the very highest optical performance from them. Often centre focus is good, whilst edge focus is degraded somewhat. For their cost, these lenses cannot be beaten however

If you want better close-up optics for your camera, there are commercial supplemental lenses for FLIR and FLUKE cameras but these high quality lenses cost more than your camera I have managed to buy some used close-up lenses at reasonable prices on eBay however.

Also.... remember that adding a supplemental lens to your camera does effect the measurement accuracy. The readings will be slightly low with a ZnSe lens fitted. You can test this by imaging a surface of known temperature with and without the ZnSe lens fitted. Temperature measurements should be carried out with the target area in focus.

Fraser

[TheDefpom]

I did a review on this camera a little while ago, in case it is of help:

[Santi-hr]

Hello,

If you want to extract the thermal data from the .bmp files you can use my python script. At the bottom of the readme I show my findings about the embedded data structure:
https://github.com/Santi-hr/UNI-T-Thermal-Utilities

Also, I have made a video review for those who are considering purchasing it. In my opinion it is a good camera in terms of value/price, although not for precision professional use.
Beware, the video is in Spanish (with English subs):

[Turbo_slug]

Hello,

If you want to extract the thermal data from the .bmp files you can use my python script. At the bottom of the readme I show my findings about the embedded data structure:
https://github.com/Santi-hr/UNI-T-Thermal-Utilities

Also, I have made a video review for those who are considering purchasing it. In my opinion it is a good camera in terms of value/price, although not for precision professional use.
Beware, the video is in Spanish (with English subs):

Great review.

Has anyone tried the analysis software with images taken in low gain mode?  I find the software gets the temperatures all wrong.

Also, does anyone find it annoying that the camera's temperature tracking mode dont allow for only high or low points to be tracked?  Sometimes I don't want to see both on the screen.

[JimM]

Santi-hr,
Thanks for the information on the UNI-T bmp file format on GitHub. It is well documented. One thing I don't understand though, how do you get temperatures from the thermal data in the file ? The thermal data is 1 byte per pixel. So you have a range of 0 to 255 (unsigned) or -128 to 127 if it's considered signed. How are these values converted to temperatures?

Thanks again,
Jim

[yhjiang]

That is true that Uni-t use iray sensor. Iray is leading manufacuturer of infrared sensor, and making big progress in the thermal imaging finished products.

[Santi-hr]

Has anyone tried the analysis software with images taken in low gain mode?  I find the software gets the temperatures all wrong.

As far as I understand, the temperature range of the camera is split in two. When in low gain only the temperatures between 150ºC and 550ºC are measured with precision, so with that gain any temperature lower than 150ºC can not be really used.

Santi-hr,
Thanks for the information on the UNI-T bmp file format on GitHub. It is well documented. One thing I don't understand though, how do you get temperatures from the thermal data in the file ? The thermal data is 1 byte per pixel. So you have a range of 0 to 255 (unsigned) or -128 to 127 if it's considered signed. How are these values converted to temperatures?

Thanks again,
Jim

What I found is that it is an unsigned byte, with only values between 0 and 254 used. As the array matches the bmp image and no calibration parameters can be found I discarded that these are radiometric values. Currently I just apply a linear interpolation between the minimum and maximum temperatures embbeded on the file. I could try to use the three point measurements to verify that the python outputs the same temperatures for those points.

Edit: I checked with the Uni-T software and it seem it does what I do. Also that this encoding messes up the temperatures when there are extreme temperatures on screen. For example, in the attached image my hand has almost the same bright color as the flame from a small torch, so coverting back the temperature returns about 140ºC. However, the same point with an on screen mesaurement is more precise, 30ºC. So, in conclusion, extracting the temperatures is possible but we have to take them with a grain of salt (The larger the diference the larger the error in the temperatures between).

[JimM]

Santi-hr,
Ok I see. Very straight forward way to get temperatures. (Especially compared to the complex way you have to use for Flir JPEG radiometric images).

Jim

[Turbo_slug]

Has anyone tried the analysis software with images taken in low gain mode?  I find the software gets the temperatures all wrong.

As far as I understand, the temperature range of the camera is split in two. When in low gain only the temperatures between 150ºC and 550ºC are measured with precision, so with that gain any temperature lower than 150ºC can not be really used.

I'm aware of that, but that's not what I'm referring to.  I recorded some images of my bbq grill using low gain mode.  If I use the analysis software to measure the same points measured by the camera, I get a totally different value.  All measurement points were between 150c to 550c.

[Santi-hr]

Has anyone tried the analysis software with images taken in low gain mode?  I find the software gets the temperatures all wrong.

As far as I understand, the temperature range of the camera is split in two. When in low gain only the temperatures between 150ºC and 550ºC are measured with precision, so with that gain any temperature lower than 150ºC can not be really used.

I'm aware of that, but that's not what I'm referring to.  I recorded some images of my bbq grill using low gain mode.  If I use the analysis software to measure the same points measured by the camera, I get a totally different value.  All measurement points were between 150c to 550c.

Yes, just yesterday I realized that because of how uni-t is storing the "thermal data" on the files it is messing the temperatures when there is a large temperature range. It does not matter the gain selection. Right now, the only way to get accurate measurements is to use the in-camera points.
It seems that they are sorting all the temperatures on screen and setting the linear colorbar on top, so even when there are large differences the gradients can still be seen. For example, if some point is at 500ºC and the rest at 100ºC, the whole image should be on the lower part of the colorbar, but this is not the case.
If I manage to improve the extraction I will let you know.

[charlesrg]

Would you guys suggest using an UNI T 260B for home electronics ? checking on mosfet temperatures and possible wiring faults ?

[Cliff Matthews]

Good review just posted. We can hope Uni-T was listening because the software issues need fixing.

[Fraser]

I cannot recall ever finding a firmware update for my Uni-T meters or oscilloscopes so do not hold your breath waiting for a firmware update to be released by them for this camera 

The true OEM of the camera may produce a new firmware so it is worth looking for OEM updates. Whether the update works on the UNi-T branded camera is another matter. Sadly my experience has often been that these budget products are released with a firmware that is ‘good enough’ and then the company moves onto to the next products development without looking back to fix problems with ‘under cooked’ firmware on previous products. I have had conversations with design teams who admit that a product has clear faults in the design of firmware but the management want to recover the investment quickly so it gets shipped and people buy it.... the management are happy if it sells and care little about bugs in firmware or missing features. Sadly I see a bit of that attitude in Seek Thermal products 

Fraser

[Brexei]

I was planning to buy a flir one pro this year for general household use and for looking at  thermal characteristics of PCBs but now that I've found this thread i believe that UTi260b is better than flir one pro in all aspects! Plus it is much cheaper!

I am not a professional, but rather a hobbyist, so big money for flir cameras is not justified and will not be paid back by my job. It is purely for enjoyment and personal use!
Does anyone have experience with flir one pro in order to compare?
I also believe that battery runtime will be much higher since flir one states one hour runtime, in theory... which will be even smaller in real life.

[voltlog]

My review linked above shows a comparison with a Flir ONE gen 3.

[Brexei]

Great review!
So the only drawbacks seem to be the poor ir and visible image blending and the inability to record video.
But you can record video if you connect it to your phone, right? Then it is more or less OK.
Given the possibility of having a problematic sample, like some people have mentioned here, which site would you recommend for buying? Which one is the safest?
I am going to pull the trigger on this camera soon. I'm excited!

[DaneLaw]

Looks surprisingly decent for a self-contained rugged unit, at that sub 300USD mark with around 50k pixels.
Though the option at 280USD from Banggood.. is out of stock, though with a soon arrival notice, but those sokn arrival notices, can stand like that for ages.
On Aliexpress and likewise, it seems to start around +310USD.

- if the 280USD from fall 2020 will be the case when they perhaps get stock again, is difficult to guess, I doubt it' as the overall prices have elevated quite a bit here in 2021 and the latest entry on Banggood coupon-register/database shows 327USD with the same coupon, that in fall 2020 was synonym with the 280USD..
The 310USD from the likes of AliE and other small indidividuel Chinawholesalers is likely as low as it gets here in 2Q 2021..

[Brexei]

Well, compared to flir one pro, which costs an equivalent price of about 450-500 $ here in Greece, it is cheap!
As i said, i was initially thinking about the flir one pro but it costs too much for what it offers. Plus i do not like some things, like the small battery life, the micro usb connector which is prone to damage if you exert some force etc. I have read the entire topic and seen all reviews of Uti260b so i believe it is better in almost all aspects and will be good for most non professional users that do not require calibrated measurements.
So if i understand correctly you can record video if you connect it to your phone, right? Then it is OK. No serious drawbacks apart from ir and visible image blending...

[Santi-hr]

Well, compared to flir one pro, which costs an equivalent price of about 450-500 $ here in Greece, it is cheap!
As i said, i was initially thinking about the flir one pro but it costs too much for what it offers. Plus i do not like some things, like the small battery life, the micro usb connector which is prone to damage if you exert some force etc. I have read the entire topic and seen all reviews of Uti260b so i believe it is better in almost all aspects and will be good for most non professional users that do not require calibrated measurements.
So if i understand correctly you can record video if you connect it to your phone, right? Then it is OK. No serious drawbacks apart from ir and visible image blending...

Yes, you can record videos using a phone with an OTG cable or with a computer, using a different application than the default "Camera" in Windows. Although when streaming the framerate drops significantly (See 16:49, 17:04 or 17:43 on my video for some examples).
For non professional users I think this camera is quite good for its price. The image blending is crap, but the thermal image has enough resolution to make out what part of the image you are looking at. I only use the thermal or some times ROI, but I try to avoid the blending mode.

[Brexei]

Living in the northest part of Europe i would like to ask any fellow European citizen if he (she) knows the best way for shipping such an item from China and avoid customs. I have received numerous small items in the past, but this one is big!
I will probably buy frrom Aliexpress, since it appears to be the cheapest and i would like to pay with paypal for safety.
Does anyone have experience with customs in Europe? How can i avoid it?
Thanks

[Djsajmy]

I was also looking for the 260B but you can only get one from China to Europe...
With VAT and import fees its around 400€ from Aliexpress or Banggood.

I'm surprised that there is non from any resellers in Europe.

[Brexei]

Doing a research i found that if you order from Banggood and choose the "Priority Direct Mail" shipping method it gets delivered to Amsterdam at first, with a small customs fee already paid by Banggood (hence the higher postage cost) and then it gets delivered to your county, free of charge and originating from the EU, so no customs.

Haven't tested this yet, but many people say it works perfectly!

I will not order from China, because as you said it will be at least 100 Euros more, plus delays at the customs. I've also heard that they will ask you for the paypal transaction proof in order to determine what you really paid and not trust the seller any more. So, no way to trick them any more.

Only small items can pass through customs if they did not cost much.

[erikbrenn]

Hi all,

I got my camera today and so far I'm impressed by it. 

A few people have mentioned that it's not possible to capture video with it. I'm not sure what they meant but I have no problems adding the thermal stream as a video capture feed in OBS   However it doesn't work via an USB hub, it has to be connected directly to your computer. I have tested with two different USB3 hubs and it doesn't work.  I just ordered a 3m USB3 cable to address that (the included cable is cheapish and 2m long)

Cheers,
Erik

[blurpy]

I got my camera today and so far I'm impressed by it. 

Cool! Do you have any sample images from circuits? I found the video reviews a bit lacking in practical examples, like looking for a short circuit.

[Brexei]

I ordered it yesterday from Aliexpress. There was an option to ship from Chech republic, so i will not mess with customs at all. It was a bit more expensive than ordering from China, but well worth the hassle. Price was about 340 usd, shipping included, so pretty nice.
It is supposed to arrive in 10 days...

[optotester]

Note that the manufacturer of the microbolometer is now selling a similar model on its own.

C200 for 267€ https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/1005002198790263.html?spm=a2g0w.12010612.8148356.4.5bc626a9BOht7h
C210 for 306€ https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/1005001994852160.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.528e6c37t3Dvrt

According to InfiRay, main difference is that C210 is normally for China market and is UVC compliant so it can be easily used as a camera when connected to PC (+ it is delivered with a storage pouch).

I went for C210, I hope I will not regret this choice.

[johnf30]

Does anyone know if this can be used as a webcam on Linux?

[logocar3]

Uuuu nice find!

But I only see C200 and C200 Pro on their product page... Is the C200 Pro the same product as C210? Even if I go to the Chinese page there is no C210...

[optotester]

According to the support team on Youtube, C200 and C210 only differ by the presence of UVC. But after asking by email, I was told C200 and C210 are identical now. So if I had to reorder, I would go for the cheapest option.

C200 Pro is not being sold on Aliexpress.

[logocar3]

So the C200 also supports UVC? This would be amazing, hoping that on Aliexpress is the updated version of c200

I sent 1 email and sent the same content via the form on their website and got no response yet... to which address did you send an email?

[optotester]

You can contact them at :
 InfiRay . CS (at) iraytek . com
(remove spaces and replace « at »)

[Brexei]

I ordered it yesterday from Aliexpress. There was an option to ship from Chech republic, so i will not mess with customs at all. It was a bit more expensive than ordering from China, but well worth the hassle. Price was about 340 usd, shipping included, so pretty nice.
It is supposed to arrive in 10 days...

Update:

It is more than 20 days now and it seems that the seller shipped it from China! I had chosen shipping from Czech Republic and paid more, but he sent it from China and it will now go through customs!
I have already started a dispute and wait till the shipping guarantee period ends...
It is strange because other people reported that they got it from Czech Republic in less than 10 days. So it seemed like a legit store with lots of positive feedback.
I do not know how this will end, so better be careful if somebody else needs to buy from within the EU.

[Brexei]

Which cheap ZnSe lens would you suggest for close ups? (small pcbs for example)?

I have found this seller on ebay (now that's a long link!):

https://www.ebay.com/itm/173879531148?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item287c07168c:g:xroAAOSwHqNcuAYy&amdata=enc%3AAQAFAAACgBaobrjLl8XobRIiIML1V4Imu%252Fn%252BzU5L90Z278x5ickkSG%252BOFgrj2Yvbvmrj2TAdM%252F%252BtrrI8vuMjJtVOBHMV1yQWukltxSE2h9z7KuF6hkGSGxR4TwX71WgHclBuSzSgY4FkuVN390dErZgzJ1HT2sf2ggFzx3qkSaTb4i0vt4HXYK1NUb82P5mQuIGNdGakepZ7Ia1hRD%252F%252FpX4PhuQslpNIWWG7Wn3eDGH8pxb%252FOF%252BwX1ZgktDBjZ14eJslHyoPIeCzerD%252F7H59MOBKV7xjfONoc0xT1B3KwsrnBF6Ja39Fm2h4MYrqQFDglzEMHaeDxu2yj8Kzq3h0v9uGfZbVQ7gPPIAdydBZ0nb1ewDD%252BXxsblsCK7%252Bm39NDKdlE4pulKTkueHH5GVBHJaM7B%252FJqpnTKEGoBkRS4ToChCMsEX4VwInr5fPecK%252BjkE%252BF%252F1UDh1Z6fqLUDEYDtitw0VDZx4IpA0eEeOL2KC8mC%252BjhvpM9nm5YItD4VntXvnjH%252B7Qwus2ITb0ViADHpIT7syX%252BIvgZrkZG74zt5%252FkxjP6tmfZSied0qY%252BJbL5c9Os94vSAI4zYtQF%252BO6%252FNNpDWp2pOzU2FuzRE1yKh%252FaTTtXhylnQ%252F8F4OERmqAOvF31tcSUCB6EDuBYWrRAv2RjawI6ivDPmkHoBm8sEVkZfKtoP09T5Io3jCapLTkErk1J2aHU9T2BB707Pxp9wMLuj4imz54qj9UofIctks8x540zQQs5qXz35Bxm55CTtNWAlRJ9Al2S8tRlg3BV%252FcpNVnvQnHI2A7eL11%252FuKIrX24yW1zhz5oevzkdojsZ3wzx6vIckHBX3sisZNfKvpslCnYhVrQi2J4%253D%7Ccksum%3A173879531148bdc50592813f4ef398b9ce4c90bc3c3a%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A2334524

It seems that all diameters are selling for similar price! Would getting a larger diameter lens improve quality, because light will be deflecting only at the center and not the edges, where most lenses are problematic? I remember that this holds true for optical lenses, but i am not sure for IR.

Also, what is the most suitable focal length for closeups of pcbs? 50mm or 76 mm?

[logocar3]

OK, I got to the technical department of the Infiray about different items, after quite some problems to reach them. The specs of differnet models are as following:

C200: 256*192, -20℃~550℃, FOV56°, battery life 11h.
C200 PRO: 256*192, -20℃~550℃, FOV56°, battery life 15h, Support automatic alarm snapshot. support realtime online data transfering to PC (UVC).
C210: same as C200 Pro, but C210 only selling in Internet shop.

@Brexei ask for refund, Aliexpress is usually nice and many times refund fuckups

[c1400700226]

Well I just bought an UTi220A Pro, it's an rebranded UTi260b with swapped color of the shell plastic and rubber. Price is about 273 USD. After some initial test I am shocked by how poor the design is.. It uses Type-C port, but doesn't work with Type-C to Type-C cable.. The captured image turned out to be just screenshot.. There is no way to manually set temp range, no way to get the raw sensor data, no way to record clean video, all I have is to see where is hotter or cooler on this TN display with awful viewing angle... And the software looks like a homework of an newbie programmer, it even contains some miscopied folders inside the installer.. And in order to review captured images the device must be connected, there is no way to open images saved on computer..
Overall I would say it's more like a child toy with a thermal camera, other than a professional thermal imaging tool... I am new to thermal imaging, ever read the manual of FLIR T1020 and was surprised by the functionality of a thermal camera, so I thought the UNI-T would have similar features but just worse image quality, however... I should've read the UNI-T manual before purchasing... And I broke the screw cap on the handle due to curiosity, so no way to return it now.. Anyway, the thermal resolution seems to be good, it's a pretty advantage isn't it😂 Well this isn't a very pleasing start like always, a lot more to learn haha

[Brexei]

@Brexei ask for refund, Aliexpress is usually nice and many times refund fuckups

Well, the 25 days guarantee delivery time has long passed and aliexpress gave me a full refund. I am going to wait some more time and see if it is totally lost or it arrives from China. Thankfully i got a refund so no worries.
It might not be as accurate and professional as a flir but keep in mind that a flir with a similar resolution costs more than 1000 euros! So non-professional users would never be able to buy such a tool.

[fr0zzen]

I have bought Infiray C200. And want to use it as video camera. From what I see on youtube it is the same as UTI260B - same firmware same button layout - maybe c200 has faster frame rate.
My version of C200 has option in settings USB video or USB disk. When i connect camera to my pc via usb C to usb A wich is provided by infiray - windows 10 recognizes USB device connected. Using zadig-2.5 program i find usb UVC camera and install usb drivers. Then I'm trying to use ThermoVision_JoeC_V1.10.0. But i'm lost there - need help. I found a post on ThermoVision_JoeC_V1.10.0 that UTI260B is supported camera, so c200 should be also supported.
I tried all functions but without any luck. 
Can anyone guide my how to use c200 with thermo vision app?
Can anyone give me link to infiray software for pictures analysis?
"Help Me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're My Only Hope" 

[Santi-hr]

From what I have seen online, the C200 does save radiometric information, not like the UTi260b that only stores a grayscale image. So probably what Joe-c implemented does not work for this new camera. It seems that Infiray started from UNI-T firmware and updated it.

[c1400700226]

From what I have seen online, the C200 does save radiometric information, not like the UTi260b that only stores a grayscale image. So probably what Joe-c implemented does not work for this new camera. It seems that Infiray started from UNI-T firmware and updated it.

Hi, I just found your script may have a little bug, the images which have lable on the edge may show one line of residual, I opened an issue on github, could you please check? Thanks in advance.

[Brexei]

Finally, my UTi260B has arrived! (from China and not Europe, as i had ordered it from...). It has been a very long time since i received a full refund and i am lucky that i did so. I will explain.

The unit is a very nice piece of equipment for home users and it is value for money. The resolution is nice and you do not have to use the optical image at all (but is saves an optical image as well as the thermal when you press the trigger). It is precise, fast and does almost everything a home user would ask. The price is also fair for what you get. If you are a professional and would like more features and precise calibrated measurements you can get a Flir for three times the money. But for the average non-pro user it is perfect!

BUT: After a couple of days mine also developed a hot spot at the bottom!! I remember someone here mentioned that he had a hotspot too and people replied that it could be due to dust in the sensor. Well, maybe it is not... Mine is OK when it starts up cold, but develops the hotspot as it warms up!




It does not matter if i move it around or not. Hotspot always appears. Sometimes it might be a cold spot. So, i believe that it is a deficiency in some sensors, or improper factory testing, and it is the risk you take for such a low price.

However, i suggest that potential buyers test their meter for a few days before declaring it 'received' and miss the refund, if something like this appears.


Other than that it performs perfectly nice. Clicking (and pausing for half a second) for calibration is done frequently when it starts up, but gradually becomes rare when temperature inside the unit is stabilized. I am very happy with the overall performance and user experience. But i am happy i got a refund because now it is way too late to fill in any claim from the seller.

[Fraser]

The first thing I note on both your images is the temperature span. Anything near 1C temperature span will challenge any thermal camera when it comes to a low noise thermally flat image. I can see the area of temperature difference in the first image as well as the second. It may well be due to pixel drift or poor NUC but it could also be due to a localised temperature difference in the vicinity of the microbolometer. Such would normally cause a warmer area only. The FFC shutter event will normally reduce or remove small temperature deviations across the microbolometer. Does the area become less apparent after an FFC event ?

If you have a temperature span of 10C does the area still appear different to the rest of the display ? If not, your camera is behaving pretty well for it’s price point.

[Brexei]

Well, there might be an element (resistor?) near the bottom of the microbolometer that becomes hot and affects the image. I took a thermal image of my house inner wall to better illustrate this phenomenon, so the temperature span is really small.

It does not improve when FFC happens, unfortunately. The only way to remove this is by looking at an image with a span above 6-7 degrees. So, yes a span of 10 degrees will not have this effect any more (it is not visible). Apart from this the camera is an excellent performer for the money! And did i mention that the battery lasts for ever? You can play for 3-4 hours and still there is battery left over!

[Bill W]

Well, there might be an element (resistor?) near the bottom of the microbolometer that becomes hot and affects the image.

While there is an ADC somewhere that gets warm, as Fraser says the shutter NUC event should clear that.

I'd be more inclined to think that there is some kind of reflection or error in the flag design so it is not fully blanking or maybe not fully clearing from the sensor field of view.

Bill

[Fraser]

The IRay Tiny1 is a miniature imaging core and it could well be that the FFC shutter is operating in very confined conditions, leading to the shutter issues that you mention Bill Your explanation sounds highly plausible.

[Brexei]

I performed some more tests...

When completely cold the phenomenon does not appear at all! Even for a temperature span of 1 C. As it warms up it gets more and more evident.

Second, if you measure something that spans 5 degrees, but it is cooler than 30 C then it appears. If you have the same span but you measure something that is at 40 C then it does not appear! So i think it might be some hot spot near the microbolometer which is not properly compensated by the shutter event due to poor construction. Or, as you said, it could be that the shutter is not uniform and there is a cold spot at the bottom.

[Guessologist]

Hi all, just registered to say thanks for helping me make an informed decision around which thermal camera to purchase after reading this thread, and to add another data point. Had a FLIR One Pro that I had to return due to some crud under the front lens element showing up on the images, so decided to take a punt on a Chinese device if the QC is going to be iffy anyway with the name brands. Went with Ebay over AliExpress for a bit more buyer protection, but in AU the import charges kill the value of the 260B somewhat and choices are more limited. I ended up going with the Ziboo ST9450A+ which is as far as I can tell identical to the 260b / C200, for around AUD$400 delivered. Arrived from China this morning, in about 10 days. Came with a case, charging cable, 16gb micro sd card and a thumb drive with the PC software. Works perfectly by the looks so far, but does not have a PC video menu option.

As an aside the HTI website had the ST9450A+ listed for a while at about AUD$450 delivered on behalf of one of their partner companies, apparently to get the name out there quickly.

[JacquesBBB]

I have  received a InfiRay C200 which I bought after reading the posts on this thread.

The camera is fine, but there is no menu for setting the USB and I cannot connect to the computer by USB, contrary to what was stated  by fr0zzen in this thread. Maybe due to a different software release.  I have asked about it but had no answer yet.
It comes from https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001599665046.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4dWFN8Wr
I see that now  they are no longer selling the C200 but the C210 and advertise for the USB connection and PC software. I am not very happy as my order was less than one month ago ( June 11).

I have also designed a small holder for a 20 mm ZnSe lens. This is great for PCB. The 3D files are here : https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4901923

The lens come from
https://cloudray.aliexpress.com/store/group/CO2-Lens-Mirror/1513187_508197391.html?spm=a2g0o.store_pc_home.pcShopHead_5999282.1_1

Below are the pictures
- without lens


- with 63.5 mm focal USA CVD lens


- with 50.8 mm focal China PVD lens

[JacquesBBB]

Here is the answer  from UNI-T

C200 has been discontinued. C210 is an upgraded version. C210 can communicate with PC now. C200 cannot be upgraded. Sorry

[Brexei]

A close-up image of an anti-mosquito window grid, using a 20mm FL50.8mm ZnSe close-up lens from Ebay.

Grid windows are very small, maybe a couple of mm!

[pedrokv]

I have this thermocamera since +-February and as it worked with no trouble that time, now it stopped to work. 14 days ago I bing it back to life via some factory resets, but now it seems to be dead. It boots, but then it doesn't distinguish hot or cold items, it shows flat picture with temperature around 34 degrees Celsius. Even when I point the camera at cooler wall or put hand in front of it. I have bought it from Aliexpress, I asked now the seller for solution. For the price it costed and especially for the price it costs now it seems to be okay to send it for repair back to China, I hope to see it again... I saw a youtube video - how to dismantle it, but I am not sure, if I will be able to repair it - for example if there is a bad soldering. Maybe the sensor is faulty. I also tried to google out a firmware to reflash, but I did not find any.

Any idea, guys?

Video:  https://youtu.be/dmF-TvwfUAk

[Bill W]

Still seems to have some picture noise, and as you say sensible temperatures.  As such I reckon the sensor and electronics are still OK

I'd think the shutter is stuck shut.

Did it used to click and now does not ?

Cannot help with disassembly method, hopefully you get a refund

Bill

[pedrokv]

Shutter is still clicking as I press it. But sometimes it is hard to take a snapshot, firstly I thought it is issue with the microswitch inside, now I think it has something to do with FW. 10 times I press shutter and nothing happens and on 11th attempt and later it works on first press.

Now I see it is also self-heating, after boot it shows 31°C, now 37°C and still rising.

[pedrokv]

Hmm, I switched to Lo gain and back, I heard some clicking sound from inside and now works. Guessing how long.

[Bill W]

Shutter is still clicking as I press it. But sometimes it is hard to take a snapshot,

Sorry should have been more precise in wording, 'Shutter' is an internal flag that does a periodic calibration, it is not anything to do with 'taking a picture'.

Looks like you kicked it into life with the gain switching - which also makes the camera do a periodic calibration.

The rising temperature is also what I'd expect for a stuck shutter flag, as the flag warms up the camera gets told it is looking at a warmer thing (just the thing won't get out of the way)

[pedrokv]

Sorry, English is not my native language.

Today I got message from Aliexpress seller KKmoon. He sent me link to youtube video-review & tutorial. 
And Uni-trend replied the same useful way: "Thanks for purchasing our products. Please contact your seller for more support. Thanks"

Both can be translated as "we have your money, bye."

[CANUK]

Hi,

I bought this unit a few days ago as my thermal camera on budget along a China PVD ZnSe D20mm FL50.8 lens. 
While waiting for delivery, I was looking for a nice macro lens holder.  (Definitely not paying 40 USD on Aliexpress for a 38.1mm ZnSe lens in a plastic shell.)

So, I found this nice 3D cover model https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4967196. I'm new to 3D modelling but decided to learn this in a weekend.  So I came up with this modified version to fit the 20mm ZnSe lens. I'm not sure about the dimensions but did my best with the models I found here and on thingiverse. I will have to confirm everything when I get my device.  Anyway, feel free to print it and give me feedback.

[Fraser]

Alex at NorthridgeFIX has just provided his review of the UTi260B that he is now stocking in his shop. Alex is a great believer in the use of thermal imaging to aid fault finding on modern electronics. He uses a FLIR E60 camera but has clearly looked into a more affordable model to offer to his YouTube following.

https://youtu.be/pbYWw5XwT5Y

Fraser

[Andrew LB]

Alex at NorthridgeFIX has just provided his review of the UTi260B that he is now stocking in his shop. Alex is a great believer in the use of thermal imaging to aid fault finding on modern electronics. He uses a FLIR E60 camera but has clearly looked into a more affordable model to offer to his YouTube following.

https://youtu.be/pbYWw5XwT5Y

Fraser

Too bad he wants $400 for the 260B

[Fraser]

The price of these budget thermal cameras appears to vary quite a bit at the moment. Aliexpress offer significant discounts on the claimed $440 normal price tag. In the UK the price from China is just under £300 delivered and including VAT.

NorthridgeFIx is a business however and he is offering the units from stock in the USA so it is to be expected that he has a mark-up on them. Some buyers want to purchase from a USA based supplier so might be happy with the price, especially if they are a business as I suspect a US to US purchase may be simpler for their accounts ? There is also the issue of a USA warranty as a faulty camera would be returnable to NorthridgeFIX as opposed to China.

Even $400 is a pretty good price for what a UTi260B offers the repair tech in terms of fast diagnosis of a laptop motherboard short diagnosis and repair. I suspect the professional tech could recover the cost of the camera quite quickly in terms of repair throughput and delivery from a USA supplier introduces that efficiency improvement sooner than ordering from China ?

From my perspective, if I did not have other thermal imaging cameras, the UTi260B or Infiray C210 cameras would be of greatest interest to me in terms of specification & performance Vs cost for general thermal imaging applications. The cheaper UTI-120S would also be of interest if finances could not stretch to the more expensive cameras. I have just seen that Uni-T are offering the UT-120S for less than £100 +VAT. Whilst the camera is limited to 120 x 90 pixels resolution….that is still an excellent price for a tech to gain a useable thermal imaging capability 

Finally, regarding Alex at NorthridgeFIX….. Alex is an astute businessman and privides an excellent insight into his repair work via his YouTube videos. Those videos help other techs and provide entertainment but Alex also sells his services and ‘plugs’ his tools shop in order to increase income from his channel. A smart and understandable business strategy as he does not charge for access to his video channel. Alex appears to be a shrewd businessman and has learned to declare a ‘no-fix’ before he invests unrecoverable labour hours into a ‘patient’. I am terrible for investing way more time into a ‘patient’ than it is worth and that is why I would be a terrible businessman in the repair industry ! Alex appears to carry out electronics repairs as a ‘cold business process’ whereas I am passionate about electronics repair and hate to admit defeat ! He knows enough theory to repair laptops, USB drives, Mobile phones and other electronics and has learned the likely failures present on these through ‘on the job’ experience and the study of electronics repair.. Along the way, he has identified tools that assist his work and efficiency. That is a bit different to me….I was formally trained in electronics diagnostics and repair plus I enjoy delving deep into the design of systems in order to learn from them. It is a bit like Repair Vs Research and Research is not always very labour time efficient! Alex has identified the thermal imaging camera as a time and labour saving device that assists him greatly in some of his repairs. This is why I have previously detailed his videos in my PCB thermal analysis thread. He has shown the strengths of thermal imaging technology when searching for the source of over-current situations in modern electronics. The time he saves tracking down a tiny anonymous shorted MLC is time he can spend making more profit repairing other ‘patients’. With this in mind, the Budget thermal camera can actually pay for itself in a very obvious positive effect on some repair times 

Fraser

[Helix70]

Thing that annoys me about him is that he gives up when it gets a bit hard, and will only complete a repair if he can do it quickly. That's just a waste of time for the customer, and I can't believe he does it when on camera!

[zzattack]

I think his videos are more often than not akin to "feel good entertainment". Nice variety of expensive devices coming in, obvious symptoms (ripped connector, pulled traces) or simple diagnosis (shorted mosfet vs. thermal cam is almost like a cheat code!), clean soldering work, usually with a compatible donor in the shop to grab the replacement component from, and a steep profit margin. Throw in some no-fix videos every now and then to remain genuine. It's a great formula and I enjoy most of his videos.

The lengthier failed repair videos do set him apart from e.g. Rossman (and many others these days). If it wasn't the first mosfet, find another one that's bad. Try something similar elsewhere on the board. Then if that doesn't work, decide that the time vs. profit scale is sliding and we have to call it quits. I can't recall seeing him open a schematic diagram or trace out a circuit, so the depth of his investigation is not quite satisfying. I'm inclined to agree though that from a business aspect, he's making the right decisions. With the piles of devices arriving for him, it's a no-brainer to move on to the next repair with a missing HDMI port and 95% chance of success/pay than to sink another minute into a 50/50 repair.

Another aspect of his videos that I really like is his smart use of (often new) tools. Stuff like holding the soldering braid with SMT tweezers for enourmous heat transfer, or the review of 15 different PCB holders and selecting a definite winner which is then offered in his shop. I've bought a ton in pursuit of the perfect tweezers, and have strolled aliexpress for useful repair tools for ages. But nowadays, if he says something's good, I'm inclined to trust him and am likely to grab it from his shop along with the next amtech flux order I put in

Oh, and he really needs to properly solder ground pads on large connectors if he wants to claim better than factory!!

[Fraser]

I gave up on Rossman since he moved to bigger premises. Last I saw, he was very dismissive of thermal camera use in fault tracing and that was a pity. He was still preferring to cover components in IPA to see where it evaporated quickest. I may have to take another look at his channel as I used to enjoy his more involved repairs. As has been stated, Alex is a self taught repair tech with micro-soldering skills. He limits how deep he dives into a repair in order to maintain throughput for his business. Alex and Louis have somewhat different approaches to the repair business and they live in very different locations. I do recall Louis saying that he does not repair mobile phones because he can charge a far higher fee for repairing a MacBook (~$700 IIRC) when the time needed to repair the phone could be the same. Alex will have a look at all manner of products so we get a nice range of videos to watch  I had never heard of the Diesel Tuning units before seeing Alex fixed a few ! Then there are the various car key fobs, video cards and Nintendo Switch units. Alex has stated that he has no interest in replacing BGA processors as the time it takes exceeds what he is willing to invest in a repair. When you hear how many GPU cards he has awaiting attention, this does make sense. He was claiming a 50% successful repair rate on GPU cards and I suspect his thermal camera and tests quickly identified dead GPU BGA processors in many of the ‘no fix’ units as they are often highly stressed or killed by failed MOSFET’s. I do find it interesting to see Alex’s interpretation of ‘hot spots’ on PCB’s but wish he used a close-up lens as that would make the imagery far clearer.

[Fraser]

Just took a brief look at Louis Rossmann’s Channel video list. Seems he still does not like thermal cameras ! His channel has changed so much since I last looked at it. Full of ‘social’  stuff and lots of non electronic repair videos. It did not make me want to re-subscribe 

Video from 2 months ago …. Louis using a thermal camera at the 34 minute point and realising that they show a situation he would not expect to find with his usual testing methods….

https://youtu.be/IvyG0EcKQPE

He has the visible light camera overlay active in this video …… yuk! I prefer decent resolution pure thermal as the overlay just confuses the image, especially if there is parallax error present. From memory the thermal camera he is using is 160 x 120 pixels with a fixed operating height.

I did watch that video referenced above and ….  I preferred the earlier videos and presentation style at his old shop.

[zzattack]

That's about as great an advertorial for using thermal imaging for fault location that you can find!
Yes, his channel focus has... diverted. Well, watching the umpteenth macbook repair eventually loses its charm anyway. I haven't followed either for quite a while now.

[Andrew LB]

The price of these budget thermal cameras appears to vary quite a bit at the moment. Aliexpress offer significant discounts on the claimed $440 normal price tag. In the UK the price from China is just under £300 delivered and including VAT.

You honestly think the MSRP is $440? I've spent enough years dealing with Asian companies and know how their prices work. Everything is always on huge sale to make customers who aren't smart enough to know you can deal even more so they feel they got a good price. It's just how they roll. Nothing wrong with it though.

NorthridgeFIx is a business however and he is offering the units from stock in the USA so it is to be expected that he has a mark-up on them. Some buyers want to purchase from a USA based supplier so might be happy with the price, especially if they are a business as I suspect a US to US purchase may be simpler for their accounts ? There is also the issue of a USA warranty as a faulty camera would be returnable to NorthridgeFIX as opposed to China.

Yeah, he's probably paying around $220/per unit and considering im guessing his business is in Northridge, California.... i'm sure most of you have heard, but it's REALLY expensive to live here. Like stupid expensive. So i definitely can't knock the guy for trying to make a buck. In fact, i may just order it from him since my biggest fear is having an issue out of the box and having to send something back to China. This way i can just drive up the 405 and exit Devonshire, and hand it to him. lol. 

Even $400 is a pretty good price for what a UTi260B offers the repair tech in terms of fast diagnosis of a laptop motherboard short diagnosis and repair. I suspect the professional tech could recover the cost of the camera quite quickly in terms of repair throughput and delivery from a USA supplier introduces that efficiency improvement sooner than ordering from China ?

Point taken. II didn't realize at first he was literally less than an hour drive from me. The fact alone that i could have it in hand in a day as opposed to waiting at least a month for the slow boat makes it a good deal.  I'm still weighing my options right now but this is the model i'm most likely to buy. Gotta finish the project i'm currently doing, wiring my entire house with Cat6A. House is 2 story and built on a slab, so its a pain.

[Andrew LB]

Just took a brief look at Louis Rossmann’s Channel video list. Seems he still does not like thermal cameras ! His channel has changed so much since I last looked at it. Full of ‘social’  stuff and lots of non electronic repair videos. It did not make me want to re-subscribe 

Yeah. Louis has experienced as a New Yorker what many of us here in California have gone through this past two years, and that's an out of control authoritarian government  that has bankrupted nearly 1/3 of all single location small businesses while focusing on everything other than helping those citizens living in their state. I hear its 10x worse for a lot of Aussies though.

[Helix70]

Just took a brief look at Louis Rossmann’s Channel video list. Seems he still does not like thermal cameras ! His channel has changed so much since I last looked at it. Full of ‘social’  stuff and lots of non electronic repair videos. It did not make me want to re-subscribe 

Yeah. Louis has experienced as a New Yorker what many of us here in California have gone through this past two years, and that's an out of control authoritarian government  that has bankrupted nearly 1/3 of all single location small businesses while focusing on everything other than helping those citizens living in their state. I hear its 10x worse for a lot of Aussies though.

Don't watch so much Fox News. Us Aussies are fine thanks.

[Fraser]

Alex of NorthridgeFIX is now selling the Macro lens adapter for the UTi260B. He has produced a video of it in use if anyone wants to see its effectiveness for PCB work. No idea of its price but for our US A based members it may be more convenient than ordering from China. Other UTi260B close-up lens adapter designs are available to print yourself and the imaging performance will be the same or very similar, depending upon lens quality.

https://youtu.be/BNQJ77wqYSA

A small side note…. In my comments on Alex’s channel I have tried to steer people towards the EEVBlog thermal imaging forum for thermal imaging information but it would appear that Alex deletes any such posts in his comments. It is probably poor YouTube commenting etiquette on my part though ! His channel, his rules

Fraser

[Fraser]

Just found the NorthridgeFIX listing for the close-up lens adapter. He is asking $48.95 for it

https://northridgefix.com/?s=uni-t&post_type=product

I have no connection to NorthridgeFIX or the products he sells so please do your own due diligence before buying.

Fraser

[CANUK]

Even after 10 minutes powered on, is it normal that FFC is activated every 10-11 seconds?

[Paw85]

It can be normal at startup for the calibration to happen quite frequently, but the interval should get longer as the sensor approach the correct operating temperature.

[CANUK]

Yes I read this entire thread and Fraser's answer about FFC. However, FFC is applied so frequently (every 10-11 sec) even after 10 minutes of usage. I have the impression that this time value is hard coded in the software. I'm wondering if I got a faulty camera and if other people have the same issue ?

[Fraser]

The FFC period is normally staged or fully dynamic.

At first start, the camera firmware initiates a FFC event at short intervals while the microbolometer is coming up to normal operating temperature. That operating temperature is the point of thermal equilibrium where the thermal energy being produced in the Microbolometer and its dissipation into its surroundings become equal and stable (within limits). Once thermal equilibrium has occurred and the imaging core is at operating temperature (approx 32C) the camera firmware increases the interval between FFC events to approx 120 Seconds, or longer. Some cameras have a set period once at operating temperature, whilst others may employ dynamic FFC that responds to changes in the Microbolometer die temperature and ambient temperature changes. These dynamic FFC period cameras sometimes extend the period between FFC events if the cores temperature stability is good. There are cores, such as those from Seek Thermal, that employ a short interval between FFC events whilst operating. This is done to counter temperature drift in the Microbolometer. As already stated, an interval between FFC events is commonly 120 Seconds or longer.

If a camera is carrying out FFC events often when compared to other cameras of the same model, it likely has an issue with its Microbolometer temperature stability or the ambient temperature sensor and this is triggering the FFC response to such in an attempt to maintain measurement accuracy. What is the temperature measurement accuracy and stability like ?

Fraser

[CANUK]

Thanks for the explanation.  I would like to hear the experience with FFC of other UTI260B owners.

[Fraser]

Alex at NorthridgeFIX has just released a video showing the ZnSe close-up lens equipped UTi260B in use on an iPad PCB repair.

https://youtu.be/AmprcM6pT8c

Fraser

[Pude]

Thank you @Canuc for this adapter model. This is my first 3D print ever and it came out pretty well just using default settings.
Now just a little more waiting and hopefully the camera and the lens arrives from Banggood pretty soon.  The printer came from Europe but camera and the assessories are from China.

[KG7AMV]

I received my Uti260B With a Macro Lens Yesterday From China about 10-11 days.

I think this tool will pay for it self quickly in time saved.

I can Confirm it works with OBS.

[Cliff Matthews]

Nice.. Is it OK to be green with envy?

[Pude]

After a few shots I'm really pleased the quality of this device. Especially with the additional 50mm lens and the 3d-printed lens holder. Again, thank you eevblog-forum. This camera takes thermal image and a normal pic same time. You can see additional lens and the holder in those "normal" pics. One picture is to compare with and without the 50mm lens. 

[KG7AMV]

Well the thermal camera officially paid for it self little over a week averaging 68min's form the time board's hit the bench to the time short/bad ic is found generally it takes me 20-40min and bunch of ipa and cuss words. On top of that 4 condemned board recovered form the scrap bin and found the annoying squeaky bearing in the band saw. I Also Fixed a draft in the house the wife kept complaining about Very happy.

Only complaints so far is the macro lens holder there needs to be a better more secure method with easy removal vs double sided tape. CANUK cover loos cool i guess it is time for a 3d printer.

[Fabian]

Hi everyone,
I made another holder for the 20mm lens (F=60mm works great), which allows to slide the lens in and out. If it is not used, it is hidden behind some wall so it does not get damaged easily.

[ashketik]

Hi everyone,
I recently received this thermal imager. After a few hours of work a hot spot appeared on the screen. The seller claims that the device is working correctly and soon this spot will disappear. I saw that some people also had this situation. Who had this problem tell me if this defect has disappeared or has increased. I want to understand if I need to return the device or claim compensation.



Thanks. Sorry, English is not my native language.

[vav]

Hi, Uni-t UTi260B at Bangood for 289 €. From Czech warehouse, promo code: BGGines. You pay 32 € less, free shipping. Applies to the EU. English is not my native language.

[Ratisse]

Hi everybody, I have exactly the same problem, I opened a ticket, it is still in progress

For those who are interested, I designed a lens + macro lens cover: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5269694
Added today the macro lens holder, Hope it will fit your 20mm lens, mine fell down to the floor while taking measurements to design this and now is in pieces grrrrr!

Tell me if I have something to modify

[vav]

Hi, would you be so kind as to try to create a model to attach a lens? I didn't know, and certainly many others, that it could be bought in its entirety. I have already bought a 20 / 50.8mm lens, and I would be very grateful if you added it to your project. I apologize if this is incomprehensible, I use a translator, English is not my native language.

[Creep]

Received the UTI260B yesterday. The seller seems to have forgotten to put the Macro lens in the package so I guess testing with electronics will have to be put on hold for a while.

What is a bit more problematic though, is the fact that I can't seem to be able to run the Uni-T software. Downloaded it from their website, installed it, however, when I run it, it seems to just close itself while loading (around 1-2 seconds after launching the executable). Using Windows 10 here.
Has anyone gotten the software to work?
Or is there any other way to get a live image from the camera to a monitor?

[Creep]

Fired up the camera and got greeted with a large dose of confusion.

Depending on the scene, the image can look completely fine for some scenes, but show varying degrees of bright vertical lines for others.
Here is an extreme example of this.
It seems to be somehow related to the FFC, because they change every time the FFC triggers. The lines can be either static or slowly moving horizontally.
Is this an effect of the camera warming up? After sitting powered for around 10-15 minutes it seems to be fine and showing what is expected. Is this normal of does it point to some sort of a defect of the camera? Not quite sure yet if how it would behave when given the opportunity to cool down again.

EDIT: Based on current observations it looks like something weird related to the power supply system, looks like the camera works totally fine when attached to a charging cable or when the battery is totally full, when the battery gets slightly drained (3/4 bars capacity remaining), this vertical line thing starts appearing, even with a camera that has warmed up.

[Bill W]

May be a combination of two things.

Static vertical lines which go away at FFC then get worse until the next FFC is fairly normal warming up for any bolometer.  The camera manufacturer should avoid this by setting up variable FFC times and triggering by (timer/temperature/image analysis).

Vertical lines that are locked in at FFC and do not change is likely a power supply noise.  Design error / deliberate cheapskating.  You would though also expect to see the same noise running through all the time give or take a bit of field averaging.  You could try sucessive still frames and do some image maths to be sure which is which.

In any case if you reduce the scene span too much (say under 1°C) some vertical patterning will show up on most cameras.

[edit]
Seen your scale of 40° span in the image
That is broken
[/edit]

Bill

[Ratisse]

Hi, english is not my native language too. Yes, I think It's possible to design a lens holder for your lens but I will need the accurate measurements of it. The problem is that I won't be able to test it without having a real lens in the hands. The best way is to scan the lens with your multifunction printer without touching any settings, so at least I will have a real picture to work with in Freecad

[Ed.Kloonk]

Throwing my hat in the ring. Want this with the macro. Watching with interest.

[TinkeringSteve]

The sliding lens holder made by Fabian looks nicer than the bulky gray one.
But I also have that lens in the white plastic thing around it. Can that be easily taken out, to be used with Fabian's holder, or does it break or something? (not even sure what the material is...)

[vav]

Hi, I ordered 260B from Banggood, but they sent 690B. I requested software from the service center for communication between the camera and the PC. I think it will also work with 260B. Size 50MB. (Uti-Line Screen V 1.53). Write me a private message, e-mail address, I'll send it to you. (Translator SK / ENG)

[Ratisse]

The software downlowdable fron the Banggood description works fine with Windows10

[WAGAbund]

I purchased the UTI260B in February this year. I saw on youtube that you can connect it to a smartphone to record video (firmware 1.1.6). Unfortunately my device has firmware 1.2.6, which does not allow connection to an android phone. This is not a problem of android (I tested 7,10 and 11) and applications (I tested from Google Play: USB Camera yellow icon;nExt Camera;CameraFi;OTG View2;USB Endoscope;Endoscope camera). 
Someone has device version 1.2.6 and works with phone? (It is not about file transfer).

[TinkeringSteve]

I purchased the UTI260B in February this year. I saw on youtube that you can connect it to a smartphone to record video (firmware 1.1.6). Unfortunately my device has firmware 1.2.6, which does not allow connection to an android phone. This is not a problem of android (I tested 7,10 and 11) and applications (I tested from Google Play: USB Camera yellow icon;nExt Camera;CameraFi;OTG View2;USB Endoscope;Endoscope camera). 
Someone has device version 1.2.6 and works with phone? (It is not about file transfer).

IDK about phone. But my 260B has a menu entry somewhere in the settings where the device's USB mod can be changed between camera vs. file storage. It does only one of those things at a time. And from what I remember, it didn't remember my choice on next boot. No idea what the firmware version is.

[WAGAbund]

IDK about phone. But my 260B has a menu entry somewhere in the settings where the device's USB mod can be changed between camera vs. file storage. It does only one of those things at a time. And from what I remember, it didn't remember my choice on next boot. No idea what the firmware version is.

I have tested on several phones Samsung S7, Xaomi MI9; Nubia Z7max. I know the option to change settings (either file transfer , or camera USB). When setting USB camera there is no connection to the applications I mentioned earlier.
You can check your version in menu under device info.

[TinkeringSteve]

I have tested on several phones Samsung S7, Xaomi MI9; Nubia Z7max. I know the option to change settings (either file transfer , or camera USB). When setting USB camera there is no connection to the applications I mentioned earlier.
You can check your version in menu under device info.

Ah, I have 1.2.2, something in between.

[WAGAbund]

Ah, I have 1.2.2, something in between.

This would confirm that version 1.2.6 has a bug that does not allow connection to the phone in usb camera mode. 
Or perhaps someone is working on hacking the 260B? Then you could upload custom firmware etc.

[TinkeringSteve]

Ah, I have 1.2.2, something in between.

This would confirm that version 1.2.6 has a bug that does not allow connection to the phone in usb camera mode. 
Or perhaps someone is working on hacking the 260B? Then you could upload custom firmware etc.

Not sure, I only tested it with a Windows PC, not a phone. But... USB is USB, it should not matter, right?
Anyway, I was using their supplied Windows software to test the camera mode with.

[mogor]

I can confirm that UTi260B with firmware version 1.2.6 does not provide a proper USB Camera interface. Both a Windows and a Linux machine fail to initialize the video feed.

In Windows it is detected as a "UVC Camera" with a generic Microsoft driver.
Downloading the software package from uni-trend[dot]com with a lightspeed of 50 KiB/s now. Glad I was able to travel back in time successfully.

[mogor]

UTi Live Screen v1.52 software can display the video feed from the camera, but the framerate drops quite a bit. Too bad, I was looking forward to joining video conferences in infrared.

[CANUK]

My camera also developed a hotspot. 

[yoifranz]

good day, a great question, the video shows an adjustable support to adjust the height of the UTi260B, could you tell me which ones. Thanks a lot.
 

https://es.aliexpress.com/item/1005003111031905.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2esp       

[onlooker]

Bought an Ender 3 pro printer recently. This is my lens holder in a minimalistic approach using a D12mm lens ($7).

The lens was super glued to the ring in 3 tiny spots. Seems good enough.

[Ratisse]

For those who are interested, I've just published a LCD+Keyboard cover available here:https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5341742

[Ratisse]

My camera also developed a hotspot. 

How long did it work normally? Mine only worked without the hot spot for a few hours

[Fraser]

Regarding ‘hot spots’ ……

These can be caused by nothing more serious than a spec of debris getting onto the microbolometer window. The dirt or debris that is on the window reflects the microbolometer die temperature back at it, causing the hot spot. A careful clean of the microbolometer window (not the lens) will often remove the issue.Before anyone asks, I cannot provide a guide to cleaning their particular microbolometer, except to say you need good access to the window by either removing the lens or the microbolometer from the core chassis.

As to where the first or debris comes from…… budget manufacturing facilities with less than perfect microbolometer core hygiene. Foreign bodies within the core capsule can move around and drop onto the microbolometer window. A photographic air puffer through the lens mounting hole can sometimes clear the problem. You need to reset the lens focus point after removing it.

Fraser

[Bill W]

The opposite can also occur, a bit of debris on the window that has been calibrated *IN* to the camera gain then falls off.

Bill

[Fraser]

Thanks Bill,

Yes that is a really nasty situation as correction would require creation of a new calibration table or amendments to the original. In the ‘calibrated with debris present’ scenario I would expect the dead pixel map to try to hide the pixels in the debris ‘shadow’ as they would fall outside the response limits set during calibration and be considered faulty.

Fraser

[Mario87]

For those who are interested, I've just published a LCD+Keyboard cover available here:https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5341742

Hi Ratisse, you seem to be pretty good with the 3D CAD modelling. Any chance you can make a stand for the unit to seat is on while not in use? Something that hold the IR camera upright on your desk, with a little bit of a forward tilt to it, so you can just pick it up with 1 hand, use it, then put it back in it's dock after?

Would be great to keep the desk space clear and not just have the camera laying on its side.

[Bill W]

Thanks Bill,

Yes that is a really nasty situation as correction would require creation of a new calibration table or amendments to the original. In the ‘calibrated with debris present’ scenario I would expect the dead pixel map to try to hide the pixels in the debris ‘shadow’ as they would fall outside the response limits set during calibration and be considered faulty.

Fraser

At least for the more recent Argus cameras (ie where we set the parameters) that was not the case.  Any dust or window coating defects were far enough out of focus not to cause a bad enough 'shadow' to fail the pixels.  I doubt any other cameras are that different in approach, with defective pixel cutoff set at around 75% of average/median response.

The only problem was the cameras with interchange lenses as the 'shadows' moved !

Bill

[Fraser]

Bill,

Interesting. Thank you 

Fraser

[Ratisse]

For those who are interested, I've just published a LCD+Keyboard cover available here:https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5341742

Hi Ratisse, you seem to be pretty good with the 3D CAD modelling. Any chance you can make a stand for the unit to seat is on while not in use? Something that hold the IR camera upright on your desk, with a little bit of a forward tilt to it, so you can just pick it up with 1 hand, use it, then put it back in it's dock after?

Would be great to keep the desk space clear and not just have the camera laying on its side.

Hi Mario87, I will try to do this as soon as I have a moment. I was also considering making an adjustable stand to hold the camera horizontally so I could slide a board underneath after focusing with the macro lens

[Ratisse]

For those who are interested, I've just published a LCD+Keyboard cover available here:https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5341742

Hi Ratisse, you seem to be pretty good with the 3D CAD modelling. Any chance you can make a stand for the unit to seat is on while not in use? Something that hold the IR camera upright on your desk, with a little bit of a forward tilt to it, so you can just pick it up with 1 hand, use it, then put it back in it's dock after?

Would be great to keep the desk space clear and not just have the camera laying on its side.

Hi Mario87, I will try to do this as soon as I have a moment. I was also considering making an adjustable stand to hold the camera horizontally so I could slide a board underneath after focusing with the macro lens

  Just finished the dock with Freecad but not printed yet, before I would like to know if it is what you where looking for

[WAGAbund]

I was also considering making an adjustable stand to hold the camera horizontally so I could slide a board underneath after focusing with the macro lens

Super idea. I would love to do it...

[Mario87]

For those who are interested, I've just published a LCD+Keyboard cover available here:https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5341742

Hi Ratisse, you seem to be pretty good with the 3D CAD modelling. Any chance you can make a stand for the unit to seat is on while not in use? Something that hold the IR camera upright on your desk, with a little bit of a forward tilt to it, so you can just pick it up with 1 hand, use it, then put it back in it's dock after?

Would be great to keep the desk space clear and not just have the camera laying on its side.

Hi Mario87, I will try to do this as soon as I have a moment. I was also considering making an adjustable stand to hold the camera horizontally so I could slide a board underneath after focusing with the macro lens

  Just finished the dock with Freecad but not printed yet, before I would like to know if it is what you where looking for

Wow, that was fast. 

That is kind of what I was thinking, but as the IR camera is quite top heavy it will maybe be unstable with just a base. In your 3rd picture if you can imagine a piece coming up underneath the front of the camera to support it just underneath the main unit, just infront / above the trigger button.

I think your current design with that addition would be great. If you add the support piece I mention above, you could probably make the base a bit thinner too as it won't need to support so much weight, just kind of gently hold the camera still while the support frame I mention above holds most of the weight.

Hope that makes sense.

[Ratisse]

For those who are interested, I've just published a LCD+Keyboard cover available here:https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5341742

Hi Ratisse, you seem to be pretty good with the 3D CAD modelling. Any chance you can make a stand for the unit to seat is on while not in use? Something that hold the IR camera upright on your desk, with a little bit of a forward tilt to it, so you can just pick it up with 1 hand, use it, then put it back in it's dock after?

Would be great to keep the desk space clear and not just have the camera laying on its side.

Hi Mario87, I will try to do this as soon as I have a moment. I was also considering making an adjustable stand to hold the camera horizontally so I could slide a board underneath after focusing with the macro lens

  Just finished the dock with Freecad but not printed yet, before I would like to know if it is what you where looking for

Wow, that was fast. 

That is kind of what I was thinking, but as the IR camera is quite top heavy it will maybe be unstable with just a base. In your 3rd picture if you can imagine a piece coming up underneath the front of the camera to support it just underneath the main unit, just infront / above the trigger button.

I think your current design with that addition would be great. If you add the support piece I mention above, you could probably make the base a bit thinner too as it won't need to support so much weight, just kind of gently hold the camera still while the support frame I mention above holds most of the weight.

Hope that makes sense.

OK, this is just a test, I will modify it with your suggestion. I also plan to add a box to store 3 different macro lenses for a quick and easy swap depending of the needed resolution (this involves to modify the lens holder, so it will take more time)

[Ratisse]

Is this one OK? It is still a prototype, I need to add the lens case, screw holes, maybe a wall mount, etc.. Shafts are based on 8mm diameter ballpoint pen bodies for added rigidity and cut to 113.5mm

[Mario87]

Yeah, that looks pretty good!

Just 1 thing, is it possible to model the main supports instead of using 8mm ball point pens? I know I don't have any lying around and I'm sure if I went to buy some the only ones I would find would be hexagonal or something other than 8mm, just my kind of luck when it comes to using "generic" items on things like this.

[Ratisse]

Yeah, that looks pretty good!

Just 1 thing, is it possible to model the main supports instead of using 8mm ball point pens? I know I don't have any lying around and I'm sure if I went to buy some the only ones I would find would be hexagonal or something other than 8mm, just my kind of luck when it comes to using "generic" items on things like this.

I preferred to make the support in 3 parts to print it more easily. Anyway, I'll include the STL file for the 8mm rods.

[Mario87]

Superb, thank you 

[Ratisse]

The dock is available here:https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5355447.

  Print the rods flat onto the bed with edge. The wall mount and the removable macro lens holder are still in progress

Sorry, I don't know how to rotate the pictures (even if it is possible)

[Mario87]

That is fantastic! Thank you!!

[Ratisse]

That is fantastic! Thank you!!

You're welcome, tell me if something have to be modified.  Designing removable macro lens holder  and wall mount still in progress

[Ratisse]

Added swapable macro lenses to quickly change macro resolution

[Vitaliik]

Hello! Maybe somebody had this Problem. My UTI260b can't finish booting. With 100% he stops and that*s all. With completely low Battery i can start him somehow but not always. I have really no Idea what i can do and serching for new Firmware wasn*t succesfull. Thanks for Answer.
Video of unfinished booting https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mCEEwUoOahk

[Fraser]

If you are able to do so, return it to the company that sold it to you as that appears to be a fault situation. Firmware does not tend to corrupt itself without some provocation and trying to load new firmware on a unit that has a fault can just make a bad situation worse. It is potentially possible for the flash memory to corrupted by a faulty memory cell, but this is normally detected at boot.

In terms of what has gone wrong with the unit, it is impossible to know without looking at the output of the engineering port that shows boot progress. In many similar systems, the firmware is loaded into RAM and a self test executed. Once the self test completes and finds all the required sub systems, the firmware runs the camera operation code. If, at this point, the camera firmware issues a command to a sub system and does not receive the expected response, or nil response, the system can ‘hang’ either for an instruction execution time-out period (if such is implemented) or until the system is reset/re-started. The fact that the system appears to be responding to the torch and power ‘off’ keypad instructions could show that the processor is still running and a firmware routine is hanging awaiting a response from a sub system, but in some cases the torch and power on/off functionality is dealt with separately to the main processor and firmware (dedicated function IC’s).

Sorry I cannot be more specific in my comments but I have yet to work on a UT260B camera.

Fraser

[DavidThijs]

Added swapable macro lenses to quickly change macro resolution

What is the diameter of the lenses you use ? Is it a 12 or 20mm ?
Not sure why some people go with the 12mm while others take larger lenses.

[Silicium81]

Both work, with 12mm you have to place them close enough to the measurement window.
my support for 12mm lens: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/uni-t-uti260-3d-printed-accessories/msg4135633/#msg4135633

[Fraser]

Just a comment on 12mm Vs 20mm lens diameters. In general these ZnSe lenses were designed for use on a CO2 laser engraver and are not specifically designed for use on thermal imaging cameras. The performance of the lens is better towards its centre and often degrades as you move towards the outside edge. With this in mind, it is a good idea to go oversize on a lens to ensure best image quality.

Fraser

[Silicium81]

The 12mm diameter does not cause any annoying distortion on the Uti260b, this is surely not true on all thermal cameras!
Here are two thermal images that show it, it is a printed circuit board with 2.54mm pitch pads
The first with a 12mm lens with a 50mm focal length and the second still in 12mm with a 38mm focal length.
The distortions come mainly from a bad paralax to avoid reflections (mirror effects)
It can only be better with 20mm lenses but it is very acceptable with 12mm!

[markb1980]

Hello,

has anyone tested the UNI-T Software to analyze images and generate reports? The UTi260B is basically a Infiray C200/C210... Can I use there software too? Could somone please email me one or two radiometric sample images from a UTi260B?

Thanks guys.

[optotester]

Hi all,

If any one is willing to play with that camera, I advice to take a firmware backup first. There is a LVTTL header on the board that can be easily used with CH340 adapter.

(heat the screen borders with a hairdryer to remove it easily)

DISCLAIMER: I am not responsible for any bricked device following these instructions.

Typical pinout for C200 - using almost same HW platform:
PIN1 - +3.3V (do not connect)
PIN2 - GND
PIN3 - TX (connect to RX on adapter)
PIN4 - RX (connect to TX on adapter)
Serial is 115200/8/1/n. Always identify ground and +3.3V with a multimeter first.

Boot sequence can be interrupted - from U-Boot, you can take a backup (done in chuncks of 256MB due to limited RAM - to save time you could do larger like 384MB as long as you do not override U-Boot relloc address/screen framebuffer but calculation is much easier with 256MB).
Considering 0x80000000 is the RAM start address (confirm that using bdinfo command), follow the steps:

PREREQ 1 - Insert a >=4GB SD Card
PREREQ 2 - mmc list--> you should see the SD Card and the Internal MMC

1 - mmc dev Y (where Y is the INTERNAL MMC)
2 - mmc read 0x80000000 0x0 0x80000
3 - mmc dev X (where X is the EXTERNAL SD)
4 - mmc write 0x80000000 0x0 0x80000
5 - mmc dev Y (where Y is the INTERNAL MMC)
6 - mmc read 0x80000000 0x80000 0x80000
7 - mmc dev X (where X is the EXTERNAL SD)
8 - mmc write 0x80000000 0x80000 0x80000
9 - mmc dev Y (where Y is the INTERNAL MMC)
10 - mmc read 0x80000000 0x100000 0x80000
11 - mmc dev X (where X is the EXTERNAL SD)
12 - mmc write 0x80000000 0x100000 0x80000
... (etc second parameter changes to 0x180000, 0x200000, 0x280000 ... until it complains there is nothing to read)
After it complains, for the last one you have to adjust the read size - if it says it could only read 0x60000 blocks, change the third value to 0x60000.
For a 4GB internal MMC, it will typically stop at  0x700000 + 0x6000.

I really advise to ALWAYS run the "mmcinfo" command before issuing any "mmc write" command to ensure the external SD is selected. If you do any mistake, you will erase the device flash and no recovery will be easily possible (even less if memory is BGA).

Then, you have a full copy of the MMC on your SD. To store that into a file using Linux, run "dd if=/dev/yourSDcard of=Camera.img bs=512 count=[last address + size, converted to DEC, for example 7733248 in the previous example]".
Note that there are a FAT and EXT3 partition on the device - if you use Windows (or OSX) to backup the SD, the automount will create a System Volume Information (or a .DS_Store file) on the card, so it wont be an exact copy, which is why I advise to use Linux (or use the read-only switch in your SD card adapter).

If you do not understand the previous commands, you will most likely brick your device - so please refrain yourself .

In addition, I think I found how to get root access to the device, however I would need a backup from someone to confirm that first.

[optotester]

Hello all,

As UT260B seems to share the same platform as C200, I developed an unlocking script that provides root access here:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/infiray-c210-thermal-camera-review/msg4368193/#msg4368193

It might work or not as-is on the UTI260B - I tried to make it very flexible. If it does not, I will need at least one MMC backup taken from the method exposed previously. I do not have the device myself I cannot take that initial backup, but if I get one, I will be easily able to adapt the script if needed. Once we start collecting backups, it should be easy to activate UVC, restore calibration, or unbrick not booting devices.

Kr

[All Seeing Eye]

If it could adjust the focal length,That's better

[keenox]

I also opened the UTi260B. Tip: use a small suction cap (like the ones used to remove phone screens) to remove the screen shield in order to avoid scratches instead of using tweezers. Also, don't pull hard on the face because there is a small ribbon cable that connects the buttons to the main PCB. I almost ripped mine.
I also attached a script that will enable the USB console. (thanks optotester for the initial script)
Just unzip to the SD card root, press right for 3 seconds, hold and press left.
You will see a new COM in the device manager. Connect using putty (or your preferred terminal client) with baud rate 115200.

Use ftpadmin/ftpadmin (no write rigths, safer to just look around) or root/uti160e (careful! you can mess stuff up if you don't know what you're doing.

Full dump of the 1.2.6 firmware: https://mega.nz/file/2EZXAKJC#L_ROicWxl96tmm10NZP_TM9PELJHTVqmL0C8l_ZAYGQ

[Algoma]

Picked up one of these from the Nov11 sales, so far it has been excellent the first few times I've used it. Only trouble is that it doesn't charge on a USB-C charger. I've had to use the included USB-C to USB-A cable to charge it at fixed 5V

This one has a Firmware v1.2.10

After a full charge, I did hit a bug with all temperatures reading 0'C and center spot -275'C. All other general operations seemed normal. A reboot didn't fix. Then did factory reset from the menus with no change. Restarted and it froze up at EN/CN language selection on boot. Rebooted yet again and it now seems to have returned to normal operation.

[Algoma]

well, it broke.. First full recharge and it showed all measurements at 0.00'C and the center point read -275'C.  Performed a full factory reset and it came back, but all readings are now 10-15'C off.

@optotester posted a link to access the calibration mode.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/infiray-c210-thermal-camera-review/msg4336675/#msg4336675

Looks like the High Gain calibration was reset, and the NTC value is showing 0.0'C.

Bit of trial and error to recalibrate it properly I've sucessfully worked out a general procedure to restore its operation to within expected values.
Cal Reset to wipe out current Gain calibration values.
RMVC_RESET seems to reset the thermal sensor and appears to also run a RMVC_CAL
RMVC_CAL needs to up close to a blackbody source with a stable thermal gradient within its field of view. I used a heavy black coated frypan warmed to about 25'C and allowed to thermally settle to an even color when viewed through the camera. This function evens out variations and hotspots in the sensor's image and sets the baseline for the other calibrations at 10'C and 120'C
Generally point and sample the desired temperature Cal points using the center cross. I used Ice to cool a bowl of water as my 10'C temperature, and a frypan heated to 120'C as my baseline targets. Any simple IR thermometer should give some target references to work with. An open fridge or freezer is another easy source to find a desired 10'C point to sample.

New Recal commits the values to the sensor and if close, temperatures should be closer to actual. Cal Save and Switch Gain switches to Low Gain calibration. These seemed correct and were left alone as they require much higher temperature sample points. Power Cycle to verify the results.

Without a proper calibration source, a few resets of calbration I was able to chart out the responses each time referenced to generally stable values: melting Ice (0'C), Room Temperature (21'C), Body Temperature (36.8'C) and Boiling water(100'C).. With a bit charting the values and responses I was able to tune the 10'C and 120'C values to acheive proper calibration well within original specs. In my case 23 and 96 were the results that gave proper reponse. I think image contrast and accuracy actually improved, it shows body temperature exactly on value at 36.8'C.

Now that NTC value is still showing 0.0'C so I think the internal temperature compensation broke with the first recharge, so the calibration will only be true for the room temperature I calibrated it at, with the tool properly warmed to an operating state.

Any ideas where that NTC might be located in there? .. I'm' thinking its within the IR camera module, or on shutter and not easily replaceable.

[teddychn]

Looks like it has some quality concern. Remember I had seen someone having boot problem very soon.

My UTi260A is just on the way. Now I start to worry about the quality of it...

[Algoma]

Likely could have been the reason for the deep sale price.. factory scratch and dent models, refurbished rejects. Functional but flawed.

[bsgd]

Hi all!

So I just got for Christmas a UNIT 260B camera. This is my first thermal camera so Im not sure what to expect, and thats why I ask for advice here.
My camera shows a 'pattern' when I aim at objects or surfaces that should be at the same temperature all around. The pattern is always the same as below and does not improve after leaving the camera on for hours and after many FFC events.

Is this expected? The temperature range is small I know, around 2C, but I expected the screen to look all the same color, with no fixed pattern like this. Maybe Im expecting too much from such a low end device? Or is this a problem?

I just wanna make sure I did not get a defective unit.

[katzenhai2]

[...]
Is this expected? The temperature range is small I know, around 2C, but I expected the screen to look all the same color, [...]

With such a small temperature range that's not unlikely. I have a Hikmicro thermal camera and here you can see the lens that comes into view after warming up with a small temp range.

I can't say whether this is more pronounced with the Uni-T devices. With my camera, however, the effect only occurs after 30 minutes when all systems have reached their working temperature.
For me the difference is 1°C and is within the tolerance range. With your camera that's a little more at over 2.5°C. Please take a thermal photo of objects to see how this affects your temperature measurements.

[bsgd]

Thanks for the reply.

I have taken two more pictures of an obect that I just heated by holding it for a few seconds and then laid it on a table that is not used here so its surface should be ate the same temperature on every point. As you can see, that ghost image can still be seen. I still dont know it this is expected. Even with a difference of almost 10C I can still see that ghost image on screen, from the picture I took of my own hand.

[Algoma]

While it is possible to backup and recalibrate the sensor to even out the color, as calibration mode is built in. Its really not worth the potential to cause even greater issues. Its a very specific process, and very hard to get right without actual calibration reference equipment at hand.

Does the effect show differently within the low gain range?

Being close to a surface I found that the Thermal Lens window actually emits significant internal heat when pressed close against a surface.. Press it into a soft cloth then pull back the camera, and you'll see a significant hot spot left in the cloth that touched the sensor window.

[aydd]

my camera unit 260b v1.1.6 

how can i download new software


1---Always hear 2 times click sound when device is working. Is this sound normal? on the screen. lens movement sound When this sound comes, the screen freezes.
2---- Seeing vertical noise lines in the thermal camera. Is this screen fault?
or to be able to see it like this from time to time..

[markb1980]

my camera unit 260b v1.1.6 ... how can i download new software

Sorry no idea - i have no UNI-T camera.

1---Always hear 2 times click sound when device is working. Is this sound normal? on the screen. lens movement sound When this sound comes, the screen freezes.

That is normal - the shutter closes for the NUC (non uniformity correction). I would suggest to read a beginners book or watch some videos to learn the basics!

2---- Seeing vertical noise lines in the thermal camera. Is this screen fault?

Show us an image please - I am not sure what exact do you mean...

[aydd]

I saw vertical screen pictures interference on the screen 2 times. It's not a permanent situation. it may be normal to see this on a comprehensive thermal camera for the first time Unknown.. no photo sorry. I'll take it again

[aydd]

my camera unit 260b v1.1.6 ... how can i download new software

Sorry no idea - i have no UNI-T camera.

1---Always hear 2 times click sound when device is working. Is this sound normal? on the screen. lens movement sound When this sound comes, the screen freezes.

That is normal - the shutter closes for the NUC (non uniformity correction). I would suggest to read a beginners book or watch some videos to learn the basics!

2---- Seeing vertical noise lines in the thermal camera. Is this screen fault?

Show us an image please - I am not sure what exact do you mean...

if the noise is visible in the picture it is normal. If not, is the screen faulty? I've only seen it 3 times

[aydd]

I saw vertical screen pictures interference on the screen 2 times. It's not a permanent situation. it may be normal to see this on a comprehensive thermal camera for the first time Unknown.. no photo sorry. I'll take it again

https://www.veed.io/view/8c477bae-a2be-44bc-b181-4f4959ff6890?sharingWidget=true&panel=share

this video please check.

but i got this. more parasites occurred than that. is this normal?

[katzenhai2]

https://www.veed.io/view/8c477bae-a2be-44bc-b181-4f4959ff6890?sharingWidget=true&

Good question. I don't own a Uni-T device. Maybe one of the other owners can compare it with their device.
This doesn't happen with my devices (from HIKMICRO). But could theoretically be normal and related to the used screen in the devices. 

[teddychn]

Picked up one of these from the Nov11 sales, so far it has been excellent the first few times I've used it. Only trouble is that it doesn't charge on a USB-C charger. I've had to use the included USB-C to USB-A cable to charge it at fixed 5V

This one has a Firmware v1.2.10

After a full charge, I did hit a bug with all temperatures reading 0'C and center spot -275'C. All other general operations seemed normal. A reboot didn't fix. Then did factory reset from the menus with no change. Restarted and it froze up at EN/CN language selection on boot. Rebooted yet again and it now seems to have returned to normal operation.

I can't charge my UTi-260A with type-C charger as well. And it's firmware version was 1.0.20 too.

The manual claims turning on/off continuously can damage the device. I'm curious about the science in it. So we can only take it carefully for now.

[aydd]

Picked up one of these from the Nov11 sales, so far it has been excellent the first few times I've used it. Only trouble is that it doesn't charge on a USB-C charger. I've had to use the included USB-C to USB-A cable to charge it at fixed 5V

This one has a Firmware v1.2.10

After a full charge, I did hit a bug with all temperatures reading 0'C and center spot -275'C. All other general operations seemed normal. A reboot didn't fix. Then did factory reset from the menus with no change. Restarted and it froze up at EN/CN language selection on boot. Rebooted yet again and it now seems to have returned to normal operation.

I can't charge my UTi-260A with type-C charger as well. And it's firmware version was 1.0.20 too.

The manual claims turning on/off continuously can damage the device. I'm curious about the science in it. So we can only take it carefully for now.

lcd screen problem

I noticed that it is affected by cell phone signals. If the device is nearby when the phone rings, these interferences exist

[teddychn]

lcd screen problem

I noticed that it is affected by cell phone signals. If the device is nearby when the phone rings, these interferences exist

I set my cell phone and UTI260A side by side. Then made a call to my  phone. Seemed nothing happened.

[Algoma]

Cellular providers usually operate on different frequencies, it's likely very specific and narrow range that has the greatest effect ( multiple of screen refresh rate)..transmit power also varies based on distance from your nearest tower.

[teddychn]

Cellular providers usually operate on different frequencies, it's likely very specific and narrow range that has the greatest effect ( multiple of screen refresh rate)..transmit power also varies based on distance from your nearest tower.

Make sense, Algoma. I thought I was lucky.

[raquenaengineering]

Hello, I've managed to connect the UTI690 to get video streaming to a computer and collect it via openCV.
Here the code I've wrote:

https://github.com/raquenaengineering/soft_lib_uti690B

I'm planning to use your code to improve the software.
Would you like to share some knowledge and maybe merge both codes?

Cheers!

[Silicium81]

Hello, I've managed to connect the UTI690 to get video streaming to a computer and collect it via openCV.
Here the code I've wrote:

https://github.com/raquenaengineering/soft_lib_uti690B

I'm planning to use your code to improve the software.
Would you like to share some knowledge and maybe merge both codes?

Cheers!

the link is dead 

[raquenaengineering]

The link is fixed now.
Thanks!

[Tim Foo]

The idea of connecting a phone to my UTi260B (V1.1.6) is really attractive.  So far I have tried your list of apps with no success from Google Play:  USB Camera (Brown icon), nExt Camera, CameraFi Live, OTG View (which after installation  turns out to be OTG View2)... Will like to find out of anone out there have success and with what App together with the settings.  IMHO this UTi260B do not have the same frame size as the other (standard?) USB camera, hence the X and Y pixels don't align and this may be the root (and hopefully not the tip of the iceberg) cause of the problematic interface.

[jeroenvtec]

Hi all

I also opened my uti690b and has the same board as in the picture below.
I destroyed my unit by a usb a to micro-usb > usb -c  and/or a quick charge charger. (some how)
I saw on the display 9v 4a! when unplugged it was already done. Not comming on. So be aware off that !
After opening / smelling and seeing with the a flir one cam, the mosfet was gone, next to d5 on the picture of keenox.
It was a 01ah replaced it with a 01A (7 something) and it is working again.
When sensor is disconnected I also get loading 100% and then nothing. after all connected up and running ( so far )
so maybe this can help people.
battery is a pnas 26650 3.6v 5000mah

br
Jeroen

I also opened the UTi260B. Tip: use a small suction cap (like the ones used to remove phone screens) to remove the screen shield in order to avoid scratches instead of using tweezers. Also, don't pull hard on the face because there is a small ribbon cable that connects the buttons to the main PCB. I almost ripped mine.
I also attached a script that will enable the USB console. (thanks optotester for the initial script)
Just unzip to the SD card root, press right for 3 seconds, hold and press left.
You will see a new COM in the device manager. Connect using putty (or your preferred terminal client) with baud rate 115200.

Use ftpadmin/ftpadmin (no write rigths, safer to just look around) or root/uti160e (careful! you can mess stuff up if you don't know what you're doing.

Full dump of the 1.2.6 firmware: https://mega.nz/file/2EZXAKJC#L_ROicWxl96tmm10NZP_TM9PELJHTVqmL0C8l_ZAYGQ

[Ranayna]

I just got a Uni-T UTI260A
As far as i know it is essentially the same as the B, except it has no normal camera, right?

It was a somewhat strange offer on Amazon. It was listed as "Karlak UTi260A" camera:
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0BM9HQRQ6?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

But pictures and reviews show it as Uni-T, and the camera i got is clearly branded as Uni-T. 
I bought it for around 230 Euro, and honestly did not not expect to actually get it

Well, it arrived and a very quick check shows it working 

[TERRA Operative]

I just picked up a UTi260K-J (Japanese model, no Fahrenheit option is the only difference that I can see, oh and Japanese printed manual in the box) for 11000yen, or about US$85.
Saw it in a store while purchasing some multimeter leads yesterday, then realised how cheap it was so went back today to buy it.

It seems to work well besides only showing measurements in the 30-45 degree C range (because it is the K model), but as long as I can see what's hot and what's not on my PCB's, I'm happy, and for the price, even more so.

I'll be sourcing a macro lens for it next, and pointing it at anything interesting I can find.

[mzzj]

I just got a Uni-T UTI260A
As far as i know it is essentially the same as the B, except it has no normal camera, right?

It was a somewhat strange offer on Amazon. It was listed as "Karlak UTi260A" camera:
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0BM9HQRQ6?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

But pictures and reviews show it as Uni-T, and the camera i got is clearly branded as Uni-T. 
I bought it for around 230 Euro, and honestly did not not expect to actually get it

Well, it arrived and a very quick check shows it working 

Had to order one as the price was very tempting.

Some notes based on quick 1h playing with the camera:
-no manual range settings is definite minus in many cases
-uniformity correction is less than stellar showing about 2 degree temperature gradient accross the field. On the other hand NUC seems very stable compared for example to many Fluke models.
Kind of shame that the calibration is quite bit off, on the other hand 10-20 times more expensive Fluke thermal cameras often drift similar amount in 10 minutes and on this the error seems more or less "fixed". 

[Honusnap]

Hello,

Did some of you upgraded their firmware on the 260B... ? Or have a link to something about firmware/flash tool fort this device or A-BF 680/C200SE/C200/C200 Pro/Topdon TC005 ?

[JDW]

I recently purchased a UTi260B from Banggood, which marked my first order ever from Banggood.  Thankfully it ships in a nice padded box because that box was shipped in a thin plastic bag with zero padding, and it arrived with small holes and rips, and the box corners were slightly smashed. 

I ordered the official Macro lens for it too, also from Banggood. Why they foolishly shipped the camera and the lens separately is anyone's guess, but they didn't charge me extra for shipping two separate packages.  The UT-Z002 macro lens ships in a plastic blister pack, and silly Banggood only puts that inside the same, unpadded plastic bag when shipping.  It arrived in one piece thankfully, and works great to allow my 260B to get very close to a PCB. 

Sadly, the official UT-Z002 macro lens covers the digital camera and only allows the thermal camera to view the device under test.  I am also finding the temperature readings to be hotter when using the Macro lens, as compared to when not using it.  And when I attach my 121GW's Type-K thermal probe to a hotspot, I see that the temperatures on the 260B without the macro lens attached are the most accurate.  In other words, my 121GW with Type-K thermocouple's temperature measurements largely match the 260B WITHOUT the Macro lens attached.  Yes, Emissivity settings matter, but that is not at the heart of the problem.  The Macro lens just makes the readings about 10°C hotter, for reasons I don't understand.  Other than that, the benefits of the Macro lens are great because you can finally get up close and see hotspots on even SMD components.

The cost of the official UT-Z002 Macro lens is much cheaper than other compatible Macro lenses that merely tape onto the 260B, such as those sold by NorthridgeFix here.  Prior to purchasing the official lens, I tried to ask NorthridgeFix what the functional differences are between theirs and the official one, but after waiting a week, they never gave me a reply, which is quite odd.  My post to their form is still awaiting approval too, which is also odd.

The good news is my 260B is working fine so far. Seems very well made and is built to be rugged.  It firmware ver. 2.0.20 and the unit included a 32GB uSD card.  While searching for firmware updates in vain today, I came across this thread and is why I decided to post this.  It seems that if indeed there is newer firmware, it's not online, nor is it clear how one would update it.

I must say the official PC software for the 260B stinks.  It doesn't do much at all, and while I was able to get it to work by downloading the latest Parallels trial to run Windows on ARM on my M1 Max MacBook Pro, the official software won't run at all under WINE. Quite sad because WINE is free. 

When running the official software, it's nice that there's a video feed to the computer when you link the included USB-C cable between the 260B and the computer, but the only way I see to save the video is to make a screen recording.  And that's it.  The software doesn't allow you to do any of the important things it should, like saving a clean thermal image with no data overlay, changing the color palettes on the fly, etc.  Why?  Seriously...  Why skip that? Ack!

I did find this Github page with a Python script to extract clean images.  I'm not well versed in Python usage though, so I'm not sure the best way to go about it.  For those of you who have tried that Python script or who otherwise are Python experts, what's the step by step approach to doing it on a Mac?  Or could it be done online by moving the saved images to the computer and then uploading them?

Thanks.

[TobyG]

Well.  Here we are.

Bought a 690B (seems to be the banggood version of the 260b, internals and functionality are identical) in 2021, only used it maybe a dozen times, mostly to find shorts on PCBs that were not immediately obvious, of course with an extra Macro lens attached to it.

Either way, went to use it yesterday aaaaand it doesn't boot.
Gets stuck at 100% and I keep hearing what sounds like a lens focussing, pretty sure that's coming from the thermal camera, not from the normal one.

I can still turn it off as usual, it charges just fine and I can turn the LED lights on and off, but that's it.
Already checked the hardware, at least the supply voltages are all there, with the exception of that little coin cell, that is pretty much dead, but just putting a 3V supply there didn't change anything, either.


Emailed Banggood and Uni-T in hopes they would offer a (paid) repair, maybe, but no luck.




So yeah, that's a bit of a bummer.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, I'm not a software guy, so,
unless someone has a magic solution that even I could try:

Free to a good home if someone in Europe wants to give it a shot.
It's appreciated if shipping gets paid, but if you're a broke student or something, don't worry.

[Fraser]

TobyG,

I have sent you an offer to look at repairing your camera for no cost to you except postage if I repair it.

Fraser

[Fraser]

The patient arrived today from TobyG.

I installed some Dupont test pins in the Serial engineering port location and connected a Prolific PL2303 USB-UART bridge. The boot log has revealed where the camera is failing its boot sequence. It is too early to say whether the camera may be resurrected.
 
Fraser

[Fraser]

The PCB's out of their shell for ease of access. The visible and thermal core assembly is quite something with its layers of thermally conductive pad sandwich. The designer was trying really hard to transmit the thermal energy produced by the cores away from the microbolometer. Maybe they had problems with locally produced thermal contamination of the image ? Such efforts may also assist in the short term stability of radiometric measurements due to the core effectively sitting on a large thermal mass.

Fraser

[Fraser]

I attach the boot logs from the poorly UTi690B that I am working on as it is an interesting fault. From background reading it would appear that UTi260B and UTi690B cameras can, without warning, fail to complete the boot process. The symptoms are that the camera responds to the "power on" input and begins to boot. The progress bar appears late on in the boot log and reaches 100% before the camera appears to HALT the boot.

The truth of the matter is that camera has not entered a complete HALT state. The system continues to try to complete a command but because there is no timeout on that command, it tries forever until either the "power-off" command is issued or the battery disconnected. The System remains operational and other functions are still operational. The firmware is not allowing the camera to enter the operator menu state because it is not completing a boot task. No error is issued to the user but the error is clear in the boot log that comes out of the Serial Engineering port.

The error - "GC0308 camera: VIDIOC_DQBUF failed (-1)"

The GC0308 is the visible light camera and VIDIOC_DQBUF relates to the exchange process of the buffer with the driver.

The issue that the firmware is detecting relates to the data coming from the visible light and infrared cameras. To better understand the issue and to determine whether one of the camera cores was faulty, I tested the camera with one and then both imaging cores disconnected. The camera 'complained' that it could not see the imaging cores so there is communication taking place with both of them. Sadly any issue with the two imaging cores creates the same result of a 100% progress bar on the display and then the firmware stops the boot process awaiting correction of a imaging core related command failure. The boot log can only tell us the command that has failed and not the cause of that failure. This is where I am at the moment, trying to determine whether i am seeing a failure in silicon or firmware that impedes completion of the command. It is interesting that this fault symptom appears relatively common on these cameras, almost as though there is a weakness in the hardware or firmware that can occur without provocation by the user.

For information, the small cell that retains the RTC data is a RECHARGEABLE lithium cell that is charged from the system board during use. If the camera is left unused for a long period of time, this cell can become discharged. replacement cells, if required are very cheap so no worries there.

So my investigation into this cameras fault continues. I am attaching the various boot logs that were created during my testing of the camera.
These logs contain a lot of useful information and this is why I recommend that collection of the boot log from a camera is a good start to an investigation into boot faults and some hardware failures. The log can give you somewhere to start looking for the cause.

Fraser

[Fraser]

A little voice in my head is telling me to investigate the RTC circuit and it’s backup battery. I have already ordered a replacement MS621FE in case it has degraded. Under £4 delivered and cheaper still from Farnell. I am thinking about parts of the camera that age and can cause data corruption in the circuits that they serve. There are time stamps used in the firmware 

Fraser

[Slartibartfast123]

So one possible cause of failure could be a faulty camera module or a badly seated cable.

I think the camera module reads „HDF0308-A50“ on backside of the cable. The GC0308 visible light camera is dirt cheap. The modules with 50mm flex cable are sold out everywhere but there are some available with 75mm. 35mm seems to be too short. Maybe a good try to interchange this module with a working one.

[Fraser]

We think alike  My first thoughts were a fault in the Visible light core but I could not prove it and I do not have a 0308 VL core to install for a substitution test. I have been looking at replacement 0308 visible camera cores but most see. To be in the USA or China. The RTC battery and Visible light core are so cheap that it makes sense to replace them in case they are causing the problem. I think the term used is “quick wins” 

I have yet to order the HDF0308-A50 as I was hoping to find a UK/European supplier rather than China due to the shipping times. I shall spend some time searching for one tomorrow.

Many thanks for your suggestion. I am happy to take advice on these Linux based cameras as I am not a Linux Guru and just an Apprentice in the art of Linux system wrangling 

Fraser

[TobyG]

That ugly dab of silastic you'd originally mentioned was my doing, I'd gone and replaced that cell with a fully charged (larger) one, just to make rule that out,
but re-installed the original again, I was gonna order a replacement, but my usual supplier didn't have that particular one.

Should've maybe mentioned that, to begin with.

For context, I hadn't used the camera in quite a while, I wanna say over half a year?
I repair some niche older motorcycle electronics as a side gig and really only use it for finding non-obvious shorts there, beyond that, I barely have a use for the thermal cam, but it sure is very nice for that.



Either way, I am curious to see if the fault will be found and what it ended up being.
For what it's worth, I can follow what you're doing, by the descriptions, even though it's not in my skillset 

[Fraser]

Replacement GC0308 visible light camera core ordered from Aliexpress. I ordered the 35mm version as it will reach the connector without issue. I used the faster shipping option so the camera core is due to arrive by 1st July. A pity that I could not obtain one quicker but I must be patient Work will continue on the camera but if it is the GC0308 that is at fault, we will not see progress until next month when the new one arrives.

Fraser

[Fraser]

I just found a used GC0308 on eBay in France  It cost £12 delivered, which is more than I wanted to pay, but I want to cross that component off my suspects list so that I can focus on what is causing the issue, if it turns out to not be the visible light camera. If it is GC0308 core that is faulty, the new one I have coming from China will still be used as its cable is a better fit for the Uni-T camera.

TobyG, I hope you do not mind me adding to the parts bought (MS621 x 1 & GC0308 x 2) but I have the time available in June, less so in July. If I fix the camera you will only pay for the parts and no labour  If I cannot fix it, you pay nothing and I will reimburse your postage.

Fraser

[TobyG]

As I'd stated in the PMs, no worries, do what you gotta do,
for what it's worth, I'm just glad someone is willing and capable to have a closer look, provided Uni-T wouldn't touch it with a 10 feet pole,
not even when I spelled out the magic words of "paid repair".

[Fraser]

The replacement used GC0380 visible light camera arrived from France today. Sadly after testing it with the Uni-T camera I am still seeing the same fault.

The replacement MS621 lithium cell also arrived today and will be fitted soon. I do not expect that to solve the fault however.

The investigation will continue.

Fraser

[Slartibartfast123]

In your boot logs the GC0308 seems to fail somehow early on:

UNIT login:
[    7.044473] g_webcam gadget: g_webcam ready
[    7.187864] get_device_id:write reg error:reg=fb
[    7.192526] get_device_id: error, not GC0308
[    7.196719] gc0308: probe of 0-0021 failed with error -1

Probably there is something going on with the I2C GC0308 connection? The I2C connection with the GC0308 goes through two flat cables and connectors: camera and board. Altogether probably 200mm. The shorter the better.

Some user on the badcaps forum reported, that the start-up will work sometimes with low battery.

Maybe it's neccessary to have a look at the signals of that I2C line?

"A low value resistor pulls the SDA and SCL lines strongly to the maximum bus voltage, which could render some bus devices incapable of pulling the line down to the specified low voltage level."

Maybe values of the pull-up resistors overall are too small?

[Fraser]

Slartibartfast123,

Thank you for this valuable input. The issue does seem to revolve around the GC0308 modules communications. I shall shall spend some time investigating the various signals with my DSO. This weekend is pretty busy so it might have to wait until next week. I will try powering the camera from my lab power supply at lower voltages to see if a boot can be completed with a lower Vbat voltage. 

Fraser

[Fraser]

The new GC0308 core arrived today from China. It is a much smaller module, which surprised me. The FPC is not correctly aligned with the camera so the BGA alignment will be off. Basically a junk quality product I did test it with the thermal camera and the original fault persists. Thankfully I do not have to use the Chinese core as we know that problem does not reside in the visible light module itself

Sadly I have been called to a family emergency elsewhere in the country so that will put a delay on the investigation.

Fraser

[Fraser]

Just a quick update on my patient. Nothing found wrong with the I2C communications lines but analysis of the actual data passing along those lines has yet to be completed. More when I have news.

Fraser

[Brexei]

Hi all

I also opened my uti690b and has the same board as in the picture below.
I destroyed my unit by a usb a to micro-usb > usb -c  and/or a quick charge charger. (some how)
I saw on the display 9v 4a! when unplugged it was already done. Not comming on. So be aware off that !
After opening / smelling and seeing with the a flir one cam, the mosfet was gone, next to d5 on the picture of keenox.
It was a 01ah replaced it with a 01A (7 something) and it is working again.
When sensor is disconnected I also get loading 100% and then nothing. after all connected up and running ( so far )
so maybe this can help people.
battery is a pnas 26650 3.6v 5000mah

br
Jeroen

I also have the same problem now!
I switched off the thermal camera, then put it in a different fast charger and.... it was charging...i left it there... then came back and it was making a high-pitch noise. I removed it from the charger and tried to start it... it was dead!!
I am very sad with the fact that there is no info in the manual about this. It seems there is a problem with fast charging.
I opened it up, measured the battery, it is OK. The ON/OFF button is also working fine. But the device does not start at all!
Then i came across your post. I will try to see if the small mosfet is OK.

I am very happy with this camera (despite the small hotspot, that seems to be common to many people) and i really do not want to throw it to the bin.

If anyone else has the same problem please share any info available. I cannot find anything else in the internet.

[Slartibartfast123]

Just a quick update on my patient. Nothing found wrong with the I2C communications lines but analysis of the actual data passing along those lines has yet to be completed. More when I have news.

Fraser

Hm, since someone reported working startup with almost dead battery I would possibly try to power it up with a bench power supply set to 2.7-3.0V - or less.

[Slartibartfast123]

I also have the same problem now!
I switched off the thermal camera, then put it in a different fast charger and.... it was charging...i left it there... then came back and it was making a high-pitch noise. I removed it from the charger and tried to start it... it was dead!!
I am very sad with the fact that there is no info in the manual about this. It seems there is a problem with fast charging.
I opened it up, measured the battery, it is OK. The ON/OFF button is also working fine. But the device does not start at all!
Then i came across your post. I will try to see if the small mosfet is OK.

I am very happy with this camera (despite the small hotspot, that seems to be common to many people) and i really do not want to throw it to the bin.

If anyone else has the same problem please share any info available. I cannot find anything else in the internet.

SMD marking 01AH most likely means IRLML6402TRPbF MOSFET P-Ch -3.7A 65mOhm 8nC Log Lvl.

[Fraser]

Slartibartfast123,

Already tested and sadly no change of symptoms right down to a point where the camera refused to start at all.

For anyone interested, I will be listing the IC’s used in the camera in case a future reader needs the translation of the IC markings etc.

Fraser

[Fraser]

Just a quick update on the poorly 690B camera.

I am carrying out various tests, as and when spare time permits. Today I measured the current draw of the thermal and visible light imaging cores to see if they were within specification.

The thermal imaging core is within specification with a 71mA draw at 3V3 but the the visible light camera is drawing 175mA from the 2.8V supply ! The module should draw around 25mA when running. I measured the resistance across the cores supply rails (whilst disconnected from the camera) and got a reading of 16 Ohms That camera core is most definitely not well.

The question now is why the replacement GC0308 visible light cores did not repair the problem with the camera ? Could they be incompatible in some way ? I do not have experience with these little 24 pin camera modules but I understood them to me interchangeable so long as the connector formats matched. It is possible that some past event damaged the visible light core and that other parts of the 690B camera have also been damaged by the same event. I will do a net list on the 2.8V supply rail that powers the visible light core in case it is power rail related.

I have also noted that the RTC backup power cell is not being charged during camera operation. That is another line of investigation for me.

[Fraser]

In case it is of any interest/use to others, I attach the UART Engineering port 'boot and run' output from the Infiray Tiny1C whilst it is running in the UTi690B. As can be seen, it boots and operates normally, but note that there are communications errors including i2C and failed transfers. It is reporting that a system is "busy" so not communicating with it. We can guess what that means... the host camera controller is not talking with the Tiny1C as it is busy on other matters !

I let the engineering log collection run for a while so that the Tiny1C FFC and self calibration progress may be seen over a period of a few minutes, after a cold start.

For anyone wishing to obtain the engineering log from their UTi690B/290B you will find the UART port annotated (GND,TX,RX) on the thermal/visible light core PCB. The serial settings are 57600 Bd, 8,N,1 no handshake and 3V3 levels.

Fraser

[Fraser]

The more I look at the behaviour of the poorly UTi690B, the more I think that the operating system is getting its 'knickers in a twist' when the GC0308 visible light camera core does not respond as expected. I have proven that the original GC0308 camera is faulty and it even gets quite warm due to the internal low impedance across its supply rails. In such a situation you might expect that the UTi690B camera just needs a replacement GC0308 core, and all will be well again. So often life is not that simple though and this appears to be such a case. It could just be that the the two versions of GC0308 core that I bought are not identical to the original fitment and so not acceptable to the operating system. I can find no fault on the visible light core 2v8 power rail. That power rail is dedicated to just the visible light core. It is provided by a DC-DC buck converter U3 on the sensor core PCB from the 3V3 power rail.

It would be unusual to have a faulty visible light core plus an additional fault in the systems communications bearers (I2C) but I never say never.

At this stage of the investigation I have been unable to find any other significant faults with the UTi690B camera. I am investigating the RTC backup power supply but it may well be that I am expecting more voltage across the cell than is actually needed (I have 2V9 across it)

My next move will be analysis of the GC0308 core situation..... communications signals and a search for an identical model of GC0308 based camera core.

Fraser

[Fraser]

UTi690B/290B supply rails and their sources

Uni-T helpfully provide annotated test points for all of these voltages on their PCB's.

Main PCB

3V3 from U6 63025P
1V2 from U7 PD5Q
5V0 from U9 SF9B
1V35 from U8 PD5Q

Imaging cores PCB

1V8 from U2 PD5Q
2V8 from U3 NL

[Fraser]

The UTi690B/290B Chipset identities

D9SHD - MT41K256M16TW-107 - 4Gb DDR3 SRAM
MCIMX6Y0CVM08AB - NXP i.MX-6ULL Application Processor with ARM CORTEX A7
NL - TLV700XX - 2V8 200mA LDO Regulator
P8563 - PCF8563 - Real Time Clock
PD5Q (U7) - TPS62087 - 1V2 3A step down converter
PD5Q (U8) - TPS62087 - 1.35V 3A step down converter
PD5Q (U2) - TPS62087 - 1v8 3A step down converter
SF9B - LMR64010 - 5V0 1A step up simple switcher voltage regulator
AVC16245 - SN74AVC16245 - 16bit tri-state bus transceiver
THGBMNG5D1LBAIL - 4GB e-MMC flash memory module
TP5000 - 2A switching single Lithium Cell Charger
63025P - TPS630250 - 3V3 2A variable output buck-boost converter
V5L -  Not identified at this time. There are several of these on the PCB so likely provides simple functionality

UPDATE: V5L looks to be a 5V rail (6V breakdown) Transient Voltage Suppressor, namely the "Way On" WE05-4RVLC

[Ed.Kloonk]

How does one examine a IR camera board for heat spots when it's the camera itself under investigation? Asking for a friend.

[TobyG]

lol, the old fashioned way, I guess? IPA and see where it evaporates 

[Slartibartfast123]

Terrific job so far on the poor thing, Fraser. 

The thermal imaging core is within specification with a 71mA draw at 3V3 but the the visible light camera is drawing 175mA from the 2.8V supply ! The module should draw around 25mA when running. I measured the resistance across the cores supply rails (whilst disconnected from the camera) and got a reading of 16 Ohms That camera core is most definitely not well.

Did I get this right? There is a 16 Ohms short on that specific power rail while the visible light camera is disconnected? Grab another thermal camera and have a look under power. Maybe there is a shorted ceramic cap – not uncommon these days.

[Fraser]

No, there is a low impedance on the actual GC0308 visible light camera module power input pins. With the GC0308 removed from the camera, it measures only 16 Ohms across its power input pins and draws 175mA when connected to 2.8V. With the GC0308 removed from the camera there is no issue with current draw on the host UTi690B 2.8V power rail. The low impedance is definitely in the GC0308 module and it gets quite warm when powered. The GC0308 should draw only 25mA when operating normally.

[Fraser]

Further investigation of the faulty GC0308 core module will follow. I wonder if it has a decoupling capacitor across its supply rails hidden from view in the modules casing ? A failed MLCC certainly fits the symptoms as has been said, but it is not on the PCB so it makes sense to carefully dissect the GC0308 core.

Fraser

[Fraser]

The result of the GC0308 core dissection.....

The GC0308 visible light imaging core does indeed contain an MLCC power rail decoupling capacitor !

Upon testing the suspect GC0308 I found the resistance between the 2V8 and 0V power rails to be 16 Ohms. Once the suspect MLCC was removed from the FPC, the low impedance was also removed from across the cores 2v8 power rail so the GC0308 core should be operational 

The bad news is that the camera will still not boot with this GC0308 module fitted 

For other owners of this camera who have issues with it not booting, it would be worth checking the GC0308 power supply rails as this MLCC failure may be quite common ? I attach a picture of the GC0308 core after the MLCC was removed. It was located below the FPA in this image and the two solder pads are visible. It is a tiny component.

As to why my patient still refuses to complete boot despite removal of the faulty component....I am unsure why this is, but it may explain why the replacement GC0308 core did not solve the boot problem. Something else has failed on this camera. 

Fraser

[Slartibartfast123]

Interesting news! Hm, several reasons for not functioning:

1. When the camera module went bad it also somehow damaged the 2V8 power rail of the board. Not necessarily the case.

2. When the camera module went bad it damaged the power rail and/or somehow shorted the I2C lines and damaged something.

3. The camera module needs a working decoupling capacitor for proper functionality. There is a reason why they put it so close to the FPA. Most likely it won't work good without any cap.

4. The original camera module is dead by now (short & overheating) and other camera module is not compatible for some reason.

My bet would be on 3 & 4.

The datasheet of the camera module most likely looks like this (pin 1, 23, 24: NC, pin 2: GND, pin 4: VDD 2.8V):

[Fraser]

Indeed, I concur with your thoughts on this.

The decoupling capacitor is needed because of the FPC cable length. Good practice is to decouple the supply rail near to the sensor when an umbilical/FPC is in use. That said, this is usually to ensure sensor stability and complete failure when the capacitor is not present would be unusual. I can easily fit a suitable new capacitor though.

I have load tested the 2V8 supply line that powers the GC0308 core and the output is accurate and without significant noise, so the switching converter survived the heavier load. I also checked the 3V3 supply to that 2V8 converter as that also suffered increased loading. All is fine there as well.

There remains the possibility that the original GC0308 remained working, despite the 16 Ohm load across its power rails and so the failed capacitor may not be the root cause of the UTi690B cameras failure to boot. The MLCC did not fail short circuit. This would explain why a replacement GC0308 module did not solve the problem. This is very much conjecture on my part though. The failure of the MLCC would not normally cause a failure in the I2C circuits of the GC0308 FPC.

I really need to create a test jig for the GC0308 camera but spare time is in very limited supply at the moment. I have investigated sourcing other GC0308 camera modules and it is surprisingly hard as many Aliexpress China suppliers will not ship to the UK. I am continuing my search though.

With regard to these GC0308 modules with 24 pin DV “Goldfinger” connectors, I was under the impression that they were interchangeable as the pinout for the modules was standardised at the 24 pin connector. Other camera module types do differ but the GC0308 versions appear to use the same pinout. Hence why sellers rarely show the pin outs for their GC0308 modules. This does make me question whether the failed MLCC is a “Red Herring” and a secondary fault. That said, I agree that it’s failure may have lead to a problem elsewhere on the UTi690B camera.

I am not giving up on this patient but I have entered a very busy work period during July so my time to investigate is limited for a while. As it is, I have had to dip in and out of this investigation in June due to unexpected events. I never like to walk away from a patient unless I can confirm a terminal situation that I cannot repair. The investigation will continue and my sincere thanks to those who have commented on the situation with this camera 

Fraser

[Fraser]

I just took a short cut to testing the GC0308 modules for correct functionality……. “The ESP32 CAM” wireless camera experimentation module  It costs only £11 from Amazon with next day delivery and includes a camera module and the USB programming PCB. A neat little package that will be perfect for my camera module tests. The supplied camera is sadly not the GC0308 but the ESP32 CAM does support the GC0308, so no worries.

https://www.arducam.com/esp32-machine-vision-learning-guide/

Now I will not be working in the dark with regard to whether the original and replacement GC0308 are working and compatible 

Sometimes you have to invest in additional test equipment to aid diagnostics. I cannot say I have needed to test these camera modules before but I am sure the ESP32 CAM will be worth the investment 

Fraser

[Fraser]

I managed to source an exact replacement for the HDF0308 (GC0308 FPA) used in the UTi690B, which is good news. It will not arrive until around 24 July, but at least I will have it if needed.

I bought the camera core from here…….

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32842107917.html

[Fraser]

Just an update on my patient.

No joy getting the original GC0308 to work so it looks to be dead.
I am currently awaiting the arrival of the exact replacement GC0308 imaging cores from China. I ordered from two different sellers on Aliexpress. ETA : late July. More updates will follow after the parts arrive.

Fraser

[Ed.Kloonk]

Get well soon, GC0308

[Fraser]

 

[Algoma]

I think the DP-15 from Shenzhen Dianyang Technology Co. would be somewhat more comparable with the Uni-T UTi260B discussed in this thread, than their HF2B mobile camera. Also, I much perfer not to having to install extra applications to my cellphone to use the camera. A standalone ruggedized handheld like this UTi260B is much perferred in my case, especially with the available macro lens accessory for close-up inspections of laptop boards.

user: @Dianyang  usually posts about Dianyang Tech's Products on the forum.

[siamak]

I'm using UTi260B for three days and i could not get images open in the software (Thermal Analyzer-K) and thus i can't analyze the pictures i took 

I was able to copy those files from camrea to hard disk, the live from camera (UTi-Live Screen) is working fine. They are saved in .bmp format and with each IR image, it took a camera picture in .jpeg to compare and better understanding of the position etc...

Is there a free program for working with IR images regardless of the brand?

Any help by you great guys would be appreciated, and pardon me for English is not my first language.

EDIT: Or maybe there is a way to make the software read from the hard disk and work on them?

[Fraser]

Minor update on the poorly UTi-690B repair…

The replacement GC0308 cameras arrived from China today……. I immediately noticed that they have sent the wrong edge connector orientation. The correct orientation was shown in the Aliexpress pictures….. not happy 

Fortunately I also ordered another camera module from a different seller and hopefully that will have the correct edge connector orientation. Fingers crossed. It should arrive in a week or so.

These GC0308 cameras are so inexpensive but also hard to source for me in the UK. Somewhat frustrating 

Fraser

[Fraser]

The postal Gods were kind to me and the "back-up" GC-0308 camera module arrived this morning  I thought Customs clearance would delay things, but not this time.

I have spent much of today working on the UTi-690B in a determined effort to repair it. I installed the new GC-0308 camera core, booted the UTi-690 and........ no change  The camera still halted at the 100% boot point. A check on the boot log showed no change from when the original GC-0308 was installed. I tested all of the replacement GC-0308 cameras on my ESP32-CAM module and all worked as expected. The original GC-0308 module is known to be faulty but I tested it again to make sure, and it is non responsive.

Whilst the UTi-690B complains about the lack of response from its GC-0308 camera core, I have now tried 3 different GC-0308 camera cores in it and none change the symptoms. As all are proven working, it would suggest that the problem is not the camera core. The original GC-0308 core did have a failed MLCC across is power rails that was drawing excess current, but the core was found to also be faulty after investigation. I have investigated possible causes of failure, such as a fault in its dedicated power supply IC and went so far as to stress test that IC to eliminate it from enquiries. It appears to be operating correctly with no transients or noise at its output to harm the GC-0308. The cause of the original GC-0308 failure is not known but it is possible that the MLCC failure has nothing to do with the camera failure and it is just coincidence.

With the GC-0308 camera module hardware eliminated from the investigation I have had to look at the data side of things. Could UNI-T have used a custom GC-0308 camera core in their product that the firmware needs to identify ? I very much doubt that as this is a building block component with no reason to make it unique in any way. All power and data lines associated with the core have been tested yet the GC-0308 is not working in the UTi-690B chassis.

I have done my best to identify any issues with the Linux firmware but found nothing unusual that could be causing this fault. I came to the conclusion that I am likely dealing with either some exotic firmware corruption or a failure in the SoC hardware. File substitution in the Firmware from a known good copy did not remove the fault so that leaves the SoC as a prime suspect and there is nothing I can do to repair that.

After spending a fair few hours on this camera I think it is time to declare this patient deceased. I shall advise the owner accordingly

Sady you cannot win them all and these budget cameras are virtually "disposable" technology now.

I learnt a lot about the UTi260B/Uti690B during this investigation and I may create a separate repair thread dedicated to the various stages of the investigation and findings. If you own one of these and it stops working, do check the GC-0308 camera module current draw, in case the MLCC has failed, but be warned that there may be a deeper failure that is uneconomic to repair by a tech.

Fraser 

[Veteran68]

I have a UTi690B that I (stupidly?) attempted to update the firmware, just to have the latest. Yeah, I'm one of those that defy the common sense to only update firmware when you have an issue. My argument has always been that fw updates are made to fix bugs and improve features/performance, so even if I haven't run into those yet, I want to stay ahead of it. In nearly 40 years of updating fw (and also writing fw) on various devices, I've had very few bricked outcomes that I couldn't recover from fairly easily (like, maybe 2 or 3 at most).

Well, I got the latest firmware from a YouTuber along with detailed instructions on applying the firmware that he received from Banggood. I followed the directions, update went ok per the device UI, which then prompted me to restart. Now I'm stuck at 100% on the Loading screen (which replaced the UNI-T logo splash screen).



I'm having a support email conversation back and forth with Banggood, asking for (but not expecting) a recovery procedure that doesn't require getting fully booted. They first sent me the exact same fw package and instructions I got from the YTer (which at least validated his source, as first thing I did was do a binary compare of the two packages). After that they asked for a video demonstrating the problem. Now they've given me something else to try this morning that I'll attempt when I get home, but I'm not optimistic. Side note: I'm pleasantly surprised at how Banggood is trying to help here. I've purchased a lot from them over the years, but never attempted to get any kind of technical support out of them. I just don't know how much they can help with this, despite their efforts. They're very apologetic and seem keen to help, but as I've had this camera for almost 2 years now, I don't expect any sort of warranty repair/return from them even if it is a Banggood-exclusive model.

My next step is to open it up and try to hook up the UART to check logs, copy files, or whatever might be helpful. My issue seems to be entirely fw related and not a hardware issue, as it was working prior to the update attempt.

Anything more specific or targeted other than just flailing around in the OS assuming I get the UART connected and talking?

[Silicium81]

The postal Gods were kind to me and the "back-up" GC-0308 camera module arrived this morning  I thought Customs clearance would delay things, but not this time.

I have spent much of today working on the UTi-690B in a determined effort to repair it. I installed the new GC-0308 camera core, booted the UTi-690 and........ no change  The camera still halted at the 100% boot point. A check on the boot log showed no change from when the original GC-0308 was installed. I tested all of the replacement GC-0308 cameras on my ESP32-CAM module and all worked as expected. The original GC-0308 module is known to be faulty but I tested it again to make sure, and it is non responsive.

Whilst the UTi-690B complains about the lack of response from its GC-0308 camera core, I have now tried 3 different GC-0308 camera cores in it and none change the symptoms. As all are proven working, it would suggest that the problem is not the camera core. The original GC-0308 core did have a failed MLCC across is power rails that was drawing excess current, but the core was found to also be faulty after investigation. I have investigated possible causes of failure, such as a fault in its dedicated power supply IC and went so far as to stress test that IC to eliminate it from enquiries. It appears to be operating correctly with no transients or noise at its output to harm the GC-0308. The cause of the original GC-0308 failure is not known but it is possible that the MLCC failure has nothing to do with the camera failure and it is just coincidence.

With the GC-0308 camera module hardware eliminated from the investigation I have had to look at the data side of things. Could UNI-T have used a custom GC-0308 camera core in their product that the firmware needs to identify ? I very much doubt that as this is a building block component with no reason to make it unique in any way. All power and data lines associated with the core have been tested yet the GC-0308 is not working in the UTi-690B chassis.

I have done my best to identify any issues with the Linux firmware but found nothing unusual that could be causing this fault. I came to the conclusion that I am likely dealing with either some exotic firmware corruption or a failure in the SoC hardware. File substitution in the Firmware from a known good copy did not remove the fault so that leaves the SoC as a prime suspect and there is nothing I can do to repair that.

After spending a fair few hours on this camera I think it is time to declare this patient deceased. I shall advise the owner accordingly

Sady you cannot win them all and these budget cameras are virtually "disposable" technology now.

I learnt a lot about the UTi260B/Uti690B during this investigation and I may create a separate repair thread dedicated to the various stages of the investigation and findings. If you own one of these and it stops working, do check the GC-0308 camera module current draw, in case the MLCC has failed, but be warned that there may be a deeper failure that is uneconomic to repair by a tech.

Fraser

I asked banggood if there was a firmware to solve a blocking problem (which I don't encounter...) on my UTi-690b camera, they gave me the files that I put as an attachment, maybe you can try these on the blocked camera?
Note, I will not be testing these files on my working camera !

https://www.cjoint.com/c/MGtr3PmtYaj

[ausdim]

I have a UTi690B that I (stupidly?) attempted to update the firmware, just to have the latest. Yeah, I'm one of those that defy the common sense to only update firmware when you have an issue. My argument has always been that fw updates are made to fix bugs and improve features/performance, so even if I haven't run into those yet, I want to stay ahead of it. In nearly 40 years of updating fw (and also writing fw) on various devices, I've had very few bricked outcomes that I couldn't recover from fairly easily (like, maybe 2 or 3 at most).

Well, I got the latest firmware from a YouTuber along with detailed instructions on applying the firmware that he received from Banggood. I followed the directions, update went ok per the device UI, which then prompted me to restart. Now I'm stuck at 100% on the Loading screen (which replaced the UNI-T logo splash screen).



I'm having a support email conversation back and forth with Banggood, asking for (but not expecting) a recovery procedure that doesn't require getting fully booted. They first sent me the exact same fw package and instructions I got from the YTer (which at least validated his source, as first thing I did was do a binary compare of the two packages). After that they asked for a video demonstrating the problem. Now they've given me something else to try this morning that I'll attempt when I get home, but I'm not optimistic. Side note: I'm pleasantly surprised at how Banggood is trying to help here. I've purchased a lot from them over the years, but never attempted to get any kind of technical support out of them. I just don't know how much they can help with this, despite their efforts. They're very apologetic and seem keen to help, but as I've had this camera for almost 2 years now, I don't expect any sort of warranty repair/return from them even if it is a Banggood-exclusive model.

My next step is to open it up and try to hook up the UART to check logs, copy files, or whatever might be helpful. My issue seems to be entirely fw related and not a hardware issue, as it was working prior to the update attempt.

Anything more specific or targeted other than just flailing around in the OS assuming I get the UART connected and talking?

I was exactly on the same boat with you..

Yt user send me the file 2.0.22 flash it, update change my uni-t logo with loading like you and booomm stuck at 100%.

After see there is nothing that I can do I open the device and use uart communication to copy my old UTi260B_Thermal 1.2.28 to root and voila device come back to life again.

What firmware device had before upgrade attempt?

But at least don’t worry device is ok and nothing burnt down …

[Veteran68]

I asked banggood if there was a firmware to solve a blocking problem (which I don't encounter...) on my UTi-690b camera, they gave me the files that I put as an attachment, maybe you can try these on the blocked camera?
Note, I will not be testing these files on my working camera !

https://www.cjoint.com/c/MGtr3PmtYaj

Yeah those look like the exact 2023-02-23 update I got from both the YouTuber and Banggood directly, minus the Word doc instructions they also included.

After see there is nothing that I can do I open the device and use uart communication to copy my old UTi260B_Thermal 1.2.28 to root and voila device come back to life again.

What firmware device had before upgrade attempt?

But at least don’t worry device is ok and nothing burnt down …

Thanks, that's a relief then. Unfortunately I looked at but didn't write down the exact version or backup my firmware first (I wasn't aware of the fw backup process until I came here looking for solutions AFTER I bricked it).    I want to say mine might have been something like 1.2.32 but I can't swear to it. I did download someone's stock fw backup that was posted in the backup thread though, so if I can get the UART to work then I'll try that.

The upgrade process did, thankfully, save my calibration data to a file on the SD Card, which I have since backed up. I assume if I apply someone else's firmware image, I'll have to restore this calibration file. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

[ausdim]

Thanks, that's a relief then. Unfortunately I looked at but didn't write down the exact version or backup my firmware first (I wasn't aware of the fw backup process until I came here looking for solutions AFTER I bricked it).    I want to say mine might have been something like 1.2.32 but I can't swear to it. I did download someone's stock fw backup that was posted in the backup thread though, so if I can get the UART to work then I'll try that.

The upgrade process did, thankfully, save my calibration data to a file on the SD Card, which I have since backed up. I assume if I apply someone else's firmware image, I'll have to restore this calibration file. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

My firmware is 1.2.28 and I can’t find any newer of series “1.” Anything from series “2.” It will not work, at least two of them that I try 2.0.20 and 2.0.22 that’s why I create that simple script in the backup thread you mention, to collect some firmwares here so we make a database since we cannot find nothing on the net.

Any way if you want my firmware I will pass it to you.

I changed only UTi260B_Thermal and device is normal again no any calibration data since I get the same as old, every time you run upgrade menu that .ini file is written to your as card.

[Veteran68]

Thanks, that's a relief then. Unfortunately I looked at but didn't write down the exact version or backup my firmware first (I wasn't aware of the fw backup process until I came here looking for solutions AFTER I bricked it).    I want to say mine might have been something like 1.2.32 but I can't swear to it. I did download someone's stock fw backup that was posted in the backup thread though, so if I can get the UART to work then I'll try that.

The upgrade process did, thankfully, save my calibration data to a file on the SD Card, which I have since backed up. I assume if I apply someone else's firmware image, I'll have to restore this calibration file. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

My firmware is 1.2.28 and I can’t find any newer of series “1.” Anything from series “2.” It will not work, at least two of them that I try 2.0.20 and 2.0.22 that’s why I create that simple script in the backup thread you mention, to collect some firmwares here so we make a database since we cannot find nothing on the net.

Any way if you want my firmware I will pass it to you.

I changed only UTi260B_Thermal and device is normal again no any calibration data since I get the same as old, every time you run upgrade menu that .ini file is written to your as card.

Are we sure the 690B and 260B have the same firmware version numbers? Why would Banggood be providing people this version for 690B devices without asking what version you have to start with? There would typically be a warning in the instructions they provide to check current firmware version. I will reply back to them that I'm hearing that v1 firmware cannot be upgraded with v2 firmware and see what they say.

Let me go through the backup thread and check the versions that I've downloaded, then try to get the UART connection going.

[Brexei]

SMD marking 01AH most likely means IRLML6402TRPbF MOSFET P-Ch -3.7A 65mOhm 8nC Log Lvl.

I have searched the internet to find (and buy) this mosfet, but i can find p-type and also n-type mosfets with the same name. I am confused...
Can you please share the link to the exact item you bought?
I have contacted Uni-T, but they did not offer any information, or schematics, or diagram at all.
Thank you  very much!

[ausdim]

Thanks, that's a relief then. Unfortunately I looked at but didn't write down the exact version or backup my firmware first (I wasn't aware of the fw backup process until I came here looking for solutions AFTER I bricked it).    I want to say mine might have been something like 1.2.32 but I can't swear to it. I did download someone's stock fw backup that was posted in the backup thread though, so if I can get the UART to work then I'll try that.

The upgrade process did, thankfully, save my calibration data to a file on the SD Card, which I have since backed up. I assume if I apply someone else's firmware image, I'll have to restore this calibration file. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

My firmware is 1.2.28 and I can’t find any newer of series “1.” Anything from series “2.” It will not work, at least two of them that I try 2.0.20 and 2.0.22 that’s why I create that simple script in the backup thread you mention, to collect some firmwares here so we make a database since we cannot find nothing on the net.

Any way if you want my firmware I will pass it to you.

I changed only UTi260B_Thermal and device is normal again no any calibration data since I get the same as old, every time you run upgrade menu that .ini file is written to your as card.

Are we sure the 690B and 260B have the same firmware version numbers? Why would Banggood be providing people this version for 690B devices without asking what version you have to start with? There would typically be a warning in the instructions they provide to check current firmware version. I will reply back to them that I'm hearing that v1 firmware cannot be upgraded with v2 firmware and see what they say.

Let me go through the backup thread and check the versions that I've downloaded, then try to get the UART connection going.

My camera is not from Banggood but from local supplier that is uni-t official reseller.

I try one firmware comes from Banggood for a user with 690b with version number 2.0.2.22 and got boot problem (100%) stuck.

Try second one after use uart to recover my device, from a user here that is comes from 260b that he bought from Banggood also with firmware 2.0.20 with the same result.

Thanks

[Veteran68]

My camera is not from Banggood but from local supplier that is uni-t official reseller.

I try one firmware comes from Banggood for a user with 690b with version number 2.0.2.22 and got boot problem (100%) stuck.

Try second one after use uart to recover my device, from a user here that is comes from 260b that he bought from Banggood also with firmware 2.0.20 with the same result.

Thanks

You have the UTi260B I take it? My understanding is the UTi690B, while identical, is an exclusive Banggood model and shouldn't be sold anywhere else (unless being re-sold). The firmware files for both are named the same (i.e. UTi260B_Thermal) but the UTi690B firmware actually contains its own model number rather than UTi260B for display on the Device Info screen. So while the firmware between the two may be functionally the same and work with each other, they do each have their own unique firmware image. So I'd prefer to restore a 690B firmware to my 690B, rather than a 260B's firmware.

Banggood got back to me after I let them know that I'm hearing that the V2.x firmware they're sending out may be bricking other users like this with devices shipped with V1.x firmware. They said they're reaching out to the manufacturer on this and will let me know. Again, kudos to Banggood for providing a level of technical support I did not expect, but I guess they have to if they're going to sell exclusive models not openly supported by Uni-T directly.

In the meantime, last night I got the device disassembled (could they make that any harder to figure out? If I hadn't watched a YT video of a teardown I don't know that I'd have ever figured out where the screws were hiding). Tonight I plan to solder in a header and use a USB to TTL converter to try and read it. Hopefully I don't break it any further. Which would suck if Banggood/Uni-T actually came back with a simple recovery process, but I'm not at all confident they will.

[Silicium81]

My camera is not from Banggood but from local supplier that is uni-t official reseller.

I try one firmware comes from Banggood for a user with 690b with version number 2.0.2.22 and got boot problem (100%) stuck.

Try second one after use uart to recover my device, from a user here that is comes from 260b that he bought from Banggood also with firmware 2.0.20 with the same result.

Thanks

You have the UTi260B I take it? My understanding is the UTi690B, while identical, is an exclusive Banggood model and shouldn't be sold anywhere else (unless being re-sold). The firmware files for both are named the same (i.e. UTi260B_Thermal) but the UTi690B firmware actually contains its own model number rather than UTi260B for display on the Device Info screen. So while the firmware between the two may be functionally the same and work with each other, they do each have their own unique firmware image. So I'd prefer to restore a 690B firmware to my 690B, rather than a 260B's firmware.

Banggood got back to me after I let them know that I'm hearing that the V2.x firmware they're sending out may be bricking other users like this with devices shipped with V1.x firmware. They said they're reaching out to the manufacturer on this and will let me know. Again, kudos to Banggood for providing a level of technical support I did not expect, but I guess they have to if they're going to sell exclusive models not openly supported by Uni-T directly.

In the meantime, last night I got the device disassembled (could they make that any harder to figure out? If I hadn't watched a YT video of a teardown I don't know that I'd have ever figured out where the screws were hiding). Tonight I plan to solder in a header and use a USB to TTL converter to try and read it. Hopefully I don't break it any further. Which would suck if Banggood/Uni-T actually came back with a simple recovery process, but I'm not at all confident they will.

If it can be helpful, I have given my UTi-690B firmware backup here: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/uti260b-uti690b-firmware-backup-script/msg4967098/#msg4967098

[Veteran68]

If it can be helpful, I have given my UTi-690B firmware backup here: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/uti260b-uti690b-firmware-backup-script/msg4967098/#msg4967098

Thanks, I had already grabbed yours along with the other firmware backups and images I've run across.

Didn't get a chance last night to do the UART work to get into the meter. Will post an update on my progress when I can.

[Slartibartfast123]

SMD marking 01AH most likely means IRLML6402TRPbF MOSFET P-Ch -3.7A 65mOhm 8nC Log Lvl.

I have searched the internet to find (and buy) this mosfet, but i can find p-type and also n-type mosfets with the same name. I am confused...
Can you please share the link to the exact item you bought?
I have contacted Uni-T, but they did not offer any information, or schematics, or diagram at all.
Thank you  very much!

That was meant for the ones who managed to damage their device (SMD marking 01AH) with a fast charger (> 4.0 amps).

The aformentioned  IRLML6402TRPbF is available almost everywhere:

https://www.mouser.de/ProductDetail/Infineon-Technologies/IRLML6402TRPBF?qs=9%252BKlkBgLFf0HuZuONx2Ewg%3D%3D

https://www.digikey.de/de/products/detail/infineon-technologies/IRLML6402TRPBF/811437

https://de.farnell.com/infineon/irlml6402trpbf/mosfet-p-kanal-20v-3-7a-sot-23/dp/9103503

[Slartibartfast123]

The postal Gods were kind to me and the "back-up" GC-0308 camera module arrived this morning  I thought Customs clearance would delay things, but not this time.

I have spent much of today working on the UTi-690B in a determined effort to repair it. I installed the new GC-0308 camera core, booted the UTi-690 and........ no change  The camera still halted at the 100% boot point. A check on the boot log showed no change from when the original GC-0308 was installed. I tested all of the replacement GC-0308 cameras on my ESP32-CAM module and all worked as expected. The original GC-0308 module is known to be faulty but I tested it again to make sure, and it is non responsive.

Whilst the UTi-690B complains about the lack of response from its GC-0308 camera core, I have now tried 3 different GC-0308 camera cores in it and none change the symptoms. As all are proven working, it would suggest that the problem is not the camera core. The original GC-0308 core did have a failed MLCC across is power rails that was drawing excess current, but the core was found to also be faulty after investigation. I have investigated possible causes of failure, such as a fault in its dedicated power supply IC and went so far as to stress test that IC to eliminate it from enquiries. It appears to be operating correctly with no transients or noise at its output to harm the GC-0308. The cause of the original GC-0308 failure is not known but it is possible that the MLCC failure has nothing to do with the camera failure and it is just coincidence.

With the GC-0308 camera module hardware eliminated from the investigation I have had to look at the data side of things. Could UNI-T have used a custom GC-0308 camera core in their product that the firmware needs to identify ? I very much doubt that as this is a building block component with no reason to make it unique in any way. All power and data lines associated with the core have been tested yet the GC-0308 is not working in the UTi-690B chassis.

I have done my best to identify any issues with the Linux firmware but found nothing unusual that could be causing this fault. I came to the conclusion that I am likely dealing with either some exotic firmware corruption or a failure in the SoC hardware. File substitution in the Firmware from a known good copy did not remove the fault so that leaves the SoC as a prime suspect and there is nothing I can do to repair that.

After spending a fair few hours on this camera I think it is time to declare this patient deceased. I shall advise the owner accordingly

Sady you cannot win them all and these budget cameras are virtually "disposable" technology now.

I learnt a lot about the UTi260B/Uti690B during this investigation and I may create a separate repair thread dedicated to the various stages of the investigation and findings. If you own one of these and it stops working, do check the GC-0308 camera module current draw, in case the MLCC has failed, but be warned that there may be a deeper failure that is uneconomic to repair by a tech.

Fraser

Thanks for the effort. Terrific job, Fraser. Interesting to know.
So, after all more or less two possible reasons for the further failure?

1. Spare GC0308 not compatible

Of course, could be proved by exchanging the original GC0308 of a working device with a bought GC0308. Should be done in the future somehow. Interesting also would be a bootlog file of a working device.

2. Colleteral damage

I doubt that there was another different damage at the same time. But it could be that the failed visual light camera damaged something else like the corresponding I2C or the cable.

My bet would be right now that uni-t used a proprietary or special GC0308. There are so many variants available.

Everything would be easier with access to the firmware. For example by simply disabling the visual light camera in the firmware the thermal camera would be still usable.

[Fraser]

Hi Slartibartfast123,

I agree. I remain uncertain why the replacement GC0308 cameras do not work in the UTi690B, yet all work fine in the ESP32-CAM module when configured for GC0308. I even went to the effort to buy a Camera module that had the same part ID as the original. I expected a good result when that arrived. Sadly it was not to be. For a budget thermal camera there has to be a point at which you declare the patient deceased and I reached that point this week. I once spent 3 months of evenings completely reverse engineering a FLIR PM570 camera in order to repair it. That camera was worth £36K though and it was back when affordable thermal cameras were not available. At around $300 these modern budget thermal cameras need to be a quick fix in order to be a commercially viable repair. I fear that once the warranty is expired, most will be beyond economic repair unless the owner does the repair themselves.

I may revisit this camera at a time when I do not have so many other commitments but, for now, I have had to park it on the Spares & Repair shelf.

Fraser

[Brexei]

I regret to announce that there is zero technical support from UNI-T! 

I have contacted the central department and they pointed me to the European representative. But even then, no help from anybody.
They cannot disclose any information about the components used, or offer any technical support on what to check or measure. Not even inform me what kind of mosfets are used on the power supply board!

I will buy the IRLML6402TRPbF and try to fix it. I will report back when it arrives...

[KedasProbe]

Got my new UTi260B camera today works well. (although kept like hanging after selecting language the first time)

When I started to wonder how do I get this overlay text from my screenshots...

This link is very useful to 'remove' (duplicate present) the text overlay of the screenshots and get some extra temp data.
https://github.com/Santi-hr/UNI-T-Thermal-Utilities

Not sure if the person is here on the forum but thanks works very well.

[Fraser]

That poorly UTi690B is haunting me from my “spares & repair” shelf ! I truly hate giving up on a patient and I really want to better understand why that camera is not working with the GC0308 camera modules that I sourced. I have decided to revisit the camera when time permits.

Fraser

[Fraser]

For those who own a UTi260B or UTi690B it may be of interest to hear that when working on the poorly UTi690B, I noted that almost all of the ABS screw towers had been split by the self tapping screw. One that provides a mounting point for the microbolometer heatsink had completely disintegrated into several splintered pieces of ABS plastic. This is not that uncommon an occurrence when designers elect to use self tapping screws into relatively fragile ABS mounting towers/pillars. Sadly in the case of the UTi690B, I found significant splitting and fracturing of the towers and all will require repair. I am thinking of providing details and pictures of how I repair these types of failure in case others need to repair such at some point in the future. If you ever hear something rattling around inside your UTi260B/UTi690B (or other UNI-T cameras for that matter) it is likely a piece of the ABS mounting towers that has broken away.

The solution to this issue is the use of threaded brass inserts moulded into the ABS plastic towers at the time of manufacture. Retro fitting such inserts is not normally possible due to under-size towers intended for M2 self tapping screws. Even brass inserts cab suffer from cracking of the supporting ABS tower, but it is less common in my experience. I judge equipment build quality based upon many factors but it is always good to see threaded brass inserts and not the use of self tapping screws in a products plastics design.

Fraser

[Veteran68]

Thanks, that's a relief then. Unfortunately I looked at but didn't write down the exact version or backup my firmware first (I wasn't aware of the fw backup process until I came here looking for solutions AFTER I bricked it).    I want to say mine might have been something like 1.2.32 but I can't swear to it. I did download someone's stock fw backup that was posted in the backup thread though, so if I can get the UART to work then I'll try that.

The upgrade process did, thankfully, save my calibration data to a file on the SD Card, which I have since backed up. I assume if I apply someone else's firmware image, I'll have to restore this calibration file. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

My firmware is 1.2.28 and I can’t find any newer of series “1.” Anything from series “2.” It will not work, at least two of them that I try 2.0.20 and 2.0.22 that’s why I create that simple script in the backup thread you mention, to collect some firmwares here so we make a database since we cannot find nothing on the net.

Any way if you want my firmware I will pass it to you.

I changed only UTi260B_Thermal and device is normal again no any calibration data since I get the same as old, every time you run upgrade menu that .ini file is written to your as card.

Finally I found the time to solder on the UART Dupont header and get logged into the console as root. Copied over the 1.1.23 firmware file that Silicium81 uploaded over in your backup thread, as his was a UTi690B firmware. I don't know if there's a later one for the 690B or not. If you don't mind sharing I'd like to take a look at your 1.2.28 although I expect it's for the 260B model. Supposedly identical, I know, but I'd just prefer to keep mine on the correctly ID'ed firmware image. I wish I remembered what version I had before!

I'm going to follow up with Banggood who asked me to wait until they could hear back from Uni-T. I'll let them know I recovered it, and ask if there's a later 1.x version than 1.1.23 and remind them the 2.x versions they're sending out don't work for everyone.

[Fraser]

I just completed my photography of the broken ABS mounting towers on the UTi690B and it is not good news 

Every single tower mount has either cracked or shattered due to the forces created by the self tapping screws that have been driven into them.
Whilst it is not that unusual to see stress marks or even the odd fine crack amongst a set of tower mounts in equipment, I have not previously seen so much stress related damage to the tower mounts as found in the UTi690B. It is frankly appalling build quality to have so much damage caused by the production process. Some towers have split, but are still likely to do their job, for a while at least, while others have suffered severe cracking in multiple locations and basically shattered. The severely cracked towers are just waiting to fall apart as one did during the initial disassembly of the camera. One of the towers that supports the microbolometer heatsink fell apart into four pieces when I removed the screw that it was supposed to retain. Even the additional buttress reinforcement used around some of the towers have ful, thickness cracks in them !

Look closely at the provided pictures and the full horror of the situation becomes evident. The UTi690B is supposed to be able to survive a 2m drop onto a hard surface. I can see several of the towers disintegrating if this particular camera was dropped. Not great and, in my opinion, unacceptable build quality. UNI-T should have used threaded brass inserts or, if not, they should have done their calculations better on the tower dimensions, screw dimensions and ABS selection.

To the pictures and make your own assessment of this cameras tower mounts........ note that some towers may look OK, but closer inspection reveals at least one full thickness crack extending way down the tower side. Others have fine crazing over them indicating multiple fine fractures within the tower. The towers that have obvious multiple cracks around their tops are severely compromised by multiple long, full thickness cracks down their sides.

[Fraser]

Continued....

[Fraser]

Continued....

[Algoma]

They could vastly improve the strength of those posts with having a glass fiber component in the plastic mix. Always saving a few pennies at the cost of everything else.

[Fraser]

Interestingly, the teardown pictures of a UTi220 Pro show the same design of mounting tower, yet I see less evidence of strain on them from screw insertion. A softer ABS mix maybe ?

I attach pictures of a Hikvision camera and the UTi220 Pro from a previous thread that I created.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/hikvision-ds-2tp31-series-thermal-camera-teardown-307840/

Note the use of brass inserts in the Hikvision camera. A far more professional design that is likely to suffer less from cracking of the mounting towers during its operational life.

Fraser

[Bill W]

Interestingly, the teardown pictures of a UTi220 Pro show the same design of mounting tower, yet I see less evidence of strain on them from screw insertion. A softer ABS mix maybe ?

See image 06865

It claims to be 'PCTPU' rather than ABS.  That suggests some kind of polycarbonante with polyurethane mixed in, and polycarbonate is very hard, brittle etc and susceptible to any adhesive vapours around.
Not to mention the 'Chinese equivalent the same honest' grade, maybe second hand regrounds.

Even if the camera manufacturer tries to do it right, the moulders are a law unto themselves.

[Fraser]

Thanks Bill. Interesting. I was not certain what PC/TPU meant but suspected it was meaning a plastic shell with TPU inlays which are the soft red buffer material. Polycarbonate is strong, as you say but clearly did not like screws forcing their way into it. The “PC” material readily melts when plastic welded with solvent so I can plastic weld all of the cracked towers and come up with a plan for the refitting of fasteners. One option would be to fill the hollow towers with JB Weld hard epoxy, then drill and tap them for machine screws.

As we know, this particular camera is potentially just a spares donor but it makes an interesting project to see how I may repair the damaged casing towers. Such a process may help other owners so it will be worth the effort.

Fraser

[Fraser]

PC/TPU……

https://techarmor.com/blog/all-about-pc-tpu

[Fraser]

I just took a look at a UTi690B teardown by another forum member…..

https://wizeus.de/teardown-of-the-uni-t-pro-uti690b-thermal-camera/

That cameras casing is not showing the damage to the plastic mounting towers that I see in my patient. Could it be that the OEM used different screws that increased the stress on the towers of the camera that I am working on ? As Bill has stated, we could also be dealing with a variance in the plastic quality or composition.

Fraser

[Fraser]

For anyone wondering what products I use to repair damage to plastic casings, I attach a picture 
I also use helicoils and brass thread inserts where applicable. I was fortunate enough to find a heated brass thread insert installer from the USA but a temperature controlled soldering iron can do the job if done carefully.

I have a lot of practical experience repairing plastic casing parts from my years of restoring vintage laptops. Those often have stress fractures in the panels and tower mounts that secure the casing parts and screen hinges. I will not fill this thread with the repair techniques that I will employ for the UTi690B and will maybe create a new casing repair thread.

Fraser

[Veteran68]

I just took a look at a UTi690B teardown by another forum member…..

https://wizeus.de/teardown-of-the-uni-t-pro-uti690b-thermal-camera/

That cameras casing is not showing the damage to the plastic mounting towers that I see in my patient. Could it be that the OEM used different screws that increased the stress on the towers of the camera that I am working on ? As Bill has stated, we could also be dealing with a variance in the plastic quality or composition.

Fraser

As I posted earlier, I had my 690B apart this past week to get access to the TTL pins for UART access to the console, so I could recover from a bad firmware upgrade. While I did not tear it down completely (i.e. did not remove the heatsink), from what I did tear down I did not notice the cracking that you're seeing in those bosses, nor did I have any debris floating around in the case to indicate any prior breakage. I will say one of the self-tapping screws did not seem to want to tighten down to a stop, and I didn't want to keep trying in case it stripped further, but the rest of them tightened down fine.

Perhaps yours was a "Monday morning" or "Friday afternoon" special at the moulding plant. I expect UNI-T's manufacturing cost points don't allow for a high degree of QA attention, so it could be really hit or miss as to what you get.

[Bill W]

Thanks Bill. Interesting. I was not certain what PC/TPU meant but suspected it was meaning a plastic shell with TPU inlays which are the soft red buffer material. Polycarbonate is strong, as you say but clearly did not like screws forcing their way into it. The “PC” material readily melts when plastic welded with solvent so I can plastic weld all of the cracked towers and come up with a plan for the refitting of fasteners. One option would be to fill the hollow towers with JB Weld hard epoxy, then drill and tap them for machine screws.

As we know, this particular camera is potentially just a spares donor but it makes an interesting project to see how I may repair the damaged casing towers. Such a process may help other owners so it will be worth the effort.

Fraser

Yes, TPU could well just refer to the outer (overmoulded ?) 'rubbery' stuff.  In that case pure polycarbonate for the case, with none too surprising results.

That said 'M3 self tapping screw' is a very variable beast, nothing like as well defined as M3 machine screw.  Split towers is a 'screw too big for hole' issue, however it has come about.

[Fraser]

I completed stage 1 of the UTi690B tower repairs this evening. All towers had wire containment applied before being repaired with solvent welding techniques. The more I looked, the more cracks and crazing I found ! Total nightmare. Every single tower had both cracking and crazing that could have lead to complete tower failure. The tower that shattered into 4 pieces has been reassembled and refitted into the casing using plastic welding solvent. Considering the state of that tower when I dismantled the camera, I am very pleased with the result. Modelling plastic welding solvent is great for these tasks as it permeates cracks through capillary action and this includes the areas of crazing. The plastic surfaces then melt together. No adhesive, just plastic merging into plastic. 

If I were repairing this camera on a commercial basis, the failure and repair of the towers alone would likely make this camera B.E.R.

I now have to decide upon the new fastener regime and the options are very limited. Brass inserts would be difficult to use due to the small diameter towers and their already compromised state would make them vulnerable to disintegration during drilling for the insert. Self tapping screws, even if smaller diameter, do not look like a good option here. I am left with filling the towers with high performance JB Weld epoxy and tapping them for M2 machine screws. The M2 screws have a very fine thread which makes the task a challenge but I believe it can be done if care is taken. It will be a time consuming task to fill, cure, drill and tap all of the towers in the camera casing but I can think of no better option at the moment and this approach adds hard epoxy to strengthen the towers. They are hollow to their full depth.

[TobyG]

If looks don't matter, 3D printing new towers and glueing or solvent-melting, depending on the type of plastic, them in place is a viable option that I'd used a couple times in the past, complete with brass thread inserts, that is.


I do repair a bunch of older motorcycle speedometers and Rallye Navigation Equipment, so I do encounter such issues fairly often, too.




That being said, don't beat yourself up over not fixing that thing.
Totally agree with you, with the price point, there simple is a time to call it quits.

Well, I'll be shopping for a higher quality one, now that I know I got a use for it. Not often, but when needed, it's quite a nice thing to have.


Again, many thanks for giving it a shot at all!

[Fraser]

Thanks Toby 

The tower repair is going well. I repaired the cracks with solvent plastic welding and then filled the towers with JB Weld heavy duty epoxy. I have waited for the epoxy to cure for a few days. I will drill each tower to 1.6mm and then tap with a M2 tap set. I purchased a nice assortment of socket head M2 stainless steel machine screws to replace the original 2mm self tapping screws.

I am fortunate to own a selection of excellent Proxxon power tools designed for modelling and these are perfect for working on projects like this. I have a really dinky mini pillar drill with which to drill the small 1.6mm holes so quite an easy task.

I will document the repair to the towers, either here, or in a separate post.

Fraser

[Fraser]

I should also say that I have yet more versions of the GC0308 camera modules coming from China ! This is just to further investigate the issue of the camera not being recognised. They are relatively inexpensive at around £3 each + shipping, so worth investigating.

Fraser

[digant]

Thanks, that's a relief then. Unfortunately I looked at but didn't write down the exact version or backup my firmware first (I wasn't aware of the fw backup process until I came here looking for solutions AFTER I bricked it).    I want to say mine might have been something like 1.2.32 but I can't swear to it. I did download someone's stock fw backup that was posted in the backup thread though, so if I can get the UART to work then I'll try that.

The upgrade process did, thankfully, save my calibration data to a file on the SD Card, which I have since backed up. I assume if I apply someone else's firmware image, I'll have to restore this calibration file. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

My firmware is 1.2.28 and I can’t find any newer of series “1.” Anything from series “2.” It will not work, at least two of them that I try 2.0.20 and 2.0.22 that’s why I create that simple script in the backup thread you mention, to collect some firmwares here so we make a database since we cannot find nothing on the net.

Any way if you want my firmware I will pass it to you.

I changed only UTi260B_Thermal and device is normal again no any calibration data since I get the same as old, every time you run upgrade menu that .ini file is written to your as card.

Are we sure the 690B and 260B have the same firmware version numbers? Why would Banggood be providing people this version for 690B devices without asking what version you have to start with? There would typically be a warning in the instructions they provide to check current firmware version. I will reply back to them that I'm hearing that v1 firmware cannot be upgraded with v2 firmware and see what they say.

Let me go through the backup thread and check the versions that I've downloaded, then try to get the UART connection going.

Where can I download the firmware 1.2.28 or last stable version for uti260b? I'm currently on stock 1.1.22 (never updated the fw).

[Kellopeli]

First of of all big thanks for Fraser and other for sharing their experience with this thermal cam.

I got the 690B variant less than a year ago and that sucker died on me.

I paid about 300 European dollhairs, and it got used 3 times. So it ended up costing 100 Euros for each use.
Lesson learnt again - stay away from chintsy home gamer tools. There is a reason why you never see Uni-Ts used by professionals here in north Europe.

After not using it for several months I tried to turn it on. There was just a brief flash of backlight and then it turned black.
I thought it was just an empty battery and quickly hooked it up to a USB-c charger (for Lenovo laptop).
After charging for a while it remained completely dead. I tried Banggood custormer service, but all I got was a "sorry your crap is out of warranty "

So I'll have to try my luck repairing it meself.

Next I stumbled on this thread and was able to gut the camera. I used a suction cup and a little heat to remote the plastic screen protector.
Inside visually everything seemed to be ok. No trace of smoke. I went to ebay and ordered some replacement P-channel mosfets.

Battery:
I also checked the internal battery on the terminals and it is dead, 0 Volts. Hmm.
There seems to be a built in protector circuit in the battery under the plastic wrapping, so I went ahead and carefully removed some plastic wrapping on top of the positive and negative strips connecting the cell to the protector circuit and it measured 3.05 Volts, so the cell was not dead after all. I tried to charge the battery with a regular li-ion charger, but it could not detect the battery. I put some small jumper wire to the exposed strips and connected the chareger directly to the cell. I charged the cell to 3.8 volts, and hoped the protector circuit would wake up. The terminals still show 0 Volts. Maybe the protector circuit died.

Booting up:
So the battery was dead, maybe that was the reason for the unit not booting, so next I hooked a lab power to the battery connector on the main PCB and started experimenting.

3.3V:
First I set the lab power to 3.3V (simulating an almost empty battery) and wanted to see if it powers up. Well, partial success. I get now the Uni-t splash screen and initializing gets stucked at 69%. Current draw is about 350 mA. Power button does not work. after couple of tries the boot gets stuck at 70%.
3.6V:
I raise the voltage a little and the unit gets stuck at 70% for a very long time (several minutes) and then goes to 100% and gets stuck. Intresting. I do a power reset a few times and power button does not work. Unit gets stuck at 100%. Maybe I need to raise the voltage more.
4.1V:
Now the boot seem a little faster and on the first try it booted almost up and did not get stuck at 100%. Instead it got stuck on the main camera view screen with "Initializing". Current draw is about 400mA. Power button has now some effect, it switches off the screen, but current draw remains over 300mA, which is not good. I repeat the same a few times. Power cycling seems to be the only way to stop the unit from drawing high current. Maybe I raise the voltage a little.
4.2V:
This would resemble a full battery. This time the unit boots fully up and starts the thermal camera, wohoo! Now also the power button shuts down the unit properly and current draw goes from 400 mA to zero. I notice the date on the screen is from 2022, so RTC battery probably also died.

What happened:
I am suspecting I had an empty battery, then hooked the unit up to a powerful charger and burned something inside. The unit still somehow works, but requires a higher voltage, and would not work unless the battery was fully charged. I am suspecting the unit has a design flaw or a FW bug causing the unit not to always shut down properly, especially with lower supply voltage, and this may then finalize your battery.


I will continue the repair some day when I have time.

[Silicium81]

Thanks for your comment, it's interesting to know that the battery's BMS is integrated into thelse. These BMS are not very qualitative in general.
I've also had a 690b thermal camera for a year and a half. It works very well if i use it occasionally and recharge it regularly, but no more often than every 4 months and only if the battery starts to run down (2 bars on the charge indicator).

[Veteran68]

Lesson learnt again - stay away from chintsy home gamer tools. There is a reason why you never see Uni-Ts used by professionals here in north Europe.

While I wouldn't consider most Uni-T gear as "professional," I would certainly put it in the mid and sometimes upper range of hobby gear. Far from what I'll call "chintsy" compared to the sea of cheaper no-name brands. For most hobby or even prosumer users, their gear will do fine. For it's price range, the 260B/690B camera is one of the best on the market in terms of features. Alex from Northridge Fix said it compared very favorably to his $6K FLIR camera (although one should probably take his review with healthy dose of salt since he sells the 260B in his store). But when you look at raw specs, it's pretty hard to find a comparable performing camera in this price range. If you want close to the same features in something from a brand like FLIR or Fluke, you're close to adding another zero to the cost.

My 690B has been fantastic. My only issue with it was self-inflicted, attempting to flash a firmware that clearly isn't compatible (although we had to figure that out the hard way). Thankfully their design is such to make it relatively easy to recover when this happens.

I tried Banggood custormer service, but all I got was a "sorry your crap is out of warranty "

That's odd, because mine was almost certainly out of warranty yet they were very helpful with me. Well, at least their attitude was helpful and they were quick to provide me a firmware to try, unfortunately it was the same incompatible version. They said they would take the firmware issue up with Uni-T but never got back to me. After I fixed mine myself, I didn't follow up. But they were far more helpful than I expected them to be.

What happened:
I am suspecting I had an empty battery, then hooked the unit up to a powerful charger and burned something inside.

This is doubtful. It uses a standard USB charging circuit, so a charger isn't going to deliver any more power than the device draws and only up to the negotiated charger limit (unless you're using a non-compliant charger). I haven't tried a USB power meter while charging it (now I'm curious and will do so) but as I recall it comes with a USB-C to USB-A cable so it's not even PD, which means it's charging at standard 5V 1-2A max. I'd say more than likely there was a battery defect or other component defect in yours that led to your failure.

[tchleb]

Which ZnSe lens you can recommend for PCB thermal analysis?

[mzzj]

Hi all!

So I just got for Christmas a UNIT 260B camera. This is my first thermal camera so Im not sure what to expect, and thats why I ask for advice here.
My camera shows a 'pattern' when I aim at objects or surfaces that should be at the same temperature all around. The pattern is always the same as below and does not improve after leaving the camera on for hours and after many FFC events.

Is this expected? The temperature range is small I know, around 2C, but I expected the screen to look all the same color, with no fixed pattern like this. Maybe Im expecting too much from such a low end device? Or is this a problem?

I just wanna make sure I did not get a defective unit.

I did recalibration based on https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/uni-t-uti260b/msg4544261/#msg4544261

It looks? like you can do the RMVC_CAL to even out the thermal imager field. Mine improved from 2.5 degree gradient to less than 1 degree gradient and made the camera lot more usable.
DON'T touch the RMVC_RESET or the other calibration points.

I used room-temperature brick wall as target for RMVC_CAL.

[Silicium81]

Which ZnSe lens you can recommend for PCB thermal analysis?

See: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/uni-t-uti260-3d-printed-accessories/msg4135633/#msg4135633

[whc]

Just got the UNi690B variant today. Unfortunately it does not work properly, just got a white screen and showing 900+ degrees Celsius.

Wondering if there is a way other than factory reset in setting, to do a complete hardware reset?

[Marconi]

Hello
I have had this same problem. I am new to this, could you please tell me what and where to buy what I need to fix it?.
Thanks in advance

Hi all

I also opened my uti690b and has the same board as in the picture below.
I destroyed my unit by a usb a to micro-usb > usb -c  and/or a quick charge charger. (some how)
I saw on the display 9v 4a! when unplugged it was already done. Not comming on. So be aware off that !
After opening / smelling and seeing with the a flir one cam, the mosfet was gone, next to d5 on the picture of keenox.
It was a 01ah replaced it with a 01A (7 something) and it is working again.
When sensor is disconnected I also get loading 100% and then nothing. after all connected up and running ( so far )
so maybe this can help people.
battery is a pnas 26650 3.6v 5000mah

br
Jeroen

I also opened the UTi260B. Tip: use a small suction cap (like the ones used to remove phone screens) to remove the screen shield in order to avoid scratches instead of using tweezers. Also, don't pull hard on the face because there is a small ribbon cable that connects the buttons to the main PCB. I almost ripped mine.
I also attached a script that will enable the USB console. (thanks optotester for the initial script)
Just unzip to the SD card root, press right for 3 seconds, hold and press left.
You will see a new COM in the device manager. Connect using putty (or your preferred terminal client) with baud rate 115200.

Use ftpadmin/ftpadmin (no write rigths, safer to just look around) or root/uti160e (careful! you can mess stuff up if you don't know what you're doing.

Full dump of the 1.2.6 firmware: https://mega.nz/file/2EZXAKJC#L_ROicWxl96tmm10NZP_TM9PELJHTVqmL0C8l_ZAYGQ

[Algoma]

I really wonder about that USB-C connector on these, when its really only safe to charge from 5V only.

Charge only with the included USB-A to USB-C cable!

Connecting it to USB-C or fast-charger will likely dammage more than just that mosfet. Others have lost the camera modules, I lost the NTC termperature compensation in mine. The higher voltage supplied from a USB fast charger goes right thorugh the whole thing, Not certain why its requesting the fast charger to step up to a higher voltage it can't handle.

[Veteran68]

A properly functioning USB-C PD charger should not damage any device. Anything higher than 5V requires a negotiation between the charger and the device. The connection starts with a default 5V unless/until the device tells the charger it wants more voltage. Using adapters should not cause excess voltage either, if anything they break the negotiation protocol which prevents a voltage greater than 5V.

I charge my UTi690B from a generic USB-C cable connected to a smart charger on my desk. Same cable and charger I use for all of my USB-C devices. Never had a problem.

Of course it's possible to make a charger with a USB-C plug that is not compliant, and there have been some reported cases (like the prototype chargers shipped with the Rigol DHO scopes), but they are the exception not the rule. So know what you have and don't use stupid chargers from stupid suppliers. It should be a crime for companies to make USB-C chargers that output anything other than 5V without negotiation.

[EV.geny]

Hello. I recently became the owner of this device. In the calibration settings, the NTC value is also 0.0. Perhaps in this version (2.0.20) it is not needed for thermal compensation? Please check who has the opportunity to go to the calibration menu,(https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/infiray-c210-thermal-camera-review/msg4336675/#msg4336675) the NTC value. P.S. Sorry for the translation, English is not my native language

[novafoxan]

I bought this camera and noticed that the image freezes, especially when switching between low gain and high gain.The strange thing is that I can move the arrows and enter the menu in the camera. Only the temperature image is frozen. I have to turn the camera off and then turn it on  to work normally.
But the malfunction does not happen all the time. It may have happened to me five times at most
this is vedio shows the proplem

Is it possible that the camera is defective?

I contacted the seller and he told me that this is normal, especially since it is made in China. Is what he said true? Has anyone had this defect? ​​If this defect is not normal, then I will return the camera and get my money back.

[sergk]

Is it possible that the camera is defective?

I contacted the seller and he told me that this is normal, especially since it is made in China. Is what he said true? Has anyone had this defect? ​​If this defect is not normal, then I will return the camera and get my money back.

No It's not normal, my works without such freezes (only periodically for few seconds, when calibrating)

[novafoxan]

Is it possible that the camera is defective?

I contacted the seller and he told me that this is normal, especially since it is made in China. Is what he said true? Has anyone had this defect? ​​If this defect is not normal, then I will return the camera and get my money back.

No It's not normal, my works without such freezes (only periodically for few seconds, when calibrating)

thank you ....
This freeze does not happen now. I do not know the reason. Whether it will happen again in the future or not.
Note that this freeze has only occurred six times so far.Something strange about this camera

[digant]

Please, can someone share the latest firmware for UTi260B?

[Brad808]

Does anyone know why my device will sometimes revert to Chinese language when I turn it on? It's not the end of the world as the device still works and I can easily change it back, but it's a bit annoying. UTi260B, v1.2.32 firmware. Thanks

[Brad808]

Does anyone know why my device will sometimes revert to Chinese language when I turn it on? It's not the end of the world as the device still works and I can easily change it back, but it's a bit annoying. UTi260B, v1.2.32 firmware. Thanks

This is what my unit is doing. According to Uni-T it is totally normal for the unit to freeze trying to turn on and not maintain settings.

Changing language and settings to default:
https://youtu.be/-aACVWQMOCk

Freezing:
https://youtu.be/rogNkhPt68s

[Grunema2]

Is it possible set the temperature scale to a fix value? Guide IR PC260 call it "M" Mode.
Thanks

[Brexei]

So, after a few months of trying to fix my 260B camera i must say that everything failed!!   

I replaced the mosfet twice, but the camera is still dead!
It all happened when i charged it with a different charger and cable. Now the battery is full, but the camera does not start at all.

There is no support from UNiT at all, no info, so i cannot do anything else! There is no one in Europe that can repair it.

Dear Fraser, if you would like to take a look in my camera, i could send it to you. Please tell me if you are interested in this.

[Fraser]

I currently have the UT260B belonging to Brexei on my workbench.

I have reverse engineered the power supply circuits on the main PCB in order to test them after the over-voltage event from a USB-C charger. I may upload the schematics when I have completed my investigation on the camera. In the mean time I can advise that the over-voltage event destroyed the TPS630250 DC-DC converter that produces the 3.3V supply. The 3.3V power rail supplies the DC-DC converters that generate the 1.2V, 1.35V and 5V power rails. These DC-DC converters are effectively protected from over voltage behind the 3.3V DC-DC converter and a MOSFET switch. The USB input is connected to the 3.3V DC-DC converter and the TP5000 Li-Ion charger IC. Neither IC is designed to cope with a 9V or higher input so both can easily be damaged by a USB-C charger that accidentally delivers more than the usual 5V output. Ancillary circuits (MOSFETS) involved in power routing can also be damaged, as we already know.

The UT-260B should not be capable of activating the higher voltage modes of a USB-C charger so these over-voltage events are unusual. The camera has no built in over-voltage protection that is effective against such an event, hence the damage we are witnessing.

Fraser

[Fraser]

The faulty UT260B belonging to Brexei was able to complete boot after I worked on it today. It displayed a normal thermal and visible light image.

This camera suffered damage to its power management, DC-DC converters and TP5000 lithium ion charger IC as a direct result of an over-voltage event at the USB-C charging socket. The investigation of this cameras faults took significant time and sadly would likely be uneconomic for a commercial repair centre that has no prior knowledge of the design.

Be very careful what charger you use with these cameras as accidental application of 9V or higher will kill it and repair will be expensive if you cannot do the work yourself.

I will consider uploading the schematics that I created of the power supply side of the UT260B design at some point in the future. These would greatly simplify investigation of power rail related faults.

Fraser

[Veteran68]

Great work, as always Fraser!

Do you have any idea where the fault lies with regards to the bad USB-C voltage applied?

It's possible but seems unlikely that the UTi260B's PD circuit would fail and negotiate an over-voltage PD profile. Without knowing specifics, I'm more inclined to believe a faulty or non-compliant USB-C power supply was used. This is exactly why there was a such an outcry when the preview samples of the Rigol DHO800/900 scopes shipped with a fixed 12V USB-C supply. It's a highly irresponsible move to manufacture such a supply in the first place.

[Fraser]

The UT260B USB-C socket is dumb with no data communications ability with a charger over the configuration channel pin. There is no PD modem present in the camera. The USB-C socket is configured as a simple 5V USB charging port. This suggests that the smart charger that damaged the camera suffered an anomaly that triggered the higher output voltage mode. This should not happen but it clearly did in this case.

Fraser

[Algoma]

I wonder if there is room to mod in some protection across that USB input.

[Fraser]

The UT260B does have a TVS diode across the charging input but Uni-Trend elected to use the SMBJ28CA and that does not start to act until around 31V Totally useless considering the maximum permissible input is only 7.0V ! I have dug out the charger input circuit I drew of the FLIR iX series cameras and it will be noted that the TVS diode used across the charger input is the SMAJ5.0A. The SMAJ5.0A begins to act when the voltage across it reaches 6.1V to 7.07V.  I attach the iX input schematic and SMBJ/SMAJ series TVS diode datasheets. Brexei has asked me about improving the protection on the charger input and I have recommended fitting a fuse or polyfuse and a SMAJ5.0A in place of the SMBJ28CA TVS diode. This is the minimum level of input protection that I would expect to find on a USB charger input.

For those willing to open their camera, I recommend changing the charger input protection TVS diode (D10) to something more suited to a nominal 5V input. I might add that the same daft choice of TVS diode is present on the the Li-Ion battery input ! Tat said, it is less important on that input due to the battery being a built-in type.

Fraser

[Fraser]

A sketch of the UT260B/UT690B USB-C power input circuit.

[Fraser]

A correction to a previous post (that I have now amended).

Whilst I was correct in stating that the USB-C socket is operated in a dumb mode, with no PD modem for voltage negotiation, the two resistors I initially thought to be 5.1K passive 5V mode programming components were in fact just 10 Ohm data line resistors. The camera does not have 5.1K resistors on the smart charger mode programming line.

I note from the UTi260B user manual that it states a 5V 1A or 5V 2A charger should be used. It does not, however, prohibit the use of multi voltage smart chargers. I have not found a reason for the over voltage event that damaged the UTi260B that I just repaired. I can only assume that the charger was at fault but wonder if the issue would have occurred if the usual 5.1K passive mode programming resistors had been present on the cameras USB-C socket. I have installed a 5V TVS diode across the charger input of the repaired UTi260B as an additional protective measure against voltage excursions damaging the TPS630250 DC-DC converter and TP5000 charger IC. The owner will be using a dedicated 5V USB charger to avoid future issues.

The camera was repaired and carefully tested. For those facing a similar failure I can advise that the challenge was in sourcing the required parts in the UK. I had to order a TP5000 charger module PCB from China, to harvest the TP5000 from it, and ordered the TPS630250 adjustable DC-DC converter (set to 3.3V) from Digikey. These parts were not available to buy in the UK.

The UTi260B operating time from a full charge impressed me. It has managed 10 hours of continuous operation during testing  The specification states “greater than 6 hours”.

Fraser

[Fraser]

Forum member “Sakis” who is asking for UTi260B repair assistance…. Your PM inbox is reporting that it is full. Please delete its contents and I will provide the details that you requested.

Fraser

[digant]

Please, can someone share a link with the latest firmware for UTi260B?

[Fraser]

Digant

Write to Uni-Trend customer services and request the latest firmware for your version of the UTI-260b. Give them the information shown on your camera information page and the serial number. Using some random firmware version from the internet in your camera can easily result in bricking it. You need the correct firmware version for your hardware platform version.

Unless you have a really good reason to update your cameras firmware, it is best not to as there is a very real risk associated with updating these Uni-T cameras.

Fraser