Thermal Expert Q1, Xtherm T3s, Thermapp Basic - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: panzer04
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2019, 06:33:44 am
content: HelloI've been looking at getting a thermal camera (mostly as a something to play around with), and from what I can tell these USB cameras seem to be very interesting. They all have relatively high resolutions (comparatively speaking) for a good price. I'm not especially interested in accurate measurements, just a good picture and relative temperature definition.My question is, out of those listed in the title, what would you recommend? I've heard good things about the Q1 and thermapp, but there is little information around for the Xtherm. It's also fairly annoying finding pricing, and the best reference iv'e found is this 10 month old posthere. Given that the xtherm was fairly new at that point, has anyone had much experience with it now?I'm looking for value for money, and would prefer to spend less if I could. Most of the pictures I've seen put the image quality between these three cameras at pretty similar levels, but I'd like to know the thoughts of people who've actually used them. Currently I'm leaning towards the Q1 or Xtherm, depending on what prices I get back from their manufactures (is it that hard to use a proper store?)Edit: For those who bought a Q1 or Xtherm, How did you get one? Just emailing the manufactures through their websites? And how long did the process take?Thanks for your advice!

author: PlainName
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2019, 09:16:55 am
content: The Xtherm T3s is max 120C and +/-3C or 5%. Depending on what you want to do, those specs might be acceptable but there are not in the fabulous class. You won't be detecting when solder is about to flow.

author: TooQik
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2019, 09:32:36 am
content: I'm in the same boat as you. I started looking at camera options and contacting a number of suppliers to try and gauge prices about a week ago.Regarding the Xtherm products, I sent an email to them last week but am yet to hear back. I did find their T3S and T3Pro products listed on ebay Australia though, with prices of $1299 and $1999 AUD respectively.I've also contacted i3systems and were given the following pricing (all USD):TE-Q1 - $499TE-Q1 Plus - $599TE-Q1 Pro - $699They only took a day to reply to my email.I've also contacted Guide IR to try and get some information about their up coming MobIR Pro product. They have come back to me with an alternative product called the MobIR Air but I'm yet to obtain any data sheets or pricing on either of these products.

author: panzer04
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2019, 10:23:37 am
content: Thanks for the information, I'll have to see how it goes for me. If Xtherm doesn't reply it looks like i'll end up grabbing a Q1+. I can't actually find Xtherm's products on ebay, but $1300 AUD is a big markup on a direct Q1+, even accounting for postage and GST.Now that it comes to mind, how does one get a 25Hz Q1? My understanding is that you need to talk to i3 about it and sign some forms, but it's not something I've heard much about, and I imagine it would make a big difference to the usability.Cheers for the advice.

author: TooQik
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2019, 10:56:28 am
content: Here's the link for the Xtherm products on ebay:https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Thermal-Imaging-Camera-infrared-imager-Night-vision-384-288-20-120-SDK-Develop/143014441382?hash=item214c5331a6:m:maner1JivS5aVPu4LcucHNw:rk:8:pf:0I stumbled upon it by accident as they don't have the listing as Xtherm.I asked i3system about a 25Hz TE-Q1 also, they told me they only do the Q1 range in 9Hz and if I wanted a full frame rate camera I'd have to order the TE-V1 which is their 640x480 camera; the price was $2990 USD for the 30Hz version.

author: mahony
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2019, 08:27:16 pm
content: If you can live with a resolution of 240x180 pixels i3 has got the M1 with 9Hz AND 30Hz. Although they do not say anything about it on their website there is a European distributer that sells them for roughly 20% less than the standard Q1.

author: panzer04
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2019, 01:03:12 am
content: I think I’d probably prefer a camera with twice the resolution, even if it has a lower frame rate. Thanks for the suggestion, though.I ended up grabbing a Q1+ from TE, so I’ll see how that goes when I receive it. Probably going to cost a little more than $1k and after import taxes (bloody GST change....)

author: panzer04
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 05, 2019, 09:05:07 am
content: So I received my Q1+, and i'm pretty pleased with it's performance. The focus is a bit finicky, (with some practice I expect I'll get better with it) but otherwise it works well. I think I will probably grab a wider FoV lens in the future, since although the images from the 13mm lens are very nice, it's FoV is a bit cramped. I'll also be finding a USB OTG cable so I can detach the camera from the phone - I didn't end up grabbing any of the accessories. Can anyone here speak to whether the cradle and such might be useful? It's also even smaller than I expected, despite seeing pictures of it :p.Anyway, i'm using it in a samsung S7 edge, and I haven't had any issues with the app. I haven't been able to try it on PC as of yet, since I don't have a female micro-USB adapter :/. It seems fairly strenuous on the phone, which get's noticeably hot after just 10-20s in the app. Still, it seems easy enough to get a couple of hours out of it before it runs the battery down.I ended up paying $664 USD all up, with no duties or GST payed, presumably because it came out to ~$950 AUD, below the threshold for duties, and GST is meant to be collected on the seller's end, not at the border.Here's a few pictures from my messing around. I much prefer white hot so far, since it seems to have much more discernible detail compared to the other settings. Once you get a frame in focus, you can get a ton of detail out of the camera. The framerate also hasn't been especially annoying - as they say, just having something is much better than making that something better, it seems. Maybe someday i'll get a V1 or Thermapp pro, but the Q1 seems fine for now, especially or 1/5th the price.

author: frenky
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 05, 2019, 09:13:58 am
content: To get good focus always use grayscale pallete becase our eyes can see sharpness of objects better.And after you change focus wait a second to see the result because there is quite some lag...And perhaps take a few photos while rotating lens just a bit event you don't see difference on phone.After you upload it to PC you can then pick the sharpest one...

author: panzer04
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 05, 2019, 12:19:07 pm
content: Yeah, I agree on the greyscale, much better than the others. I find it isn't too laggy, (1/2 a second or so). I also just read the manual and noticed the calibration button, which fixes (covers, I suppose) the dead pixels and removes most of the noise. Looks even better with that change. I'll have to find something interesting to get a better shot of, the back yard isn't the greatest subject :p.