2 Questions about Seek Thermal Compact Pro - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: jumpy9734
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 19, 2019, 04:31:08 pm
content: Hello everyone, i'm thinking of getting a Seek Compact Pro Android version, and i was wondering:1.Are there two versions of compact pro? a simple one and a FF (fast frame) one? i didn't find any relevant info on seek official websiteEDIT:Found an answer for the 1st question while searching:"The FastFrame is easy to identify by the "X" on the end of the model number. The CompactPro and CompactPro FF are indeed completely identical devices with different firmware(wink-wink), one is hard locked to 9Hz, the other has a sort of "free run" mode, where it outputs as many frames as the host can process. Usually around 20-30, though I've seen some go as high as 47, which makes me think it's read out at 60, or at least 50.The very first CompactPros had no distinction between 9Hz and FastFrame, they just ran in the "free run" mode by default, but were much less optimized."2.As an iOS/Android user, is it possible to use a micro-usb-lightning adapter on an iphone device? I want to mention that i have a jailbroken iphone 7 (which offers root access to the device), so maybe there could be a way to bypass the "apple detecting an OTG medium" thing.

author: Ultrapurple
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2019, 07:15:49 pm
content: Looks like no-one else is going to reply. So...I am no expert on Seek but I would be very surprised if they made iteasyto change the firmware and upgrade a 9Hz camera to 30Hz (+). The various international regulations mean it's a very bad idea for a manufacturer to facilitate this. (Though Opgal denies it, Therm-App camerascanbe upgraded from 9Hz to 25Hz but it is a real faff. The process requires you to remove a tiny surface mount chip from the board, re-program it with new firmware, then re-fit it back wherw you found it. Then you must calculate new calibration and non-uniformity tables, otherwise you just get 25Hz of junk. That's done using calibration across a range of temperatures but Opgal don't make the necessary software available.I suspect it has been made even harder to do similar updates on newer cameras.I think it is extremely unlikely that you'll get a USB device like this running under IOS. Even if you can emulate the necessary interface, the software environment is very different. I suggest you would be better advised to buy a cheap Android phone rather than try to adapt the camera to Apple's walled garden.

author: jumpy9734
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 10, 2019, 03:18:53 pm
content: Thanks for the reply, i'll consider the android version, less limitations and more phones to choose from

author: Ismsanmar
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 10, 2019, 03:29:57 pm
content: I don't know if the jailbreak could allow you to do that, but by default Android version lacks the propietary Apple's DRM chip that triggers OTG connection, so you cannot use it by only attaching the dongle. On the other hand, you can use Lightning version with Android or PC without any problem, using a dongle or oppening it and soldering a USB cable to the board.

author: jumpy9734
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 10, 2019, 06:17:52 pm
content: Apple is usually quite picky and complicated to meddle with, it took some elaborated work to obtain root/ssh on an iphone X, and there's still work to do, not to mention downgrading iOS is a complete nightmare to achieve, i suppose i'll take a look on what offers are available in my area, Flir One tempted me with that MSX at first, but the technical achievement isn't close to seek thermal (higher resolution for a better price).

author: say
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2019, 04:41:38 pm
content: Quote from: jumpy9734 on March 19, 2019, 04:31:08 pmForgive my ignorance, why are limitations there on frame rate?

author: IwuzBornanerd
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 22, 2019, 10:26:18 pm
content: Quote from: blueskull on July 21, 2019, 06:56:23 pmI don't doubt that this is possible in spite of the fact that selling an export restricted item to such diplomat even within US borders would be a violation of export regulations, since there are likely sellers of the items who are not aware of the regulations. The limiting factor might be the number of such diplomats in the US, due to the absence of diplomatic relations, but there are some at the UN...But to answer @say's question quite simply, faster frame rate makes the camera more useful for military applications so governments don't want them as easily available.

author: say
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 24, 2019, 09:34:46 pm
content: Quote from: IwuzBornanerd on July 22, 2019, 10:26:18 pmThat makes sense. Thank you