are thermal cameras known to have bad, buggy software? cant turn off my AGM 25 - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: edubz
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2021, 12:42:53 pm
content: For some strange reason, my AGM taipan 25 wont turn off. It only goes into a stand by mode. I have tried to hold it to turn it off and make sure I choose ok, but it stays on, I can still see the camera through the phone app, even though the eye piece is off, its still on.so this means, the battery is always draining, say you fully charge it, if you go on a trip and that trip is 3 hours, I just lost 3 hours worth of battery. eventually it dies faster then it should because it cant be shut offsomeone said my thermal is a clone of the chinese hikvision owlhttps://optics-info.com/hikvision-owl-thermal-monoculars/it does look like mine and it has the same color palettes as my AGMfor some reason, I am starting to think AGM is using the OWL from hikvision and put there own software on top of hikvision and now its buggy.is this whats going on? or do I just have a bad unit?

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 10, 2021, 12:51:58 pm
content: It might be an electrical failure, not necessarily a software problem.

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2021, 01:26:22 pm
content: The word “off” on modern equipment can be a misnomer.Modern electronics commonly use soft switching and effectively go to sleep or enter a hibernation mode when not needed. How this often works……. Thermal cameras can take time to boot so the manufacturer offers a standby mode which provides a warm start capability and so a fast start of the unit when needed. This is especially important for hunting and surveillance where a start up delay could mean the user misses an opportunity. If the unit is left in standby for a certain period of time, it may drop into hibernation mode or basically a cold start mode where switching it back on requires the full boot sequence that takes longer than a warm start.Whilst in the sleep (not hibernation) mode it is not uncommon for a unit to start up again if a USB connection is made to a PC or phone. This may, or may not, also happen with a Bluetooth/Wi-Fi link. Much depends upon the design of the unit and its intended purpose. Most scopes are designed to offer a thermal image as quickly as possible after the user requests “on”.The best way to determine the behaviour of your unit is to set up a current draw test to see what current is drawn in “on”, “standby” and whether a “off” or “hibernation” mode is activated after a period of time.There is sometimes a way to force a unit into the “off” condition and this can be as simple as holding down the power button fir several seconds to tell the processor that you want “full off” rather than sleep. All such equipment with soft switching will continue to monitor the power button for activity even when off so there will be a very small current draw. This is normally so small as to be of no consequence however.

author: edubz
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2021, 02:05:33 pm
content: Quote from: Fraser on August 10, 2021, 01:26:22 pmwell its draining the battery, as I checked with the app that the wifi stays on, also the app t-vision is very buggy it wont let me connect again after it turns off. the only way to fix it is to forget the wifi and reconnect and reset the thermal to default settings. very annoyingbut the directions say press and hold 5 seconds until the AGM logo comes up, it never comes up, then a hard 2 second press wont shut it off even if I say yes shut down the unit.a quick press of the power button puts it to sleep onlystandby mode in this thermal means turning off the eye piece that you look through, as far as I can tell the thing is still onand it takes like 5 hours to charge.it will just drain and drain, and I dont think it will even last a day with it in standby mode. how good is it if your hunting trip is 3 hours away and and the drive there it has been draining in standby mode with no way to turn it off, not that I will be hunting but these things target market are pretty much hunters, ill let you know what the company saysover all for something that cost $1800 I am not happy, I will be calling the company to see why it wont turn off, I suspect its just broken. if I dont like what I hear from them its going back

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2021, 02:17:54 pm
content: Was this unit bought new ? If so, return it. The unit should comply with the instructions in terms of turn On and turn Off behaviour. If the unit is used, the fact that the logo does not appear makes me very suspicious that someone has been messing with the firmware. This unit is definitely behaving in an unusual and unacceptable way and I cannot see that the manufacturer released it in that state as there would be masses of returns. Is the seller a known reputable source or just a eBay entity selling used kit ?

author: edubz
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2021, 06:36:55 pm
content: its pretty new, the manufacturing date says 03/2021, so its not even a year old.I will return it, I charged it today at 1130 and now its 2:30 and its already lost a bar of battery. seller on ebay has a 97% postiive feed back rating, camera came new looking in box. I called the company and left a message, lets see if they call me back. its just weird it wont shut down.also there seems to be grain on the lens or something have you ever seen anything like this?https://streamable.com/ep22lq

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2021, 07:01:06 pm
content: Eeek! that is one heck of a grainy image with so much fixed pattern noise visible !A flickering or stuck pixel is not that uncommon on a microbolometer but the pixels are identified during factory calibration and hidden from the user. Dead pixel replacement algorithms are then used to camouflage the dead pixel location.Fixed pattern noise is different and dealt with using specific noise reduction algorithms that identify the fixed pattern and make efforts to remove it from the image. Some manufacturers do a better job of this than others !IMHO, $1800 for that image quality is not good value for money. Barely better than the infamous early Seek Thermal compact dongle.

author: edubz
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2021, 07:19:55 pm
content: Quote from: Fraser on August 10, 2021, 07:01:06 pmwell I just got off the phone with the company they said send it back to ebay since they have a return policy.Looks like its going to go back,to many problems. yeah I got a deal on it for $1300 but its still a $1800+ unit at the end of the day.I still think AGM is using Chinese products and putting their software ontop of it and rebranding it. I might be wrong, but it smells that way to me.I guess ill return it and keep on looking

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2021, 07:29:22 pm
content: Regarding who makes the unit. It is not unusual for an Asia based factory to make a product that sells under various brands. These factories will include custom brand specific labelling, documentation and software splash screens. There is nothing actually wrong with this practice, provided the product is decent quality and not claimed to be made in the USA etc. The retail price of the same hardware can vary greatly depending upon who’s branding is on it and this is why it is a good idea to research a brand name unit before purchase. It can sometimes be bought cheaper under a less well known brand.Nothing beats a test drive when it comes to thermal cameras but if this is not possible, ensure that you can return it without hassle.