New to Thermal Imaging, few questions. - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Skreelink
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: May 09, 2017, 10:30:56 pm
content: Been sifting and scurrying about the EEVblog thermal imaging area for a bit and decided you people wouldn't bite too hard and signed up... Hope it wasn't a mistake...As the topic suggests, I'm new to thermal imaging. I've wanted to get into it for a long time, but money was naturally a constraint for beginners. As such, it's going to be mostly hobby/fun and only a few real-world uses, such as mechanic work, occasional electrical work (I hate soldering and I'm bad at it.), and some handyman things around the place. I decided for my use, and price-wise, that a standard Seek Thermal Compact (begin the hating~) would likely be my best bet, and got a deal of about $100 off for a brand new one. So I jumped for it after studying up and seeing some of the work you guys have put into it.Now enough about my useless rambles and uses and onto the questions, I'm sure you're all eager to read them... ;pI guess the first off would be, has anyone successfully gotten an SDK out of Seek? I know it's been listed "coming soon" since 2015 and there's a beta signup, but has anyone actually gotten anything useful? As I recall, most everything 3rd party has been reverse engineered and made better (how sad Seek.). An alternate android app would be lovely, as the current one is a bit lack-luster in a few areas... Such as using features for "Pro only" like radiometric data, and for the love of god, Level and Span... Why is that not available to standard compact? I hate trying to measure something in a very close range and ONE dot of high temps makes everything become one colour. i.e.: trying to see variations in a wall/ceiling and a light fixture's residual heat ramps up the auto ranging way too high to see anything. Plus even moving in close with low temp variations causes massive grain.Which brings me to a second question. I see that Thermovision by Joe-C (Advanced thank you to Joe-C and all other contributors, can't wait to mess with it), includes the "Pro only" features (or standard in everything else) and in general, a lot better quality and options. I plan to use a GPD Win, a palmtop running Windows 10 Home, what would be the proper way to set it up for a Seek? I saw mention of drivers, but haven't delved too deep into it, as I have yet to receive my OTG conversion adapter to connect it yet. Further questions might come as I actually delve into using it.Since, for now, I'm stuck with just the android app... Anyone have any tips/hints on getting the best images on the go? I understand the thermal modes for the most part, but anyone have a general idea of which one is best for specific jobs? (i.e. Finding water leak, potential high resistance electrical connection, heat variations in walls, etc) "Full frames" should give the most accurate image, but the auto-ranging messes it up a lot unless there's wide differences in temps, and naturally doesn't have the point/high/low temp indicators, just the range meter.To wrap up, maybe a quick guide on what the best use of each colour palettes are... I know changing palettes can increase the quality of the image depending on what you're working with, but for things like circuits, minor temp differences, etc would be awesome. Trying to get into it and wanting the best experience, although it will take a lot of fiddling to get some real results (and learning to interpret them!) Sorry for rambling on a bit and asking so much, just a bit excited to finally be able to get into it. Who knows, maybe in the future I'll be able to actually upgrade to a "real" setup and do way more than just fiddle around. For now, this is just the start.Some version info for no apparent reason.Camera Hardware:HW: v7 TH: v2 TLID: -1Camera Software:1.3.0.0Software Version:2.1.1.3Image Processing Software:2.3.5.1Camera Type:Compact