Thermal Camera teardown/repair - Insight Starsight

[@evghenim1955]

"Speaker doesn't fit? Grind it till it does!" made me instasub.

[@mikeselectricstuff]

noise near lens is due to vidicons having high output impedance on the target's video output- they usually put an amp right near the target to maintain bandwidth

[@JAKOB1977]

That teardown and walkthrue was pretty darn good.. great work.

[@robwenful]

Not sure if answered yet, but the pole button starts a poling cycle, which sensitizes the thin-film pyrioelectric film depositon on the PEV tube. It lines up the polarization if the crystals in the film. Some cameras run a poling cycle autmatically as needed. You can force a manual poling cycle with your button when the camera sensitivity fades...

[@AlanMedina314]

I am happy to see that I am not the only one who loves to buy old electronics to repair.

[@thomass8362]

Is that how you learned to repair electronics; by taking apart and experimenting? Are you by chance self taught? My 12-year old Son is very much interested in electronics and I'm thinking of buying some old components for him to experiment and tinker with. Do you think that's a good way to go? What would be the best type of stuff for him to start with? He already has good knowledge of electricity.Thank you.

[@AlanMedina314]

Thomas S If I may interrupt and in no way advertising fot anyone. I think that simple electronics models to begin with are a great approach into basic electronics for anybody at any age. I think that a basic electronic model as this: Green Solar Toy Educational Model Kit DIY Car Children Hobby Robotic 8*7.5*3.2cm I bought it on ebay,. I simply suggest this particular model because it was easy to build and it provided a simple proof of concept of an electric car. The complexity can always increase you could very easily build rocket and scale up in complexity furthered by building a quad-copter from off shelf components. The idea would be to provide a tangible linnk to scientific concepts and ideas from the natural world. Taking things apart out pure curiosety was always my hobbie of interest as a kid and adult.

[@fire-tics787]

Good to see you have fun with a 'real' thermal camera. The banding noise is 'microphony' from the piezoelectric effect in the tube target material, so you fixed it with the lubrication not the capacitor. On a really bad tube you can shout or sing at it.

[@mikeselectricstuff]

Shields around tube will be mu-metal to magnetically shield - external fields will deflect or defocus the electron beam.

[@mikeselectricstuff]

Vidicons don't need a pixel by pixel dark reference as the target is a uniform coating DIPs with DT may be delay lines or filters - common in old analogue pro video gear

[@whitcwa]

Although I never worked on an IR camera, I have worked on cameras for a major US TV network for 30 years. Old color cameras had even more pots because there were three tubes which had to be registered together. Even high-end cameras often had bodgy components tacked here and there, but there is a right way to do it.

[@mikeselectricstuff]

Pyroelectric sensors are also piezoelectric so that may account for tapping causing image artefacts

[@CUeltzen]

Nice tear down. Thanks for the entertainment. I'm a comm tech, and sometimes I see what I'd call "built in someone's garage" techniques such as what you ran into there... drilled out x-istors, grinding the edge of a speaker to cram it in, chopped off connectors, etc. It almost seems that the more money you spend on something, the crappier it can be. We have a system we spend $16k on for doing RF surveys, and it's a lot like that, whereas something you got at Best Buy for $89.95 is made better.

[@p4ide03]

Disassembled can also repair service, very good solution interpreter, I learned. Thank you!

[@PhattyMo]

Hour meter! I had a few of those when I was a kid,got them in a box of electronics junk a friend gave me. Never did know what they were,until NOW. Learned something new today. :D

[@SeanBZA]

DT devices are analogue delay lines, normally 1 line of video delay. They are actually ultrasonic delay lines, used to generate part of the pal timing, as well as used for NTSC generation to make colour.

[@mattmania1]

i have no idea what you're talking about in these videos, but i love watching them. i wish i knew more about what you're doing. i subscribed. hope there are more videos in the future.

[@compactc9]

I also loved how all the high end components and parts were all put together so sloppily. It's definitely not sorting you see very often.

[@TickyTack23]

Your videos never fail to keep my interest. Very nice teardown!

[@MadComputerScientist]

So cool! Thermal cameras are so expensive, and such an expansive expertise is required to do something like this that I never would've expected anyone to even attempt it! Awesome, and thanks for the cool video! /)

[@DoRC]

I count no fewer than 70 trimmers....thats insane

[@b1aflatoxin]

Supercool vid! Amazing how the 90's has become the golden-age of electronics. In the 1990's we thought the golden-age was the 70's! :o)

[@Geoffr524]

Awesome tear down, camera, and test equipment, and cool shirt too. Amazing how expensive electronics got, when made for the government, like when I was in Radio maintenance in the 80's, the HP Signal Generators were about $24,000, and none of the test equipment were cheap, they even had Nixie tube readouts.

[@whitcwa]

Those mercury timers usually had a life of a couple of thousand hours. We had a Panasonic professional VTR which used them. The manual explained that as part of the preventative maintenance we were supposed to take them out and reverse them when they reached the end. Sony VTRs of the same era had a digital timer for Total Hours, Drum Running Hours, Tape Running Hours and for Threading cycles. Unfortunately, it ran off a battery which lasted only 2 years.

[@tesla500]

A Sony DCR-TRV25 NTSC DV camera, directly to the computer via Firewire. This is the camera I shot my videos on before I got my current Panasonic TM700 camera.

[@tesla500]

Both a special infrared sensitive tube and a lens that passes the required wavelength are needed.

[@SeanBZA]

Hour meter is normally 80k hours. There will be a 1M plus resistor in series with it, and it can be turned around when it is at the end of the travel so it will be able to go back. You can see that this has already been turned around, as the leads have been cut and resoldered.

[@rodjownsu]

Great video thanks for posting! It is very calming to watch your videos as your mannerisms are collected and possibly even soothing :) keep up the good videos...

[@Pillowcase]

this is a good one. It looked so cool on the outside!

[@jimmimak]

Really interesting video. It would be a nice project to recreate all the electronics using modern microprocessors hooked up to the tube, to make a really compact lower-power thermal camera.

[@mikeselectricstuff]

That CRT looks a lot like the one used in the Sinclair SC110 mini 'scope

[@tesla500]

Bodge city certainly! I got the lamp at Ikea, $10. It's just the perfect lamp for stuff like this.

[@mikeselectricstuff]

BAL device may be a delay line - maker name sounds vaguely familiar.

[@tesla500]

That LCR meeter is a Smart Tweezers, made by Advance Devices.

[@tesla500]

It actually draws over 1A with the LCD on. Not quite within the power supply's ratings!

[@mikeselectricstuff]

Edge cons look wet - has some naughty person used oily switchcleaner on them?

[@whitcwa]

Great video! Apparently, this type of tube could only pick up short term changes in temperature, hence the shutter. Without it, you would have to pan/tilt to see the image.

[@michaelchownyk5255]

i have a fluke Ti 25 and it is great. i think i might take it apart and see the guts after seeing that old beast

[@blogsterification]

good teardown.looks like it could have been the original prototype .all them pots.

[@arcadeuk]

Very interesting teardown! Thumbs up and subscribed!

[@Loopyengineeringco]

Damn, I did bodges like that when I first learnt to solder. And this is a $20k piece of kit! Jeez

[@berni8k]

That was sure an amusing teardown, the incredible bodgynes in this thing kept making me laugh, works quite well after so many years tho.

[@11guyinthechair]

this was an awesome video cant wait for next one!!!

[@jerremm]

Nice teardown!

[@zashbot]

wow I didn't even notice your shirt the first time I watched this, its been sitting in my watch later for months

[@PhattyMo]

I was going to suggest delay lines too.

[@tesla500]

Interesting, in that case it may have been lubricating the bearing that fixed the noise rather than replacing the cap.

[@WaltonPete]

The build 'quality' of this device is astonishingly bad. I'm embarrassed to be British! I will never again criticise the poor quality of goods from China. I'm amazed this thing did anything other than explode, less actually produce an image! It just goes to show that crap quality products can come from anywhere, not just the far east. Interesting teardown and repair video. Thanks!

[@pa4tim]

Must be a sister company from Lucas, the king of darkness and inventors of the selfdimming headlights. The only product they made that did not suck was a vacuum cleaner

[@en2oh]

old thread.... just a heads up. ITAR regulations on exportation from the USA does not affect exports into Canada! :) Great job

[@lucasimark7992]

Would It be possible to build a high speed thermal camera?

[@hla27b]

Despite all the lens seems very serviceable.

[@slamdvw]

Is it the video tube that's sensitive to infrared energy, or the lens that passes only infrared... or both? Neat video either way, thanks for sharing.

[@First2ner]

man this is great stuff you have right there, I like the video, thanks!

[@TheDragothica]

What kind of meter is that 33:28 ?? I have seen a lot of capacitance meters, but not one with ohm's reading on it. I would like to get one for myself.

[@randacnam7321]

This may be an early production run of these units, hence the tweakery/bodgery. Also, some of this low production volume technical stuff can be a bit crufty inside as there isn't the incentive to economize on construction.

[@FrankenPC]

Hunh. I never knew how those mercury fuse timers worked before. Thanks for the factoid.

[@d0ugk]

What is the OSD generator chip in the keyboard for this? I've been on the hunt for a through hole DIP OSD chip for breadboard experimenting. All I've come across are more "modern" SMD parts

[@Fake0Name]

It all boils down to production volumes. For a specialty device, which is made in small volumes, it's not cost-effective to put together tooling for making custom injection-molded parts, ordering specially made connectors, etc. The setup costs and NREs are just too high. For large volume products, the NREs are much smaller in proportion to the other costs, so product-specific tooling is generally not an issue.

[@Jack8750234]

i am probably the second most knowledgeable person in the world on that camera if you want more information

[@tesla500]

Hey Tom, cool, if you have any info, specs, or especially stories about the development of the camera or history of the company, that would be extremely interesting to hear!

[@lanchanoinguyen2914]

Tom Hurley do you have any analog mechanic bit scan design to use with one sensor?

[@valamilamasag]

Now you can spot 20% cooler areas.

[@Nermash]

Designed and made by Bodge Galore:))) BTW, can you tell me where did you get that flexible neck lamp?

[@thewii552]

What did you use to record the video output?

[@izimsi]

I just subscribed because of that Rainbow Dash T-shirt ;) …and nice teardown too.

[@Temproductsincorporated]

incredible

[@frac]

Really great video. Tip of the hat to the effort you put in. I get the impression that _all_ of those dodgy connectors were added by a rather ham-fisted repair person. I bet it started out hard-wired. The high-quality of the wire harnesses would be a bit of a non-sequitur otherwise. Same goes with the monitor - bet that's a bodged repair also. I also think that shutter may have been scratch made after the original broke. It looks a bit to "hand made" to me.

[@BlowDevilUp]

Excellent vid

[@Sainology]

14.10 What noise ?

[@devilmastah]

how do you guys always find this stuff, i have been looking for a camera like this since 6 years

[@mccunecp]

very intersting in deed.

[@ToxicwasteProductions]

you know what would be cool to add an interface for wifi like my webcam has that is stand alone and use it for surveillance.

[@thewii552]

AHHH Awesome video...but...how the heck did you find this? I'm canadian and spent like an hour looking for a thermal camera...but didn't find anything...hehe. You'll probably get better use out of it anyways. Nice video, as always.

[@poppyopi]

I was stunned when you said £35,000 brand new. Taking inflation into account, back then that was enough to buy a house. Hidden under that professional looking case is what looks like a school kid's class project. For that price, I'm questioning whether you've uncovered a 20 year old scam...

[@MrGerbilBrain]

Cute mini toroidial transformer there! :D

[@dtiydr]

That camera had to be inherently expensive back then, probably close to a small country BNP..

[@FrankenPC]

If you want to have a laugh with the camera, use it as a stud finder. Installing pictures, shelving, earthquake straps, etc. The camera sees either the stud behind the drywall or the nails as they have a different temperature and the drywall is thin enough to see it. It's pretty funny to just walk up to a wall and mark it with a pencil. DONE. 30 seconds and you are ready to start drilling/nailing.

[@laurdy]

that was an lcd screen from a sony video 8 walkman

[@jessicalancaster2714]

Very interesting

[@movax20h]

wow. I was expecting some super duper quality inside and high tech specialized ICs. Nope. Looks more like a one off research / DYI thing, or a prototype, not something you would charge $20k, or sell in big quantities, without improving a design just a little bit. Seriously, some of this DB connectors, looks like scraped from something else, like old video cameras, mouses, or PC motherboards. PSU is atrocious. The LCD screen, taken from some Sony screen and force fitted, is just wow.

[@ciprianpopa1503]

Come on. You didn't see too much custom stuff did you? It seems exactly the way a small batch of units would look. I've seen far worst than this way uglier and fare more expensive.

[@HeliEye]

Good video, a labour of love, but, not for the faint hearted ;-) Amazed at some of the worse than desparate bodges?? I can imagine Insight praying to the LSI gods ;-) Steve

[@thinkaboutitagain]

8-14um, 140x140

[@christopherleubner6633]

This had to be extremely costly when it was new. 😲

[@xa-xii4865]

Today, thermal cams are tiny, in phones, drones, etc...

[@pyroslavx7922]

Why you comlain about grinded Sony lcd - it is the only thing in there noone should complain about? I love that quick-and-dirty enginering tactics - if it doesnt fit, use a bigger hammer, i mean drill it(the drilled transistor) or GRIND IT till it does :-)

[@TheStevenWhiting]

Zx81 keyboard :-)

[@brianchris4]

Great shirt :)

[@RonLaws]

I get the feeling this was probably made in a shed...

[@_BangDroid_]

Yeah, like most things from UK lol

[@DanFrederiksen]

interesting but somewhat old tech. try pointing it to the sky on clear days/nights and see if planes, satellites and maybe ET vehicles show up with thermal.

[@AintBigAintClever]

Nice toy :)

[@sanches2]

what a mess:) probably this was a feasibility/functional model leaked out of the facility:) the way everything was stuffed into the enclosure.

[@sjenglund]

Hi!! Do you still have this camera?? I sent you an email!

[@tesla500]

Yes, I do still have it. Replied!

[@dtiydr]

200 buck? And that with a big slab of germanium lens that is about the size of my screen..

[@PhilippoChannel]

so can you make it into something that can see through walls or womens clothing?

[@thcoura]

40:18 hahahaha congratulations UK.

[@etype333]

is fast play in

[@offramp100]

In hell the electricians are English

[@anessenator]

Awesome shirt! I subbed already but that's fuckin awesome.

[@sophiecutler9741]

So are you like an electrical engineer or do you just read a lot and pull many things apart?? :P

[@ScottieNiven]

29:00 Reddit /Mylittlepony ? Really xD Great teardown, love seeing this old tech.

[@udokampfinger6374]

Absolutely no pride at all was given in the building of that camera , and Americans wonder what happened.

[@mwdub02]

Wow the quality of this device is next to garbage for it to have such a price. Even the Chinese would laugh at this lol

[@tesla500]

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[@tesla500]

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