Reviewing and Testing the Vantrue TS2 Thermal Camera

[EricSan]

I was recently invited by Wendy to review their brand new TS2 Thermal Camera attachment for iOS and Android smartphones and tablet devices. I wish to acknowledge the generosity of Wendy, @Jeff_Vantrue, and everyone at Vantrue with a great deal of appreciation and a tremendous "Thank you!" for sending their new camera to review. This is the second product in the Vantrue Power lineup that I've reviewed, the first was the T800 Compressed Air Duster.

My other Vantrue dashcam reviews can be found here: E360, E1 Pro, N4S, S1 Pro Max, N4 Pro S, N5S
Vantrue Power (non-dashcam) Product Reviews: T800 Compressed Air Duster, TS2 Thermal Camera for iOS/Android

Features：​

• High Thermal Resolution (Up to 512x384)
• Wide Temperature Range -4F to 1022F (-20°C to 550°C)
• 4.3mm Adjustable Macro Lens
• Universal Compatibility (Android, iOS, & PC Support)
• High-Precision Accuracy (±2°C or ±2%)
• 15.0x Digital Zoom Support
• 12 Color Palettes
• 25Hz refresh rate
• Low Power Consumption, only 0.35w

For those of you who are familiar with my dashcam reviews, here are my usual set of images of the new TS2 Thermal Camera. The outer packaging is sturdy and robust as I expected given my experience with previous Vantrue products.

Here is the bottom side of the box:

One side of the box contains the QR code for both the iOS and Android apps for your phone or tablet. This is a nice feature - the download links clearly won't get lost!

Some of the camera specs are contained on the other side of the outer box:

Inside the box, there are two smaller black boxes. The narrow black box on the left contains a USB-C adapter cable and the larger black box on the right contains the TS2 manual, which is quite thick and printed in several languages.

After removing the two black sub-boxes, you'll find the carry case for the TS2. It's quite surprising just how small the camera attachment is, the protective carry case easily fits into your pants pocket! The carry case sits in a form-fitting cutout of rigid form:

Unzipping the carry case reveals the TS2 thermal camera itself nestled into a form-fitting recess in a rigid foam liner. The sides of the carry case are rigid, so the camera is definitely well-protected during shipping to your home.

Overall, this is excellent packaging as I've come to expect from Vantrue products!

 

[EricSan]

The camera itself is quite small. I knew that it would be just as wide as a phone, but it is still surprising to see just how small it is once you get it out of the packaging. It's barely 60mm wide. The lens is a prominent feature on the front of the camera. You can focus the camera by grabbing and rotating the outer circumference of the lens housing. Also visible is the USB-C connector to plug into your phone or tablet. It's quite a cute little phone/tablet accessory!

The camera is about 27mm tall, not including the USB-C connector:

And here is the rear view of the camera. Due to the lens protruding out on the front, I used an SD card case to prop up the other side of the camera so I could photograph it more easily.

 

[EricSan]

The front lens on the TS2 will rotate through 720 degrees in order to focus the camera.

Here is the camera with the lens rotated fully clockwise:

...and after rotating it two full revolutions counter-clockwise, raising the lens up off of the camera body by just a few mm.

 

[EricSan]

Inside the skinny inner box, you will find a male-to-female USB-C extension cord with a USB-C to USB-A adapter plug. The cord itself measures 50cm or 20" long and neatly fits inside the mesh liner pocket in the top of the TS2 carry case.

Here is a more detailed view of the cable connector ends:

The phones and iPads that I have access to are older and accept lightning connectors. I often dislike companies that don't conform to standards because of the inter-operability problems they create. Imagine if you had to a go to a Ford brand gas station to refuel your Ford vehicle, and could only go to a BMW branded gas station for your BMW, but I digress... I'll post some images from the camera tomorrow when my adapter plugs arrive.

The second, and larger, inner packaging box contains the TS2 User Manual. It contains instructions in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Polish. Looks like I have some time to read before my cable adapters arrive.

 

[EricSan]

Well, I can confirm that the two different USB-C adapters that I ordered from Amazon do not allow my iPad to recognize the TS2 through the Lightning port. Bummer...

This one does not work to connect the TS2 to my iPad with an authentic Apple USB-C to lightning charging cord:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B0D7YXYWV2

This one also does not work when placed between the TS2 and my iPad:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B0D14NR5C3

Guess I shouldn't really be surprised - all of these are listed on Amazon as "charging adapters." I really get annoyed when companies cut corners like this. I don't know why it's so hard just to connect each of the pins on either side of the adapter plug with one another... 🙄 Sigh... (unless, of course, I've discovered another instance of "user error")

The only cable that allows the TS2 to interface with my computer is the one provided with the camera. I tried using longer cables with adapter plugs to no avail.

It looks like I need some help from @Jeff_Vantrue

 

[EricSan]

I found the link to download the PC software in the manual. You can download it here:

Vantrue Thermal download

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After a little bit of fiddling around, I was able to make a self-portrait with the camera attached to my computer:

The TS2 can also be used as a stud finder for the exterior walls in your house during the winter months. Studs are clearly visible between the grandfather clock and the fireplace:

 

[EricSan]

Work has been very busy lately, but now that the weekend has arrived, I had some more time to play around with the TS2 thermal camera. This is a fun device! I made a picture of our dog - I was amused by the hot footprints that he left on the rug as he walked around.

 

[EricSan]

For the past few decades, I've been building Class A amplifiers (very large, very heavy, very hot, high power burn, but awesome sound quality).

So here are some images of one of my DIY amps (with a toy Godzilla figure on top). Its easy to see exactly where the two output transistors are mounted on the heatsink on the side of the amp and how much the heat spreads across the heatsink.

Here is a front view of the same amplifier, using the same color scheme as the image above:

The thermal sensor in the TS2 is oriented so you get a "landscape" oriented image when the TS2 is plugged into your phone and you are holding your phone in similar landscape orientation.

 

[EricSan]

In the PC software, there is a fun setting called "Isotherm" that allows you to set upper and/or lower temperatures thresholds. This can be a useful diagnostic aid as this can filter your results to show only temps above (or below) a certain level. The "filtered out" temps are shown in grey scale and the temps of interest are shown in color.

And here is what the image looks like with the Isotherm setting enabled. See the slider bar on the right hand side of the image. The camera also shows the min and max temps that are in the image. This makes it very easy to see the hot spots.

You can also enable "All" in the Temperature menu and it shows you the hottest and coldest parts in your image. You can see this in both the image above and the image below. The hottest part on the side of the amp is 52c.

I grabbed my non-contact thermometer and was pleased to see the temp measurements were exactly the same! Both indicated 52c. Very nice!

I also made a few thermal images of my DIY 300B tube amp. The trick is remembering to focus the lens each time you move around... All of these thermal images are the actual resolution that you get from the camera (512 x 384) when using the PC software. If you use your phone, I imaging a screen capture will result in images with much higher resolution.

The inner mesh plate of that tube is pretty toasty warm at 104.8c

 

[EricSan]

Here is a set of images from one of my big Class A amplifier that shows where the transistors are mounted on the inside of the heat sink and the corresponding thermal image of how the heat spreads. For reference, the heat sink that the circuit board and two transistors are mounted to measures 20cm high by 40cm wide.

Here are some photos of the amp construction if anyone is interested:

Babelfish M25, SissySIT - general building tips and tricks

sum of rails multiplied with Iq ; SissySIT good in 4U/400

www.diyaudio.com

 

[EricSan]

I took the TS2 and my computer outside after sunset tonight. It was sunny all day with a high temp of about 60F. I made these images just before 9p, the sun had set just before 7:30p. Here are some thermal images of my neighborhood.

Here is the side of my neighbor's house. The bright area across the bottom of the house is the concrete block of the foundation. This is also the side of the house where the sun shines in the afternoon and evening. The bright spot at the bottom of the image about 3/4 of the way to the lower right corner is the trunk of a red maple tree.

And a view down the street - there is a house directly at the end of the street and a number of bushes in the front yard. On the right hand side of the image is a tall lamp post installed by the municipality that is lighting up the evergreen tree that is just behind it. Curious to see the coloration in the clouds in the sky.

Here is the view at the opposite end of the street. Funny that the clouds show different temps here as well:

Here is my son's Mustang that sat in the driveway all day. I presume the bright spots to the right and behind the car are from sunlight reflected from the car back to the asphalt. Curiously, the brightest part of the image is the trunk of the Maple tree on the left side of the image.

This is a shot of my garage that I made while standing in the driveway. The space over the garage is unfinished and the roof line just above the doors has a vented overhang, so the bright area above the doors is the warm air coming out of the space above the garage. I'm not quite sure why the ground directly in front of the garage doors is so warm other than it likely collected some direct sun as the sun went down.

And some Arborvitae trees that are in the side yard. I'm a bit surprised at how warm they are relative to the ground. Lots of tree branches (no leaves yet) from other tress behind the Arborvitaes.

It's curious how the trees are all so much warmer than the ground and surrounding air... Fun results!

 

[jsmith]

@EricSan

Very cool. I would imagine placing near a vent register or furnace would be a great test, too. Wendy will be mailing me one of these to test. Look forward to having some fun myself!