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  • Is the quality standards falling?

    From nev young@3:770/3 to All on Sat Mar 23 12:58:58 2024
    Is it just me or is the quality of Pi devices falling?

    For some 5 or 6 years I've had 3 "beast" cameras. A Pi Zero or Zero W
    and a V2.1 NOIR Pi camera board housed in the official pink & white
    cases. 2 in hedgehog "hotels" and one in a bird box. Great stuff.

    I decided it was time to replace the bird box. It had weathered so much
    it was falling apart. So I bought 2 more new.
    I repurposed the camera to give a view of the driveway (with a separate
    IR flood light) Brilliant stuff.

    Dug out 2 Pi zero (one W one not). Installed them into the pink cases
    and ordered 2 v2.1 NOIR cameras from "an official supplier".
    One camera arrived damaged - the lens had broken off the sensor.
    The other was just not recognised as present by either Pi Zero.
    (An old spare v2.1 camera (that doesn't do IR) worked perfectly.

    Returned both cameras and got a refund.
    Meanwhile ordered 2 more camera boards from "a different official
    supplier". Installed them and both worked fine. For a while!
    One went "dead" after about 30mins.

    So 3 out of 4 NEW v2.1 NOIR cameras failed and had to be returned.

    So I ask the question is quality being skimped on?
    Are these still being manufactured?

    I have a further half dozen Pi Zeros that I intend, one day, to press
    into service. I don't need or want the new 12Mpixel auto focus bells and whistles camera that need me to also get a new Pi Zero w2 to work. Would
    be serious overkill for a fixed 10x10cm nest at a distance of 16cm from
    the camera.

    OK, that was a bit of a rant for which I apologise.

    --
    Nev
    It causes me a great deal of regret and remorse
    that so many people are unable to understand what I write.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)
  • From nev young@3:770/3 to nev young on Thu Apr 11 11:48:57 2024
    On 23/03/2024 12:58, nev young wrote:
    Is it just me or is the quality of Pi devices falling?

    An update.
    I know it's bad form to follow up on one's own post but someone may be
    reading.

    So 3 out of 4 NEW v2.1 NOIR cameras failed and had to be returned.
    It's now 4 out of 5 dead noir v2.1 cameras.

    I note that ALL the dead ones have the metal canned crystal.
    I managed to get an "old stock" NOIR V2.1 camera on ebay. It works fine
    It also has the old plastic cased crystal.
    And was only half the price.


    So I ask the question is quality being skimped on?

    I really do believe this is the case.

    --
    Nev
    It causes me a great deal of regret and remorse
    that so many people are unable to understand what I write.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)