Just how accurate are the handheld temperature scanners?

[CGW]

3 minutes ago, Estrada said:

You should be dead with a temperature of minus 37 Deg C

Thanks for the information, how about if it was ~ 37°c as I wrote?   

(When you put a tilde ~ before a number, you're saying that the number is approximate.)

[legend49]

3 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Was checked for the first time yesterday at Makro, both the gf and myself measured 34.0c , we had just stepped out of an airconned car.

Wonder what someone arriving on a mc ( helmet or not ) would check at ?

plus a N95 mask, I just got home after a 20 minute ride to TOT its hot outside. My hair is damp and sweat pouring down back of my neck , bit more than 34 degrees. The key issues with any thermometer is to have a master thermometer that can be checked against boiling water and ice; then check the ones you use against the master. I doubt if any of the ones being used would have been calibrated to any level. I did find the talking scanner cute at the Health centre yesterday until the batteries went flat.

[Lacessit]

Was scanned before lunch at the Big C in Chiang Rai, 36 C. I did point out I'd just got off my scooter and shed my hot helmet. As long as I pass and don't get hauled off to quarantine, not too worried about accuracy.

[Estrada]

• Measures body temperature from 89.6 to 108.5°F (32.0 to 42.5°C) without contact
• Accurate to 0.5°F (0.3°C) with 0.1°F/°C resolution, Fast response (0.5 seconds)
• Optimum measurement distance of 1.9" to 5.9" (5 to 15cm)

[CanuckThai]

Even a decent Ir Thermometer (decent as in 0.001 accuracy) with a range of -50 to 1370 degC or -58 to 2498 DegF will have a 1.5 degC or 2.5 DegF margin of error.  Methinks the 20baht store versions being used, may not inspire confidence, if screening a plane load of Whohan escapees, as "cleared".

 

[rwill]

I'm thinking if you just got out of your car with cold air from the air conditioner blowing on your face it might lower the temperature of your skin for a little while.  Just a guess.  Local Makro showed me at 34.6.

[Speedo1968]

One of my checks whilst visiting Bangkok recently showed 35C, no mention of hypothermia.

[mauGR1]

Farang think too much, no temperature, no virus, mai pen rai, everybody happy.

..Just come in and spend the money

[VocalNeal]

5 hours ago, Crossy said:

The nice ladies who operate the scanner like to tell me my temperature and this morning it was 32C

The polite man at Fortune Town where my son voluntarily tested himself said 31C. 

[Kwasaki]

I went for my 3 month check up at gov hospital they were checking  temperature of everyone with those things , didn't see and they didn't say what my temperature was.

Hundreds of people there.

 

[Bangkok Barry]

It's the IMAGE that counts, not accuracy. They are seen to be taking precautions and that makes them feel good, no matter how useless and pointless their action is. It's the Thai way.. As my wife would say, stop being fussy.

[theonetrueaussie]

5 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Was checked for the first time yesterday at Makro, both the gf and myself measured 34.0c , we had just stepped out of an airconned car.

Wonder what someone arriving on a mc ( helmet or not ) would check at ?

rode my motorbike at midday to makro about 20 mins with a jumper on to not get sunburnt....first time he did it 37.5....he wouldn't let me go in...tested another spot on my head and 36.5 he said ok you can go in now.......I normally used to goto makro after the gym and sauna but doubt they will let me in now lol....such a joke...

Edited March 12, 2020 by theonetrueaussie

[Chazar]

5 hours ago, Crossy said:

Thoughts anyone?

yeah, its  all a total waste  of  time

[Chazar]

6 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

no matter how useless and pointless their action is.

spot  on

[NanLaew]

5 hours ago, AllThaiedUp said:

Sounds like they're about as accurate as CNN in their political reporting....

__________________________

Never mind, The honest folks over on Fox seem to agree that DJT didn't sound in the least bit, sluggish, hesitant or all teleprompterish when he issued his flight ban last night.

 

5 hours ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

i once was stupid enough to invest in a company that manufactured

those scanners. it tried to brand itself as the only accurate company, with 

lisences from different health ministers. 

it went bankrupt after two years.

the founders ran away with most of the money.

so i guess that's how good are those scanners.

It appears that you mistakenly invested in scammers and not scanners.

 

Have you had your eyes tested lately?

 

Maybe English isn't your first language?

[NanLaew]

2 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

It's the IMAGE that counts, not accuracy. They are seen to be taking precautions and that makes them feel good, no matter how useless and pointless their action is. It's the Thai way.. As my wife would say, stop being fussy.

I agree with your wife 101%.

[josephbloggs]

8 hours ago, bbi1 said:

request time off or quit the job and stay home. You can't work or earn money if you're dead from Covid19. Short term pain for long term gain.

You also can't work and earn money if you quit your job and stay home.  Especially when as this panic blows over you are left without a job, a visa, a work permit.

Neither can you earn money if the sky has fallen on you, as seems to be the case in your instance.

[NanLaew]

52 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

Especially when as this panic blows over you are left without a job, a visa, a work permit.

Good point but I reckon that when this does blow over, the same job opportunities for foreigners that exist now in Thailand may no longer exist.

[josephbloggs]

8 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Good point but I reckon that when this does blow over, the same job opportunities for foreigners that exist now in Thailand may no longer exist.

Yeah maybe, maybe not.  They'll need us in the highly skilled positions so I don't see an issue there, but if the economy is tanking there will be no need for those positions.

We are trying to employ a French guy at the moment and the BOI are stalling.  It has always been super easy but they are definitely stalling - never seen this before.  And they say even once they approve the position, after he goes to get a Non B (wherever) the BOI will not entertain an appointment for at least 14 days from his return.    From initial application for a position to a BOI meeting and issuance of non B extension and work permit was usually around three weeks, maybe four.  Now it is more like eight, maybe more.  They are nervous.

Edited March 12, 2020 by josephbloggs

[Metropolitian]

3 hours ago, NanLaew said:

5 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

It's the IMAGE that counts, not accuracy. They are seen to be taking precautions and that makes them feel good, no matter how useless and pointless their action is. It's the Thai way.. As my wife would say, stop being fussy.

I agree with your wife 101%.

 

'Thai way' is official after a photo of the scene is taken

Optional with some pop ups and finger pointing ????

[emptypockets]

Unless the IR gun has a setting to adjust for the thermal emissivity of the target (most do not, usually the higher end models from Fluke etc do, and you pay the price for quality) the reading will not be accurate. Many reputable manufacturers recommend applying black tape/matt black paint to the target to get an accurate reading.

Edited March 12, 2020 by emptypockets

[liddelljohn]

Those hand scanners are designed for engineers not medics  they work will on very hot engines or bearings but on human body they are  not very accurate ,, I have one and its great on mechanical stuff that gets hot 100c or mor on human its  not good as it show only external temps 

[Maestro]

13 hours ago, Crossy said:

...I wonder what they are actually measuring, the girls are facing the (Open) doors when they scan, are they just measuring the outside ambient?...

 

Yes, it looks very much like they measured the ambient air and after that never pressed and held the appropriate button when using the thermometer on persons. They need instructions on how to operate this device correctly.

[scoutman360]

Most ALL temperature sensors available to the public are of no use to you. Cooking thermometers, aircon unit room thermostats, IR thermometers are usually off by +/- 2 deg C. This is an industry that I have worked in for 30 years and I can tell you that anything accurate within 2.0% is going to cost thousands, if not tens of thousands of USD. 

 

Trying to get linear accuracy over a large temperature range is no simple task. It requires complex calibration algorithms that must be calculated for each individual device. That is not going to happen for a 1000 bht unit from Lazada. 

[elgenon]

My question is how close to you are the people doing the scanning? If they are within 6 feet, are they being tested every day so they are not passing the virus on.

[Crossy]

Well today I'm definitely dead. Two of the guns (of the same brand) said "Err", the third read 31.9C.

 

The operators are wearing decent masks and gloves and are holding the devices about 1" from the forehead. 

 

I'm not worried about catching anything off them and if I feel unwell I'm staying at home.

 

Like many of these measures (including the metal detectors on the MRT) these things really are just "feel good" devices, no real effect.

 

[scubascuba3]

Wouldn't using 2 scanners solve the problem, spend that extra 200 baht. At least get them to test them all for consistency

Edited March 12, 2020 by scubascuba3

[Metropolitian]

2 hours ago, Crossy said:

Well today I'm definitely dead. Two of the guns (of the same brand) said "Err", the third read 31.9C.

 

The operators are wearing decent masks and gloves and are holding the devices about 1" 

Ask them to measure the temperature your handpalm. (More precize betweem wrist and palm. )

 

The skin is thinner and more sensitive to temperatures. 

Hence checking milk for babys you drop there and knows immediately if it is too hot or not.

 

Bloodveins, thus body temp, runa closer to the surface there.

[bbi1]

13 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

You also can't work and earn money if you quit your job and stay home.  Especially when as this panic blows over you are left without a job, a visa, a work permit.

Neither can you earn money if the sky has fallen on you, as seems to be the case in your instance.

I think this was site was started from someone in the US (not sure) but it's something that people should follow. If everyone just did it the virus would've been contained and the world would've been back to normal by now: https://staythe<deleted>home.com

 

Edit: the automatic deleted part is spelled "<expletive deleted>" for people who want to read the site.

Edited March 13, 2020 by Crossy
Removed disguised profanity - it's the "f" word if you want to visit the site

[Max Brok]

On 3/12/2020 at 6:01 AM, tomazbodner said:

They are iR cameras which then convert the the "brightness" into temperature reading. There are some that are very accurate, and some that are far less accurate. It also depends on which part of the head they are calibrated for, and deviating from that spot can give dramatically wrong readings. Another thing which could get you 32C is that the person measuring temperature might have moved the thermometer away from your head before reading was complete, pointing at the wall or space behind you.

Even industrial 3 point IR temperature instruments need a calibration in the range of the temp. to measure. Then they are very accurate. The one point IR instruments have to measure a skin. These cheap instruments are very sensitive for color and roughness of a surface.

Conclusion: As you stated all instruments are sensitive for calibration and the skill of the operator. A good alternative is a IR camera although a calibration is still necessary but easy.

 

But I can not understand there is no knowledge about this at the checkpoints and the medical specialists keep their mouth shut because they know this.