rogerguzzi Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 Hello All I know some of you use these sorts of things and not knowing much about them is something like this any good? Or is the usual if it looks to cheap it is probably is rubbish? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221443803963?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&var=520315572694&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Not that I have a use for one but you know boys and toys(may save going to the doctors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RobH Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 It probably will work OK but the drawback of this will be the flexibility of the cable. How do you steer it to where you want to view, if the target is not just a narrow pipe ? There are other similar devices with formable semi-rigid cables which will allow you to steer the lens head more easily, though they are much shorter. However, at that price I guess it really does not matter. - you could afford to have both types ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 Quality boroscopes cost many £0000's so at £10 this will be rubbish. Having said that it probably works as well as you need it to. For the price it's certainly worth the gamble Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kevo_6 Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 Hi Roger At that sort of money it's worth getting one, you could always make up a wire coil around the cable to stiffen it a bit. My 6mm endoscope/boroscope kit cost me a couple of grand in the late 80s when I was opening safes (legitimately). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RobH Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 Roger - the high price for a professional boroscope is due to the coherent optical- fibre bundle used in the cable. These cheap things generally just have a miniature CCD camera chip at the business end so no fibre bundle is involved. They are good enough for DIY work but probably not for keyhole surgery! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 I was simply emphasizing the difference in price V quality. You can't expect too much at a tenner. But could come in handy even with a poor quality image. Not all boroscopes use fibre-optics - the high end still use rigid tubes and quality glass lenses = expensive Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
peejay4A Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 I used to have access to a coherent bundle steerable head borescope, KMI manufacture if I recall correctly. Awesome to use and awesomely priced too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kevo_6 Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 (edited) I still have my 6mm rigid keymed (KMI) borescopes with olympus optics, fiber flexible light lead and light source, as you say awsome to use and bleeding expensive. Edited November 21, 2014 by Kevo_6 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TriumphV8 Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 I have two of them in use. Expected to watch the cylinder bore through the spark plug bore. That was nonsense, probably you can see bigger defects but the distance must be okay to get picture sharp and with light. Looked into the fuel tank for rust and loose particles. With some help I just found the sender of the fuel level........... Later I connected the inlet manifold to my Rover V8. The camera was good to use to see if there are edges between manifold and head and gasket through a 90 degree turn in the manifold. That was the only case that I was really happy to use it. In case of emergency any help will be good but to be honest the sense of these cheap Charlys is much limited! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fireman049 Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 Hi Kevo ~ A mate of mine used a Jemmy to open safes ~ much cheaper than a Borescope!! Tom. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fireman049 Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 Having looked at the link I see a 'cable' with a USB connection. Can anyone please explain how it works? Tom. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kevo_6 Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 Hi Kevo ~ A mate of mine used a Jemmy to open safes ~ much cheaper than a Borescope!! Tom. Hi Tom I couldn't afford a decent jemmy of the correct size. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kevo_6 Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 Having looked at the link I see a 'cable' with a USB connection. Can anyone please explain how it works? Tom. Plug it in a laptop and then view. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Peter Cobbold Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 I bought a similar device with a 5m cable so the passenger can watch the SU piston lift while I drive. I think it could also be adapted to look at the timing mark illuminated by strobe light while driving at different engine loads and rpm. eg to measure vac advance which cant be done stationary. Peter Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lebro Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 I bought a similar device from Lidl a year or so ago, it is self contained with a small LCD colour screen. Comes with a semi-rigid "cable" around a metre long. I have used it for many things, & would recommend. The one thing it does not do is record the video, I believe some of this type can do that. Cost around £75 I think. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kiwifrog Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 I bought a similar device from Lidl a year or so ago, it is self contained with a small LCD colour screen. Comes with a semi-rigid "cable" around a metre long. I have used it for many things, & would recommend. The one thing it does not do is record the video, I believe some of this type can do that. Cost around £75 I think. I have the same works well Cheers Alan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ctc77965o Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 I just got one, I think its a great tool...it won't last forever, but in 5 years they'll be sharper/brighter/smaller/cheaper. Its just a webcam in a 10mm tube housing. Now I can skype live close-ups of my internals to all of you... all i need is a 10mm access hole. A straightened coathanger gives the cable some rigidity to steer the cam into mysterious places...as it's supplied the cable is too floppy to probe deeply.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 ..............................all i need is a 10mm access hole. A straightened coathanger gives the cable some rigidity to steer the cam into mysterious places...as it's supplied the cable is too floppy to probe deeply... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
littlejim Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 (edited) At that price it is hard to go wrong. I bought a dental intra-oral camera (built in LED lights) that popped up in one of the dental magazines at about 10x that price but well below the usual price. came in handy when doing the TR4A rebuild at times. able to have a good sqizz at the inside of the chassis and a few other spots otherwise inaccessible. you'll be able to dream up other uses for it too. (can see Roger wants to recommend Viagra.) Edited November 24, 2014 by littlejim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andy Moltu Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 Presumably it plugs into your PC or laptop and functions like a web cam. For a tenner you are not going to get the quality you might need to work on your knee joint but for looking for wires in ceiling voids it's probably OK. Given the advances in optical sensors there's probably little case for the expense of fibre optics for automotive use these days. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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