Smart phone borescope anyone?
Discussion
I am a bit of a tech dunce, but maybe someone can enlighten me. Has anyone bought a borescope/endescope camera type 'thingy' that you can plug into your iPhone/Android, the sort of thing that might prove handy for looking in nooks and crannies in your car, eg cylinder bores? A quick google shows they seem to be readily available but I'm interested in anyone's experience in actually buying and using one.
Purchased a couple a while back, work OK looking into the bores of my old 2 stroke, and along the chassis rails on my tiv, which was the reason I wanted it, I gave the other to a mate at work, who diagnosed a water leak at the rear of his car by shoving it up the inaccessible rear quarter panel. Has a adjustable light to reduce dazzle when needed, picture quality for the money is fine for its use.
Find anything useful?
I use a borescope at work occasionally for sticking under floors/in ceilings/stud walls looking for bodged wiring, but find the two I've used (a cheapycheap and a Stanley that cost maybe £100 I think) to have TERRIBLE depth of field, ie nothings clear unless its within a few inches of the camera, so you're looking for something that's inches away...
I suspect this is just poor quality camera/lens - meh fair enough at the price - so what's better, what do I need to spend and how do I gauge it?
I use a borescope at work occasionally for sticking under floors/in ceilings/stud walls looking for bodged wiring, but find the two I've used (a cheapycheap and a Stanley that cost maybe £100 I think) to have TERRIBLE depth of field, ie nothings clear unless its within a few inches of the camera, so you're looking for something that's inches away...
I suspect this is just poor quality camera/lens - meh fair enough at the price - so what's better, what do I need to spend and how do I gauge it?
I bought a cheapo one from eBay a while back, and it's not really very good at all. I suspect it's down to the software, the picture keeps locking up and if I close then re-start the program, it works again for a bit. I've only been able to try it connected to a Windows laptop, so maybe the Android version of the software is better.
Bought one for just over six pounds, eBay or banggood.
Not brilliant, but for the money everyone should have one.
Lots of different apps for Android just keep trying till you find one you like/works
Few examples
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/Fp46Zd8s.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/9t4xuTCH" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/9t4xuTCH.jpg)
Should be on the frivolous purchases thread really, had no need for it!
Not brilliant, but for the money everyone should have one.
Lots of different apps for Android just keep trying till you find one you like/works
Few examples
Should be on the frivolous purchases thread really, had no need for it!
Edited by Easternlight on Monday 18th February 20:16
Easternlight said:
Bought one for just over six pounds, eBay or banggood.
Not brilliant, but for the money everyone should have one.
Lots of different apps for Android just keep trying till you find one you like/works
Few examples
Should be on the frivolous purchases thread really, had no need for it!
You needed to look under the radiator and see what was in the fridge?Not brilliant, but for the money everyone should have one.
Lots of different apps for Android just keep trying till you find one you like/works
Few examples
Should be on the frivolous purchases thread really, had no need for it!
Edited by Easternlight on Monday 18th February 20:16
I got a Rotek one off Amazon a few months ago for £30.
Had no real need for it, so it was a frivolous purchase, but has since come in really useful for being able to see to help remove a diverter valve from the combi boiler, and also checking I wasn't going to drill through the central heating pipe when putting a hole in the ceiling to mount a projector.
The quality isn't great, and as mentioned by someone else, the depth of field a bit limited, but it has variable light output, is waterproof, and does work ok.
There's a specific app to use with it, and it's charged via USB. The box at the end is a mini wifi hotspot, so you turn it on, and then connect to the wifi network it creates with your smartphone (no cables). Then run the app (Android or iPhone). It provides a live view and saves pictures or video to your phone.
Below are examples when removing the diverter valve:
Untitled by conradsphotos, on Flickr
Video (need to click on it to open it from FlickR website - not sure how to embed it properly):
Untitled by conradsphotos, on Flickr
Had no real need for it, so it was a frivolous purchase, but has since come in really useful for being able to see to help remove a diverter valve from the combi boiler, and also checking I wasn't going to drill through the central heating pipe when putting a hole in the ceiling to mount a projector.
The quality isn't great, and as mentioned by someone else, the depth of field a bit limited, but it has variable light output, is waterproof, and does work ok.
There's a specific app to use with it, and it's charged via USB. The box at the end is a mini wifi hotspot, so you turn it on, and then connect to the wifi network it creates with your smartphone (no cables). Then run the app (Android or iPhone). It provides a live view and saves pictures or video to your phone.
Below are examples when removing the diverter valve:
Untitled by conradsphotos, on FlickrVideo (need to click on it to open it from FlickR website - not sure how to embed it properly):
Untitled by conradsphotos, on Flickrhttps://www.cef.co.uk/catalogue/products/4799637-c...
This looks good, especially if you already have the super-rod tools to use with it, from the video it appears to have better depth of field than the cheaper items suffer from but I'm loath to chuck £170 finding out!
It needs a wholesaler to demo it
This looks good, especially if you already have the super-rod tools to use with it, from the video it appears to have better depth of field than the cheaper items suffer from but I'm loath to chuck £170 finding out!
It needs a wholesaler to demo it
Teddy Lop said:
https://www.cef.co.uk/catalogue/products/4799637-c...
This looks good, especially if you already have the super-rod tools to use with it, from the video it appears to have better depth of field than the cheaper items suffer from but I'm loath to chuck £170 finding out!
It needs a wholesaler to demo it
I wonder if a store would let you look over it before buying?This looks good, especially if you already have the super-rod tools to use with it, from the video it appears to have better depth of field than the cheaper items suffer from but I'm loath to chuck £170 finding out!
It needs a wholesaler to demo it
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