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Any new borescopes out there?

txshan130

Well Known Member
Hey everyone -

I am in the market for a borescope before starting my condition inspection this year. Been searching the threads and it appears that either no one has posted in several years or maybe there just aren't any new borescopes on the market.

Some here are apparently using the Vividia VA-400 and VA-800 but geez, can't we get better than 640x480 resolution at a reasonable price? I'm happy spending several hundred dollars to get a decent instrument, but would like better resolution than 640x480. My son flies FPV quads and has miniature onboard cameras that are actually transmitting at 1280 x720 for much cheaper than what some of these scopes cost :)

264s974.jpg


So any recommendations out there? I really like the idea of the articulating head on the VA-400 and want to get that feature...just would like better resolution.



Thanks as always!
 
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Here ya go:

https://www.tanga.com/deals/1705a9deb153/swisstek-wireless-wifi-endoscope-snake-camera?affiliate_network=et&e=mBMgc1yJ6u5EH77bjS4%2FQp3EOYtOSL6CPa5x83rHCSV9lh2mEaPkzyEDccCkveqDZcaKg%2BQebq0%3D&j=124671&jb=89&l=24_HTML&mid=6220149&sfmc_sub=5184072&u=14712724&utm_campaign=124671-FrontPage_20170617&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Tanga+Emails&utm_term=0_5194-124671-6220149

If you can live without the wireless (wifi) feature, I bought one a few months ago that has a USB/microUSB plug on the end (works with my android phone or tablet) for about $12. Didn't come with the attachments, though. Mine is about 1/8" dia & around 10' long. You can get them with longer cables, if needed.

Charlie

edit: Just google 'usb endoscope', and some variations on that, on ebay or amazon for lots of choices
 
Check out Oasis Scientific.

I bought an articulated scope from them last year at Oshkosh for around $180 dollars. It plugs into an Iphone or Android for a display, and you can capture images to the attached device. It is perfectly capable of imaging your cylinders through a spark plug port.

Don
 
They only carry the Vividia VA-400...I know it will work AND I really want the articulating head, but was really looking for slightly better resolution. For the price, it should be better IMO. 640x480 is not exactly cutting edge these days. Even the $12 ones do 1280x720 now!

Check out Oasis Scientific.

I bought an articulated scope from them last year at Oshkosh for around $180 dollars. It plugs into an Iphone or Android for a display, and you can capture images to the attached device. It is perfectly capable of imaging your cylinders through a spark plug port.

Don
 
For the price, it should be better IMO. 640x480 is not exactly cutting edge these days. Even the $12 ones do 1280x720 now!

True, but pretty much all the work we airplane owners use them for is very close up so the res. is not an issue.
The 640X480 will produce a pretty good quality large sized image of a valve of a cyl wall.

We have a VA-400 in our shop and like it.
 
We have a VA-400 in our shop and like it.

Scott,

I have a VA-400 i bought for use at the hangar, not realizing you can't use it on apple products without the wifi box. What do you guys use to plug it in to?

I went so far as to buy the world's cheapest android tablet only for it to tell me it won't work with it.
 
Scott,

I have a VA-400 i bought for use at the hangar, not realizing you can't use it on apple products without the wifi box. What do you guys use to plug it in to?

I went so far as to buy the world's cheapest android tablet only for it to tell me it won't work with it.

We have a windows based ASUS notebook computer we use in the shop as a portable. It works fine.
 
Unless they have made some improvement to the plastic flex section under the blue silicone sleeve, I recommend against the Vivida (aka "Ablescope"). The flex section breaks rather quickly.

Just get a cheap camera and tape it to a coat hangar wire.

http://www.tomtop.com/endoscopes-206/
 
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Unless they have made some improvement to the plastic flex section under the blue silicone sleeve, I recommend against the Vivida (aka "Ablescope"). The flex section breaks rather quickly.

Just get a cheap camera and tape it to a coat hangar wire.

http://www.tomtop.com/endoscopes-206/

We haven't had any problems with ours but it has only bee used about 10 times or so, so I will be watching for that.

The aim-able camera was worth it to us because we use it for more than just looking at valves in cyl.
 
Compressed, or even better, embedded URL's


Charlie,
Have you ever tried Tinyurl?
Your 368 characters are easily reduced to 27 characters like so:

http://tinyurl.com/ya9ehufw

Or better yet, using the hyperlink function in the edit/compose window, the link can be embedded in your text anywhere, like here.

That big ol' long URL (post #2) looks downright scary!
 
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If you can live without the wireless (wifi) feature, I bought one a few months ago that has a USB/microUSB plug on the end (works with my android phone or tablet) for about $12. Didn't come with the attachments, though. Mine is about 1/8" dia & around 10' long. You can get them with longer cables, if needed.

Charlie

edit: Just google 'usb endoscope', and some variations on that, on ebay or amazon for lots of choices

Are the specs on that Tanga correct? It says the Camera Diameter is 8.4mm but the focal distance is only 3mm to 8mm. So you have to be lest than 1/8" away from something for it to be in focus? Is that actually useful?
 
Charlie,
Have you ever tried Tinyurl?
Your 368 characters are easily reduced to 27 characters like so:

http://tinyurl.com/ya9ehufw

Or better yet, using the hyperlink function in the edit/compose window, the link can be embedded in your text anywhere, like here.

That big ol' long URL (post #2) looks downright scary!

Not nearly as scary as a url that I can't see until I click on the link & actually go to the site.
The original reason for shortened link sites was because back in the dark ages many browsers couldn't handle a url that 'wrapped' down to another line. Back then, no one worried about their computer being attacked by a rogue web site.

Just look at the long link, until you see the (dot)com, org, etc to see where it's going. With those shortened redirect links, you can't tell where you're going until you're there.

Charlie
 
Are the specs on that Tanga correct? It says the Camera Diameter is 8.4mm but the focal distance is only 3mm to 8mm. So you have to be lest than 1/8" away from something for it to be in focus? Is that actually useful?

Never paid attention to that spec, but I doubt it's real. Almost certainly a typo, or something that was lost in translation. I don't have direct experience with that particular product.

My $12 model focuses fine out to several inches, and I get usable images out past a foot.

Charlie
 
Not nearly as scary as a url that I can't see until I click on the link & actually go to the site.
The original reason for shortened link sites was because back in the dark ages many browsers couldn't handle a url that 'wrapped' down to another line. Back then, no one worried about their computer being attacked by a rogue web site.

Just look at the long link, until you see the (dot)com, org, etc to see where it's going. With those shortened redirect links, you can't tell where you're going until you're there.

Charlie

The long "original" link could be just plain text with a hyperlink embedded that goes to a completely different location. I suggest that you don't take "long links" at gospel.
 
The long "original" link could be just plain text with a hyperlink embedded that goes to a completely different location. I suggest that you don't take "long links" at gospel.

I'm well aware. I'm also aware that hovering over a hyperlink will show you the actual destination at the bottom of the page (at least if you're using the chrome browser).

Now, go to Don's post with the tinyurl hyperlink, and do your (and my) 'hover' trick, and tell me what you see for an actual destination.
 
I'm just happy someone goes to the trouble of posting a link rather than telling me to google it or search the archives.
 
True, but pretty much all the work we airplane owners use them for is very close up so the res. is not an issue.
The 640X480 will produce a pretty good quality large sized image of a valve of a cyl wall.

We have a VA-400 in our shop and like it.

Overall I have one and will agree with the value/performance of this device. But . . .

The problem is the range of focus, get closer yields more pixels per inch, but the optical focus gets fuzzy. I have the ablescope and also find the clarity marginal. Color rendering is horrible, but a little understanding overcomes most of that confusion. The main shortcoming is when trying to see cross hatch and polished spots. Maybe that does not happen often, but it is important to me.
 
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