endoscope, borescope type cameras

Hello,

I did buy a usb camera from ebay so that I could look under floorboards etc. but I don't know what I have done with it and besides, my laptop is broken at the moment (battery dead and the power socket does not make reliable contact withy the plug; I assume the contacts have worn with age).

I was wondering perhaps a camera with a built-in screen would be better. Has anyone bought one of these? I'm looking for something cheap as it will only be for occasional DIY use. Is there anywhere to buy them from other than ebay? The ones on there only seem to be 1m long. Is that all that is needed Do they focus further away? I was thinking if you went under the floor from one side of the room to another that perhaps a longer one would be more useful?

Thanks, Stephen.

Reply to
Stephen
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I have something which looks a bit like this; it was a bit cheaper (screen may be smaller) and the "snake" is shorter. They certainly work, they can be a bit tricky to use and are often not as useful as you might expect. Under floorboards, you run out of light sooner than you might expect so although they will form a reasonable image of something a metre away, the built in lights are not sufficient to illuminate it.

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The ones with a screen and recording ability are useful because you can end up a bit cluttered with a separate laptop. One day there may be affordable USB microscopes which work with android phones and tablets.

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In my experience the USB "microscopes" are remarkably good even at 2 MPix, which camera buffs tend to sniff at. I've not found the USB introscopes so effective. But I have also used the Olympus fibre introscopes (which you see surgeons using) on engineering plant, these cost about £5k in the 90's. These have a steerable tip and sometimes zoom and focus, but it is still often difficult to interpret exactly what you are seeing.

Reply to
newshound

5 - 10 metres but cant vouch for quality....

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Reply to
ss

In my experience your power socket problem is usually the solder joints to the main board - easiest just to solder a new one in as they are cheap as chips. On Compaq laptops I've replaced several. Fiddly but possible.

I bought an el-cheepo eBay snake type and frankly the picture is surprisingly good, just hard to tell where the top of the picture is !

Andrew

Reply to
Andrew Mawson

I've got a dying power cable on my laptop. You have to turn it so it's straight for the first few inches.

It has several other faults too. It needs a new battery, disk, and hinges :( must get a new one!

Andy

Reply to
Vir Campestris

Really for drain inspection, although I suppose you could attach to "cable access" kit for underfloor or in-wall work.

Reply to
newshound

Aldi should have one from Sunday, £40

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Owain

Reply to
spuorgelgoog

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