Boroscope Recommendation?

I'm totally overwhelmed with this. I know to look for resolution and, I think, for an articulating head. I think. Any advice appreciated.

If it matters, I use a Mac.

Dave

Dave here are some pics I took just today with the VA-400 from Vivida. Works quite well.

there is a new VA400 with articulation and much higher resolution - - I am very happy with all but the low resolution of the older model- -the new offering changes that.

I use a Mac too, no issues.

VA 980

I bought the VA980 at the Oshkosh special price. Used it when I got home and works great!

rocketman1988 said:

I bought the VA980 at the Oshkosh special price. Used it when I got home and works great!

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What was the Oshkosh special price?

Really disappointed to have been stuck on the wrong side of a border for OSH this year.

Price

I got the va980 for 300 and the air box for 80 then they gave an additional 20 off so total price was 360, no tax…

I just recently compared a Vividia VA-450 to a Teslong NTS500 dual lens, although the VA-450 was a bit easier to manipulate in the cylinder, the NTS500 had superior resolution at 1/3 the price.
Needless to say I returned the VA-450 and kept the Teslong.
https://teslong.com/collections/automotive-borescope/products/nts500-industrial-endoscope?variant=31985166418033

Walt said:

I just recently compared a Vividia VA-450 to a Teslong NTS500 dual lens, although the VA-450 was a bit easier to manipulate in the cylinder, the NTS500 had superior resolution at 1/3 the price.
Needless to say I returned the VA-450 and kept the Teslong.
https://teslong.com/collections/automotive-borescope/products/nts500-industrial-endoscope?variant=31985166418033

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Hi Walt, are you able to look back on the valves with the teslong? Thanks.

Recently acquired VA-880, far superior to the VA-400 I had been using for a couple of years...

rv8ch said:

Hi Walt, are you able to look back on the valves with the teslong? Thanks.

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Absolutely using the 90 deg camera it's not a problem. The unit also seems pretty robust, easy to use and well built. I'm used to the clarity of my rigid Olympus scope which is hard to beat but I wanted the convenience of a good digital, I was never very impressed with the Vividia stuff I tried personally.

DeeCee 57 said:

Recently acquired VA-880, far superior to the VA-400 I had been using for a couple of years...

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Hi Dan, I'll have to invite you for lunch next time I have my cowl off, perhaps you can do a live demo of the VA-880!

I've used the Vividia VA-400 (original resolution, 640x480) since 2016. It is adequate for cylinder inspection and the RV-10 aileron hinge bracket SB inspection. But I always wished it had better resolution.

Oasis Scientific sold an improved resolution (1280x720) VA-400 at Osh. I bought one for $200. I bought the VA-400L, which has the locking feature that holds the articulating head in whatever position you want. I find that is really handy. (But people kept breaking the head by abusing the locking feature, so the stock VA-400 doesn't have the lock any more.)

I've not yet used the new VA-400 inside a cylinder. But comparing to the old VA-400, I can see the improved snapshot image crispness. Video images have improved crispness if one moves the borescope slowly. Too rapid borsecope movement in video move smears the image.

Software lessons learned so far: "Vividia Ablescope" software from their web site works best with the new VA-400L. It does require you to press the "play" icon to enable preview mode so you can see what the borescope is seeing (easy enough once you figure that out, but counterintuitive).

rocketman1988 said:

I got the va980 for 300 and the air box for 80 then they gave an additional 20 off so total price was 360, no tax…

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Thanks, rocketman, for sharing this info.

rv8ch said:

Hi Walt, are you able to look back on the valves with the teslong? Thanks.

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Mickey - to add some detail to Walt's answer, I found this in the product description on the web page Walt linked.

"Two dual-lens options allow users to easily switch from a forward-facing camera to a side-facing camera to greatly increase their field of view."

Canadian_JOY said:

Mickey - to add some detail to Walt's answer, I found this in the product description on the web page Walt linked.

"Two dual-lens options allow users to easily switch from a forward-facing camera to a side-facing camera to greatly increase their field of view."

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Thanks Mark and Walt - the side facing pictures are really great I believe for looking at the valve face and seat. This is hard (for me) to do with the VA-400 - but perhaps I'm just doing it wrong. The images I also find useful are basically 180° straight back from the end of the camera and the VA-400 does this pretty well. I'm not sure how the Teslong would get those images, but perhaps with the side camera and the mirror it can be done.

I'm looking forward to seeing Dan's VA-880 image resolution!

David Paule said:

I'm totally overwhelmed with this. I know to look for resolution and, I think, for an articulating head. I think. Any advice appreciated.

If it matters, I use a Mac.

Dave

Click to expand...

Dave...I had a Vivida VA-400 and didn't care for the resolution nor the construction. I had to have it fixed once and it sits broke again in my hangar.

I have the same camera as Walt...just the updated version. The head deosn articulate but the camera is small enough to fold back on itself and go through spark plug hole. Here's a shot video I shot...

https://youtu.be/2QR6PdMuLjA

read you 5 Mickey Contact me when you're ready and I'll fly down.

Vividia VA-880
I found the VA-880 far superior to the VA-400, no question about it, HD is good. And it comes with a nice orderly plastic case.
Caveat: Due to the 1m long flex cable, I found it slightly awkward to use... Orienting the lens precisely is more difficult than with a borescope with a rigid tube. Though the head bends 2 ways, holding the scope steady and on the right spot is not that easy.

Bought mine with a 30% discount, so I guess I'm a happy camper.

avrojockey said:

Dave...I had a Vivida VA-400 and didn't care for the resolution nor the construction. I had to have it fixed once and it sits broke again in my hangar.

I have the same camera as Walt...just the updated version. The head deosn articulate but the camera is small enough to fold back on itself and go through spark plug hole. Here's a shot video I shot...

https://youtu.be/2QR6PdMuLjA

Click to expand...

Tim, I actually bought both the NTS500 and the NTS500B, I returned the B model as I found the straight 500 had better resolution even though they advertise them as being the same, it may be that the display is better, not sure.