I ordered a long-lead usb endoscope from Amazon in May. Very cheap. I was charged slightly more than expected, but they sent two of different diameters, instead of the one I’d ordered. Both work with a Vista laptop, a W10 laptop, and a Nexus 7. But not a Sony Experia Android.
A bit of a wire coathanger duct taped on is needed as the lead is too flexible.
Updating this old thread. The above chinese endoscope is actually very good. I use it with the CameraFi app. The sort of pics it gets are here.
It has a bendy end which bends far enough to look back at the hole through which you poked it. I was going to get a video of it doing that – it looks rather weird, almost perverted, and my sons found it absolutely hilarious – but I can’t because it now lives in the back of the plane. But, hey, here it is on YT:
Peter,
Re your recent valve problem – in retrospect were there any warning signs from previous Borescope inspections ?
I don’t think so, but I probably didn’t do myself favours by (a) not always taking photos and (b) when taking them, not keeping them in the proper cylinder order.
This is just a heads-up for anyone with an android phone who is thinking about upgrading the OS to version 10. This no longer supports USB cameras!
I’ve just got a Samsung S10e and discovered that my endoscope is useless, so I am keeping the old S7. The app I am using is called Endoscope Camera. It is free, free of ads, and just works. Previously I used Camera Fi, then Camera Fi2, but despite giving them £5 to remove the adverts they keep coming back, and now the camera is really expensive at bigger part of 100 quid.
These damned IT makers seem to have committees dedicated to crippling their products…
There is an offer when ordering directly from Oasis Scientific to get $80 off with coupon code SUNNFUN
Just found a boroscope at Lidl, and not even one but two: PEKK 4.3 A1 and PKIK 4.3 A1. Both are IP67-rated portable devices with a 4.3-inch 480×272 display, a 640×480 camera, LED lighting with adjustable brightness, and an electronic zoom function. Both come with magnet, mirror and hook attachments. The gooseneck is 1 m long and 8 mm thick. The PKIK one has an internal memory for 100 captured images and a USB port for transferring them to a PC, whereas the PEKK one has a video out jack. Here in Czechia, both models are priced around 55 EUR.
To warn the more adventurous among us, the manual says that ‘borescope is not approved for medical applications and must never be inserted into bodily orifices’. I reckon the truly adventurous ones may take it as a challenge.
Peter wrote:
when taking them, not keeping them in the proper cylinder order.
Peter, based upon your advice I have actually bought one of those plus wifi adapter.
My mechanic absolutely loves it despite 2 but issues :
1. The software is crap, there is no provision to change the cryptic names of the files so that it becomes a big mess and it is very hard to figure out which photo belongs to which cylinder.
2. You need to connect an USB power bank to the wifi box, itself connected to the borescope. very clumsy
But:
I use it with my aircraft’s iPad-pro. Image quality is simply excellent, the tool can look anywhere easily and despite the restrictions I think it’s a great buy.
I was also delighted to find out that apparently all six cylinders are in very good health, l
I also used this device to check my fuel tanks and plungers.
So to sum it up I think everyone should get a good quality borescope like this Vividia. They are inexpensive and really a great addition to the toolbox.
I am happy you found it useful. The pics are indeed excellent. I posted some e.g. here.
Yes; cylinders need to be photographed in the sequence, otherwise you lose track. It’s primitive, but nearly all chinese software is crap. They are OK in copying hardware and even sometimes improving it, but they seem to really struggle writing code 
I have also found that it apparently cannot be used with my new Samsung S10e phone because that’s android 10 and on that OS they have prohibited USB cameras! So I am using my old S7 (backup phone now) for this job.
Interesting too about Ultranomad’s LIDL one. Personally I would find an 8mm endoscope a bit too thick to be useful. For example I use mine to inspect the elevator and an 8mm one would not go everywhere I need to look.
