Lidl inspection camera. Experience?

[David]

Noticed some inspection cameras in Lidl the other day (Sunday). Not on the
Sunday offer list, and no price, but probably still there today.

Has anyone got one?
If so, how useful are they?

I am about to start delving into the wiring loom of our Ducato based motor
home and access isn't that good.
I was wondering if one of these would be good to inspect nooks and corners.

Cheers

Dave R



--
Windows 8.1 on PCSpecialist box

[Roger Mills]

I haven't tried the Lidl device, but it looks very similar to one which
I bought from Maplin a years ago. I've been rather disappointed with
mine. The picture quality isn't very good, and when you've bent the
probe to get it into an awkward place it's very difficult to work out
which way up things are! I usually find a powerful torch and a small
mirror a lot more useful.
--
Cheers,
Roger
____________
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom
checked.

[David]

On Tue, 30 Jun 2015 15:56:18 +0100, Roger Mills wrote:

> On 30/06/2015 13:41, David wrote:
>> Noticed some inspection cameras in Lidl the other day (Sunday). Not on
>> the Sunday offer list, and no price, but probably still there today.
>>
>> Has anyone got one?
>> If so, how useful are they?
>>
>> I am about to start delving into the wiring loom of our Ducato based
>> motor home and access isn't that good.
>> I was wondering if one of these would be good to inspect nooks and
>> corners.
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Dave R
>>
>>
>>
>>
> I haven't tried the Lidl device, but it looks very similar to one which
> I bought from Maplin a years ago. I've been rather disappointed with
> mine. The picture quality isn't very good, and when you've bent the
> probe to get it into an awkward place it's very difficult to work out
> which way up things are! I usually find a powerful torch and a small
> mirror a lot more useful.

Thanks (although you burst a bubble of tool lust).

[Harry Bloomfield]

Roger Mills formulated on Tuesday :

> The picture quality isn't very good, and when you've bent the probe to get it
> into an awkward place it's very difficult to work out which way up things
> are! I usually find a powerful torch and a small mirror a lot more useful.
>
> --

Put some sort of mark on the lens, at the top, then mark a line down
the cable to correspond to the top. Its not an entire solution, but it
helps a bit.

Yes they work, but it is difficult to make out what you are looking at.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

[Geo]

On 30 Jun 2015 12:41:53 GMT, David <wib...@btintenet.com> wrote:

>Noticed some inspection cameras in Lidl the other day (Sunday). Not on the
>Sunday offer list, and no price, but probably still there today.
>

Leftover from 15th June - £40
http://leaflet007.co.uk/inspection-camera-lidl-monday-15-june-2015.html

>Has anyone got one?

Yes

>If so, how useful are they?

Came in handy the day after I bought it when water dripping from
kitchen downlighter. Was able to insert it and locate which direction
the water was coming from. (45 year-old fibre washer failure in bath
ubend/overflow joint)

>
>I am about to start delving into the wiring loom of our Ducato based motor
>home and access isn't that good.
>I was wondering if one of these would be good to inspect nooks and corners.

As others have said, visual orientation is not easy - but mirror and
torch can be just as fiddly and the camera lets you illuminate and see
further along a narrow tube.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <cvfova...@mid.individual.net>,

Roger Mills <watt....@gmail.com> wrote:
> I haven't tried the Lidl device, but it looks very similar to one which
> I bought from Maplin a years ago. I've been rather disappointed with
> mine. The picture quality isn't very good, and when you've bent the
> probe to get it into an awkward place it's very difficult to work out
> which way up things are! I usually find a powerful torch and a small
> mirror a lot more useful.

Yes - my intended use was to look inside car box sections etc to make sure
wax had covered them all. And it really didn't show this - although
spraying wax over steel is obvious to the naked eye in good light.

--
*A closed mouth gathers no feet.*

Dave Plowman da...@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[David]

Thanks - tool lust mildly re-kindled.

[alan_m]

On 30/06/2015 13:41, David wrote:

> Noticed some inspection cameras in Lidl the other day (Sunday). Not on the
> Sunday offer list, and no price, but probably still there today.
>
> Has anyone got one?
> If so, how useful are they?
>
> I am about to start delving into the wiring loom of our Ducato based motor
> home and access isn't that good.
> I was wondering if one of these would be good to inspect nooks and corners.
>

Save yourself £30 by using your laptop as the display and get one of
these from Ebay
http://tinyurl.com/p448dhn


--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

[JimK]

/Save yourself £30 by using your laptop as the display and get one of
these from Ebay
http://tinyurl.com/p448dhn /q

And work around the flimsy droopy cable that you can't point, whilst finding a position where you can try to control the camera whilst still being able to see the screen...

I bought a lidl one, for 40 I've no serious complaints

Jim K

[Nick Odell]

On 30 Jun 2015 12:41:53 GMT, David <wib...@btintenet.com> wrote:

>Noticed some inspection cameras in Lidl the other day (Sunday). Not on the
>Sunday offer list, and no price, but probably still there today.
>
>Has anyone got one?
>If so, how useful are they?
>
>I am about to start delving into the wiring loom of our Ducato based motor
>home and access isn't that good.
>I was wondering if one of these would be good to inspect nooks and corners.
>

I bought one of these from Lidl a couple of years ago when they were
rather more than forty quid. It was exactly what I needed to carry out
a double bass repair: spending about seventy quid (that's what it was
at the time) enabled me to charge four hundred or thereabouts for a
repair that wouldn't have been possible without it and that alone
justified buying that extra piece of kit so on that level, I'm
completely satisfied.

On another level, it has limitations. The resolution isn't that great
- ideal for finding something you know is there, not so easy to
identify something you didn't know was there. The screen, like most
cheap screens, needs ideal lighting conditions to view easily and
there's no easy way of recording what you are viewing. (No SD card
slot; not even provision on the pcb for an SD card slot to be included
in the "deluxe" model) The LED lights work well enough in a tight spot
but if you have the opportunity to flood the target area in light from
an alternative source, it will work much better that way. I've
probably only used it a couple more times since I bought it.

On the other hand, if like me you are willing to write off the cost of
it as the price of achieving a specific outcome, it should do what you
want.

Nick

[David]

As already posted by another, that isn't a particularly usable solution.

In my case I would be trying to handle a bulky laptop by an engine bay
with greasy hands as well as poking the webcam into tight corners.

Could work better with two people but I prefer the integrated solution,
subject to testing.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <cvi08o...@mid.individual.net>,

David <wib...@btintenet.com> wrote:
> As already posted by another, that isn't a particularly usable solution.

> In my case I would be trying to handle a bulky laptop by an engine bay
> with greasy hands as well as poking the webcam into tight corners.

The one I have has a long 1 mtr flexi and a further 1.5 mtr USB lead from
the controls to the laptop. Rather have a decent sized screen than a
mobile phone sized one. Problem is the low res (640/480 pixels) camera.
I'd guess HD ones will be around now.

> Could work better with two people but I prefer the integrated solution,
> subject to testing.

I suppose it depends on whether you already have a suitable sized laptop.
The one I use for this has an approx 10" screen.

--
*Cleaned by Stevie Wonder, checked by David Blunkett*

[Dave Liquorice]

On 30 Jun 2015 15:39:06 GMT, David wrote:

>> I haven't tried the Lidl device, but it looks very similar to one
which
>> I bought from Maplin a years ago. I've been rather disappointed
with
>> mine. The picture quality isn't very good,

Camera modules have moved on an awful lot in the last few years.
Raspberry Pi camera 30fps Full HD £20 but that's with inteface
electronics the bare camear module will be peanuts.

>> and when you've bent the probe to get it into an awkward place
it's
>> very difficult to work out which way up things are!

That must be solve able. I'm not sure a mark on the lense would work
very. Bit of wire sticking forward ito the field of view? If there
isa ring of LEDs mabe blank one out to produce a dark section,
proably too sublte though.

> I usually find a powerful torch and a small mirror a lot more useful.

But you are then limited to what you can see from the hole and
probably by light reflected from the mirror you are looking in.

> Thanks (although you burst a bubble of tool lust).

At least with a camera ona stick you can shove it further in, ideally
it needs a proper remotely steerable endoscope head so you can see
round a corner some distance from the access point. Recording or at
least a frame hold would be useful.

Has that got the tool lust going again?

--
Cheers
Dave.

[Andy Burns]

Dave Liquorice wrote:

> Camera modules have moved on an awful lot in the last few years.
> Raspberry Pi camera 30fps Full HD £20 but that's with inteface
> electronics the bare camear module will be peanuts.

I've got one similar to this to tinker with

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/IP-cctv/32378725183.html

mine's 1280x960, it's a linux SoC with ethernet and camera onboard,
supply your own MTV mount lens, picked up and configured by free ONVIF
software, so far I've noticed VLC doesn't entirely like the RTSP stream
if you enable a high-res and low-res substream at the same time.

[stuart noble]

What about the ones they stick down your gullet (or up the other end)?
Are they particularly hi tec?

[tony sayer]

In article <lGblx.34394$Qp7....@fx23.am4>, stuart noble
<stuart...@ntlworld.com> scribeth thus

Yes they are. Some endoscopes such as those used to inspect the
"exhaust" end have devices that can take samples and snip out polyps
that can and do cause cancer.


Very informative website here and of real interest to those over 55
where bowel cancer runs in the family etc..

And where it doesn't. I had some rectal bleeding once and it was
inspected and a 22 mm diameter pre cancerous polyp was discovered
snipped out and fine ever since.

Not a particularly pleasant procedure but neither is having half your
guts removed once you have developed it!.

Enjoy..

And don't try this at home !...


http://www.gihealth.com/education.html

--
Tony Sayer

[stuart noble]

The one that does the top end also takes biopsies.
I didn't find the procedure too awful, but happy pills were on offer,
which resulted in some embarrassing behaviour from some of the male
patients. Poor nurses. "Oh, we're used to it", they said.

[Dave Liquorice]

On Fri, 03 Jul 2015 09:41:43 +0100, stuart noble wrote:

> The one that does the top end also takes biopsies.

One and the same I should imagine, just give it quick wipe over
between patients...

--
Cheers
Dave.

[Timothy Murphy]

tony sayer wrote:

> Very informative website here and of real interest to those over 55
> where bowel cancer runs in the family etc..

> http://www.gihealth.com/education.html

I have two rather similar CDs -
one is from an endoscopy and the other from a drain-clearing company.
The latter found a brick obstructing the drain
about 10 metres from the house (in the garden).
The former showed no obstruction or polyps, TG.


--
Timothy Murphy
gayleard /at/ eircom.net
School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin

[Andy Burns]

Andy Burns wrote:

> I've got one similar to this to tinker with
> http://www.aliexpress.com/item/IP-cctv/32378725183.html

I'm using this to replace an analogue 'board' camera, so I swapped the
lens mount and lens from the old one to the new one, the analogue board
had some sort of 'sapphire' filter in front of the sensor which did a
good job of reducing IR in daylight, and letting it see by background
illumination at night (I don't use IR illumination).

The new IP board gave very false daylight colours (white grass etc) so I
ordered a switchable IRCUT filter which arrived from .hk today, and is
very effective.

The populated micro-JST headers on the board are for ethernet, power,
ircut. I think I've located unpopulated TX/RX pins for a serial port
(I'll hook up my 3V/5V USB serial dongle and check that out).

I gather "unofficially" from the manufacturer the unpopulated 8 pin
header has a USB port and audio in/out, but they seem reluctant to
provide pinout, I'd like to connect a mic, what's a safe way to discover
the right pin for GND/MIC on this connector?

I assume one pin will be +5V for the USB, I should be able to find that
and another couple ought to have continuity with the power GND connector
for USB and audio grounds, not fussed about the USB D+/D-, presumably I
won't do much harm just prodding a mic onto the pins in turn until I
hear something via RTSP, I can tell there's audio in the stream as
there' some hiss ...

[Andy Burns]

Andy Burns wrote:

> I gather "unofficially" from the manufacturer the unpopulated 8 pin
> header has a USB port and audio in/out, but they seem reluctant to
> provide pinout, I'd like to connect a mic

Found the pinout on a Russian blog
<http://images.mysku.ru/uploads/images/00/94/95/2014/08/08/a727da.png>

[Louise Grinham]

replying to David, Louise Grinham wrote:
Hi I have a friend who bought one of these to look under floorboards etc for
his work and it's brilliant for that so well worth a try
Lou

--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/uk-diy/lidl-inspection-camera-experience-1058200-.htm

[Andrew]

On 14/08/2018 13:44, Louise Grinham wrote:
> replying to David, Louise Grinham wrote:
> Hi I have a friend who bought one of these to look under floorboards etc
> for
> his work and it's brilliant for that so well worth a try
> Lou
>

When they are gone, they are gone !!!. (2015)