[DeTomaso] SuperEyes borescope review

[Asa Jay Laughton]

Today I finally got a round to trying out that fancy and inexpensive
borescope I found on Amazon.  Well, it might not be all it's all cracked
up to be, and I don't have anything to compare it against so here goes.

It fits through a spark plug hole with ease; there is plenty of
clearance.  The lens area is only about a quarter inch in diameter.

The neck is flexible but isn't easy to control; it's really only
"flexible," there are no control cables or thingy's to help you
manipulate where it's pointing.  This makes it a bit of a trick to get
it where you want, having to flex it around, reposition, etc.

At one point I attempted to flex it into a u-bend, in an attempt to look
back -up- the cylinder to see if I could tell what kind of heads I had
(quench or open-chamber).  Mind you I already know what I have; I was
trying it to see if it could be done.  Well, maybe.  I believe this
particular piston was about half way up the bore, so I don't think I had
enough room.  I did however manage to get it turned around enough to see
I was right next to an intake valve.  My impression is that if the
piston is all the way down, you might be able to futz with it enough to
get a view back up the cylinder, but I didn't go that far.

There is no focus adjustment.  If you are too close... things are fuzzy,
and if you are too far away... dark.  The LED lighting on the lens is
very bright, but it's also very concentrated.  Therefore in a dark
cylinder, if you get too far away from the subject, it tends to get dark
all around.  There -is- a brightness adjustment on the LED and I was
constantly checking to make sure I hadn't accidentally dimmed the light.

The protective casing on the flexible neck is thin and easily damaged. 
In my attempt to get the neck bent into a u-shape inside the cylinder,
the protective coating rubbed on the threads of the spark plug hole and
cut into the sheath.  It wasn't bad but now when you run your hand down
the tube you can feel sharp bits which is a little annoying.

The software that comes with it allows you to take snapshots and video. 
It runs on Windows computers and I think there is a driver for MACs on
their website.  This was probably the cool part, having a nice large
streaming picture on a laptop screen while using two hands trying to
manipulate the darn thing.

It's inexpensive and I guess you pretty much get what you pay for.  I
don't know how the more professional borescopes work; if they have more
control over the lens head so you can flex it in specific ways or not. 
I don't know if they have an adjustable focus or not.  If they do, they
may be a much better investment for detailed examination of an engine
cylinder, piston, head and valves.

This is the product:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007ROP3FO/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Asa Jay

-- 
Asa Jay Laughton, MSgt, USAFR, Retired
& Shelley Marie
Spokane, WA
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