Subject: Poor man's inspection camera
From: ACRE NL
Date: 3/5/2003, 10:51 AM

Bulent Aliev wrote:

I thought I would throw this out to anyone interested. I purchased a B & W Bullet Pinhole Camera
from http://www.eyespyvideo.com. This camera is low light, broadcast video quality, very small,
cost about $100 and runs on 12 vdc. They also come in color but not quite as low light.

I mounted mine to an inspection mirror handle, attached a super bright LED for a lighting source,
a small 12 volt monitor and a 12 vdc power source. It's such a small package I can carry it on the
plane and run it off the aircraft power. I was amazed the detail I could see. I also made a small
tool to adjust the lens so I could focus on objects as close as a few millimeters. I can now do
some of the airplane inspections in places that I could not get a mirror in. I also found it handy
to look at wire bundles and control cables once the panels were put back on to check for
clearances and chaffing.

If I see something of interest and want to monitor it over time I record it a VCR and compare the
video with additional inspections, so if you suspect a crack developing or something you can keep
track of it. It's also nice not having to remove the cowling everytime I want to check for oil
leaks, etc.

This camera is not small enough to fit in a cylinder (just a few milimeters too big in diameter),
however there are cameras that are small enough but they are more expensive. You can still put the
lens in the sparkplug hole and see most of the inside of the cylinder.

Charlie

Vari-Viggen
N31WW

 
The AirCraft Rotary Engine NewsLetter.  Powered by Linux.
ACRE NL web site. http://home.earthlink.net/~rotaryeng/            
Copyright 1998-2002 All world wide rights reserved.