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http://johnpropst.yolasite.com/resources/How%20to%20Make%20a%20Pretty%20Good%20Borescope%20for%20less%20than%20rev%203.pdf

This is a site that describes how to build an inexpensive boroscope that might be used to see how the wheels are lining up in a safe lock.

Locksmith sites sell boroscopes for safe opening costing over $1000.

I wonder how useful the DIY scopes might be to see the wheels in a safe lock?

I've played around with those chinese USB borescopes... image quality isn't bad (640x320 or something) however the problem I can't seem to get around is the delay in playback on the phone/tablet screen. There's a solid 1-2 second delay and many random pauses in the video feed, and it makes it really difficult to stop at the right place when you're turning a wheel and watching... you have to keep pausing to let the video catch up, and it becomes very annoying and tedious, and most often it gets slower the longer the app is kept running. The apps I tried (about 6 of them before I gave up) would run for 3-5 minutes before they were completely stuttery or simply crashed. Also some flip or mirror the feed, and that gets really confusing. Maybe a higher-end mobile device with a faster processor would help that some, but it's never going to be real time, which you would get with a proper analog borescope or even a digital borescope with all of its processing resources devoted to video throughput. There's just too much other background stuff going on on most phones/tablets.

Still tho, if you're just messing around, it's something to play with... you can get those cameras for under $10 and the apps are generally free. You might have better luck than I did...

I am using MScopes. The two problems I have with these cameras is:
1) Focus. If you are very near to a subject like it would be inside a lock, the image is really out of focus.
2) When the 90° mirror is attached and the internal light is switched on you see mostly the internal lights reflecting in the mirror and less the safe internals.

Having camera stuff is nice if you want to teach or share what you are doing, but in the real world it is just more stuff to carry and set up. The Mk1 eyeball on the end of a good quality scope, which can be bought quite reasonably second hand nowadays is what I would normally use. Also I prefer dedicated to stuff with mirror or prism tubes where possible. If I do want to take pictures or video I have a digital camera with scope attachment that will do stills or video.

some example shots

Have you tried on a laptop or desktop?

Yes, but really wasn't much better. The camera I got requires software specific to Android phones and didn't really want to cooperate with my Mac... video was mirrored and couldn't be switched, and it would crash if I tried to save video or pics.

Still, tho, I only paid something like $6 for it, so I don't really feel like it's not worth trying out... you may have better luck with a different brand phone or a windows computer.

After MUCH messing, TWO installations of malware and malicious software, I have found a way of getting the USB (pc version,not specifically the and Android version -- a result of me not reading the eBay description properly lol) Endoscope to work on anAndroid device --

The app (available through Google Play Store --and no I do not work for either lol)- is called

"USB WEB CAMERA"

I have included the app logo design in the attachments for anyone interested, along with a screenshot of the footage from the endoscope itself (obviously not the exact shot or in fact even a hugely helpful perspective of the wheel packs,tbh, but I don't particularly want to be drilling and ruining ANY of my safelock collection), but I hope you get the idea of the quality and functionality to the device from my screen grab anyway...

Here's a scope I've had my eye on for a while. The probe is under a quarter inch which I think would be small enough for most work. It looks like the price has dropped from about $100 to $82.50


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HPCPEOC/?coliid=I1E12MLC8EB85F&colid=3B94BRK7930XR&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it