Have you ever dropped something in your PC case, and then could not find it amongst the chips, resistors, capacitors and other various nooks and crannies? Next time, you can use this nifty USB Fever Borescope to find it.
The USB Fever Borescope is essentially a webcam with a long handle. The business end of this device has a pair of white LED’s that vary in brightness with the camera sensor in the middle. You can clip a magnet on the end of this which will also allow you to pick up ferrous materials like screws, batteries and more.
This device then attaches to your computer and uses any web cam program. The provided one works “OK” and also will detect the button presses letting you take pictures of what is near the end of the scope. The down side is that these pictures and video that captures is only 640×480 and very grainy. If you need something better for serious work on engines, or other uses where you might need a endoscope or borescope, then I would look elsewhere.
Sample Image from the borescope is below.
However, you can use this to get some unique pictures for web avatars and to help you find things in your couch or other hard to reach areas. It’s not the best in the world, but for $74 dollars, you can’t ask for more with this strange web cam.
Sample video from the borescope.
Linux Test
I tried this on Linux, and it did not work with the latest Ubuntu 9.04. However, the reason for this is a kernel issue. Ubuntu ships 2.6.28, which does not have support for the chip used in this borescope. Kernel 2.6.30 should allow you to use this with Cheese and other linux web cam programs. This means that Linux will eventually have support, and if you’re the hacker type, you can get it working now by compiling your own kernel. Odds are is the Linux driver will not support the camera button, but it will let you use the camera. The LED’s work regardless of the driver.
The USB Fever Borescope is available now on USBFever.com for $73.99.
What I liked: Unique web came for lots of different uses.
What needs improvement: Needs higher resolution.
