Up periscope!

Pitlamp

Well-known member
This might sound like a slightly wappy idea - but - does anyone know if it's possible to obtain a periscope about 1.5 m long to which a camera can be attached at the bottom?

This is to do with a sump we've been exploring. It's gone up from 10 m depth to about 1 m depth but there are some large and ugly boulders between the far point and the airspace. It'd be useful to get some idea of what happens in the airspace (as this may help fine tune the best route to take when excavating / making safe the choke).

Or would we be better off rigging up a video camera and a bright lamp on the end of a long stick?

I'm fishing for suggestions here . . . . (seriously!)
 

graham

New member
alanw said:
I've got one myself (he who dies with the most tools wins).

I think the actual winner is the one who dies with the most tools on loan to other people.  ;)
 

TheBitterEnd

Well-known member
So does it have to withstand 10m or can it be protected through the deep bit and then got out and used? I ask this because a lot of the waterproof compact cameras are good to a few meters but not 10m
 

Pitlamp

Well-known member
AlanW: that's a most generous offer - and it looks like an interesting gizmo.
What pressure can it withstand? (If it goes through the sump without protection it'd have to remain waterproof at 2 bars pressure (-10 m). However, as The Bitter End suggests, it may be possible to take the camera through the sump in a container and open the container at around 2 m depth.

I just picked up a phone message from someone else (Thanks Mr.X!) who suggests that Aquamole may have done something along these lines in the past, so I'm hoping he'll also see this topic and offer suggestions.

However, I have here an Olympus TG1 which will record video and will survive that depth unprotected (it's been to the end of the sump a few days ago). I also have a waterproof lighthead which will take dichroic bulbs up to 75 Watts - for which I think I have a long cable. So maybe I'm starting to answer my own question already . . . ?
 

Big Jim

Member
John, I think you might be better with your kit and a stick. The problem with low end inspection cameras/borescopes/endoscopes is that the cables aren't 'obedient' which isn't a problem over short distances but it can be a right faff getting 2m long flexible cable to go the way you want it to, I would imagine even more so in diving kit. Ive used them in tree cavities and building (looking for bats) and its a sod when you lose the image cos the camera has ended up poked in some muck and gets stuck to the end. If you've got a straight (ish) line of site up into the airspace, get a stick or something with a small degree of malleability that can be bent to shape if required.

I might have a word with Aquamole too as there's a draughty hole I want to look into.....

J
 

bograt

Active member
get a stick or something with a small degree of malleability that can be bent to shape if required.


A couple of Drain Rods?
 

Duncan Price

Active member
We've been using a underwater B&W CCTV camera on a 20 m umbilical cable to a CRT monitor at First Feeder in Cheddar  The lot is battery powered and portable though not cave proof.  The camera is attached to a bit of pipe and poked into various crevices to see if they "go".

I've got a pen cam in waterproof housing which is good to 20 m+ depth (http://www.veho-uk.com/main/shop_detail.aspx?article=225)
 

Duncan Price

Active member
braveduck said:
Duncan, have you had ago with rock net yet?

Not yet as it has been too wet to do any work!  I would have been useful the last time I actually did any digging as it would have saved me a trip to A&E...
 

Pitlamp

Well-known member
Cheers for posting Duncan - and others too.

I was in there again today, dealing with the results of a major collapse engineered on Saturday. There is now a hole big enough to get a person up through, rather than a just stick with a camera on. But it's all loose and hanging. So I think the best bet is to go directly for the scaffolding approach.

So,  if anyone up the Dales area happens to have any spare odds and ends of scaffolding that wants a good home . . . ?
 

alanw

Well-known member
It sounds as if you won't need it anyway, but for future reference I've now had an experiment with the inspection camera and read the manual carefully. The flexible shaft is 3 feet long, and IP67 waterproof (up to 90 cm it says), but the rest of the camera isn't rated. The shaft is flexible, yet stiff, it should go where it's pointed. The LED illumination is poxy - it's fine for looking under floorboards or behind washing machines, but no use at more that a couple of feethave an additional source of illumination.
 

Pitlamp

Well-known member
That's exactly the kind of PM I like to receive JRB - many thanks! (Have sent a reply.)

Thanks Alanw - useful to know the constraints of such things.
 
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