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A borescope is an optical instrument that is used for visual inspection
of the inside of a closed object through a small hole – for example to check
the cogwheels inside an engine – or for covert inspection of a room or area
that is currently in use, or to which one does not have direct access.
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The device typically consists of a flexible or rigid tube with an eye
piece at one end, an objective lens at the other, and a relay
optical system in between [2]. In the espionage trade, it
was often used for surveillance of an adjacent room, or for inspecting
the empty space inside an object before planting a
covert listening device (bug).
A borescope is also used as a countermeasures instrument, for example when
searching for hidden bugs
or explosives. The image on the right shows
a rigid borescope that was used by the
State Security (Stasi)
of the former DDR
[1].
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It is about 30 cm long and has a diameter of 8 mm. At the side is a removable
lens that allows a common
portable torch light to be used for illuminating
the inspected object, using an optic fibre around the relay system
to guide the light to the tip of the device. Similar tools are used to look inside the human body, in which case they are referred to as endoscopes 1 .
Generally speaking, there are three types of borescope: flexible, rigid
(like the on shown here) and video (camera) [2].
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In German, Borescopes and Endoscopes are both known as Endoskop.
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The diagram below shows how the borescope works. At the left is the eye-piece
which is similar to the eye-piece of a microscope. It has a focussing ring to
adjust the image of the object to the eye. At the bottom left is a removable
lens that is used to inject light into the optical system.
Inside the tube are two optical relay systems: an outer one to guide the light
from the removable inlet to the tip at the right, and an inner one to guide
the image from the objective lens at the tip to the eye-piece at
the left. It is suitable for inspecting small areas as well as large rooms.
When used in combination with an
inspection mirror (mirror probe kit),
it is possible to look around a corner inside a closed object
or behind ridges of a piece of furniture when searching for
bugs.
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- Detlev Vreisleben, DDR Borescope
Personal correspondence, September - October 2018.
- Wikipedia, Borescope
Retrieved October 2018.
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Sunday 07 October 2018. Last changed: Monday, 08 October 2018 - 09:22 CET.
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