Full Product Manual

INTRODUCTION
Thank you for purchasing General Tools & Instruments’ (General’s) DCS18HPART High-
Performance Wireless Recording Video Borescope System with VGA Resolution
Articulating Probe. Please read this user’s manual carefully and thoroughly before using
the instrument.
The DCS18HPART has two components: the DCS1800 Handheld Wireless Recording
Video Borescope Console and the P18HPART VGA Resolution Wireless Articulating Probe.
The P18HPART is 1m (39 in.) long and has a diameter of 6mm (0.23 in.). In addition to a
VGA resolution camera, the probe has three buttons on its controller that enable you to
brighten, rotate and remove reflections from video and images to improve their clarity
and readability.
You can expand the universe of probes compatible with the DCS1800 console to include
dozens of wired, non-articulating probes by purchasing General's DCS1800-TR Wireless
Probe Handle/Controller. The DCS1800-TR provides both the connector needed to
interface with a high-performance wired probe, and the transmitter needed to send the
video it captures to the DCS1800 console.
Two tables describing all probes compatible with the DCS1800 console can be found on
p. 19.
A thumbwheel on the right of the articulating probe
controller allows you to adjust the brightness of the
LEDs illuminating the camera at the end of the probe.
Articulation greatly expands the range of inspection
possibilities. Being able to change the probe’s viewing
axis in situ by up to 155° in two directions allows you
to see around corners or even “behind” the probe,
even in close quarters. Separately, the ability to detach
the monitor from the probe also increases application
flexibility by, for example, enabling two-handed
operation, as shown in the photo at right.
The DCS1800 console has three operating modes: Preview, Playback and Menu:
• In Preview mode, video framed by the camera’s field of view is displayed in real time
on the console’s LCD. The console automatically enters this mode when powered on.
A front-panel button allows you to double the size of a target (a zoom level of 2X). The
same button allows you to “mirror” video, making it possible to read serial numbers
seen and “reversed” by an attached probe with a mirrored viewing tip. In Preview
mode, real-time video also can be exported through an included video cable to any
NTSC- or PAL-format TV monitor with RCA input jacks.
Operating in Preview mode, the DCS1800 console also allows you to record inspection
video clips and photos at VGA (640 x 480 pixel) resolution on an included SD memory
card by pressing icon-labeled buttons on the console’s front panel. The remaining
front-panel buttons enable access to Playback and Menu modes.
• In Playback mode, you can browse the SD card for saved video and picture files and
view the media on the console’s LCD or a larger TV monitor. Video clips and photos
also can be viewed on a PC by removing the SD card and plugging it into the
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