mcracco Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 (edited) I have 3 caliber swaps for my 1050; 9mm, 45ACP, and most recently .223. All 3 toolheads have the Dillon Powder Check System. While this thing is clever and works, I never trusted it 100% as there are a lot of moving parts. There have been times when I am humming along and I realized something is misaligned and the buzzer would not have sounded if there was a problem. It didn’t concern me with the straight wall cases as I am manually placing bullets and I look at the powder level on each stroke. But it is very difficult to inside a .223 case to verify powder charge. And for some reason the Powder Check System on my .223 setup seems more finicky than the others. Seemed to me this would be a perfect place for a small video camera to make inspection easier. There are a plethora of inexpensive inspection cameras available and most are small enough to be mounted in a 1050 toolhead. Trouble is, 99% of them are USB interface. That’s not going to work as I not geeky enough to put a laptop on my loading bench. I did find one source for a 8mm camera with LED light and a 7” monitor but the camera was $400 and with monitor and misc. cost would be $600. Too much. The other option is to use a borescope type setup. The problem with that approach is the camera is connected to the body with a gooseneck, most are battery operated, and a good one can get pricey. I searched for quite a while and I finally took a chance on a slightly used Cen-Tech Model 67980 inspection camera on eBay for $110. Camera head is 8.5mm so it will fit anywhere, screen is decent size at 3.5” and it has an AC charger so I don’t have to mess with batteries. The challenges are now to mount the head and body. I struggled with how to mount the camera head as the mount needs to be ridged to prevent gooseneck from moving head during cycling. Took a while but I finally realized the simplest approach was to use the existing parts. There is a section urethane hose to center the head in the bushing in the toolhead. Then I just removed the parts from the Dillon Powder Check System to get at the cast body. A couple of .625 OD X .250 ID spacers with a ¼” bolt was all that is needed to get the height to mount a bracket and cable clamp. Works great. For the body I got a sheet of Kydex and formed a holder. The mount is a PanaVise 717-06 ($9.99) which allows the assembly to be easily positioned. Originally I was thinking mount the base to the machine but I realized there really is no need. I have it screwed to a piece of plywood and it stays put. As I sit at the machine I have the screen positioned just in back of the bullet seating position. My eyes are already focused there and it is easy to see powder level in the case. Good field of view from the camera too; with no powder you can clearly see the anvil in the primer through the flash hole. So there you have it – $125 and no modifications to the 1050. Actual view is much better than it appears as I am getting a lot of glare from overhead lights in picture. Edited August 26, 2013 by mcracco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelindsey Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 Pretty cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punxsutawn Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Amazing! Thanks for the idea. I'll build one as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcracco Posted September 2, 2013 Author Share Posted September 2, 2013 Update…. I processed a good size batch of .223 so I had a chance to really test the value of the powder inspection station. Here’s what I found: No powder – I had a couple of weird upstrokes and when that happened no powder dropped. Very obvious on the monitor but not so obvious from the feel that it would have been a powder measure issue. Problem got worse as I went on and I found the mounting screws for the powder measure had loosened which caused it to tilt and not fully cycle. Split neck – I was surprised by this one. I wasn’t looking at the mouth of the case but something looked off so I pulled the case and sure enough the neck was split. Low powder – I think I was too busy troubleshooting the powder measure linkage issue that I didn’t notice hopper was empty. Second to last round in the run showed up on the monitor with a very low powder level. I think it is safe to say if I had been using the Dillon buzzer setup one or two of the bad rounds would have slipped by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotLoad Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 This is a great idea. If someone had a low cost setup for this I would buy one. J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcracco Posted September 2, 2013 Author Share Posted September 2, 2013 Harbor Freight has the Cen-Tech Model 67980 for $200 but I see them on eBay for a little over $100. http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=Cen-Tech+Model+67980&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.XCen-Tech+67980&_nkw=Cen-Tech+67980&_sacat=0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotLoad Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 I am intrigued by this setup. Mcracco could you post a video of your setup in action? Any others have a similar but different setup? Thanks Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcracco Posted September 5, 2013 Author Share Posted September 5, 2013 Hmmm...was about ready to do a caliber change back to 9mm. Maybe I could do a short run to finish up the primers loaded on the machine. Give me a couple days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcracco Posted September 7, 2013 Author Share Posted September 7, 2013 (edited) Not great but you get the idea. Last few frames shows a round with no powder. Edited September 7, 2013 by mcracco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotLoad Posted September 7, 2013 Share Posted September 7, 2013 Thanks Mcracco, love the idea. Gonna keep my eye out for one of these cameras. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BullyDog Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 Here is my setup. Found this 9mm color camera at Home Depot on clearance for $59.00 Works great with a zip tie to the case feeder stand. Currently I have it setup to inspect 45 acp, when I use it on the rifle cases I just insert it in the powder check die. I used a set of rubber o-rings to hold it in place. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcracco Posted September 11, 2013 Author Share Posted September 11, 2013 Nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 Here is my setup. Found this 9mm color camera at Home Depot on clearance for $59.00 Works great with a zip tie to the case feeder stand. Currently I have it setup to inspect 45 acp, when I use it on the rifle cases I just insert it in the powder check die. I used a set of rubber o-rings to hold it in place. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD That is a nice tricky setup! It would also work great for guys loading wimp loads in 38 special cases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smeeg Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 I know this thread is old but has anybody done this on a 650? If so what camera Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerBaron Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 IpscAlex.com has a setup made for this. Has 2 camera heads. One to monitor case or bullet feeder one to monitor toolhead. Looks like a decent system. I've bought other stuff from his site and service was excellent. http://ipscalex.com/collections/tools-and-maintenance/products/ammo-vision-reloading-accessory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcracco Posted March 6, 2015 Author Share Posted March 6, 2015 (edited) I must have moved the pics in my original post and can't get in to edit so here they are for reference: Edited March 6, 2015 by mcracco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smeeg Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Mcracco does it take up a station on your press? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smeeg Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 I wonder if you can see into .223 cases with this system? http://ipscalex.com/collections/tools-and-maintenance/products/ammo-vision-reloading-accessory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDA Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 I wonder if you can see into .223 cases with this system? http://ipscalex.com/collections/tools-and-maintenance/products/ammo-vision-reloading-accessory I had the same question. Where they show the camera located, I'd say no way. But if you could locate it up higher and over the case it might but you also would need sufficient lighting shining into the case as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcracco Posted March 8, 2015 Author Share Posted March 8, 2015 (edited) Mcracco does it take up a station on your press? Look at the second picture; camera is in station 6 where powder check normally would be and uses Dillon powder check body. Edited March 8, 2015 by mcracco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcracco Posted March 8, 2015 Author Share Posted March 8, 2015 I wonder if you can see into .223 cases with this system? http://ipscalex.com/collections/tools-and-maintenance/products/ammo-vision-reloading-accessory Kinda hard seeing into a .22 cal hole from an angle. Camera needs to be directly overhead and have a light source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerBaron Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Yeah I think you could make it work with the ammovision. You'd have to mount the camera in the station after powder drop and add an led light on the toolhead beside it but then it might work. The way they mount it in the vid at least allies you to keep station 3 for a powder check or bullet feeder. If you mount it above that option is gone on a 650. Not a problem on a 1050 though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smeeg Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 (edited) You guys think this borescope for $20 would work then you could plug it into your smartphone/tablet idk if it could auto focus fast enough. The reviews seem to be good and if it doesn't work id only be out $20 I think it's small enough in diameter to go through the hole that the powder check actuaition rod would normally go through and not lose a station? http://www.amazon.com/DBPOWER-Waterproof-Borescope-Endoscope-Inspection/dp/B016DEZI8U/ref=sr_1_1?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1452942904&sr=1-1&keywords=Bore+scopes Edited January 16, 2016 by Smeeg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smeeg Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 (edited) Hole In the bottom right of this picture Edited January 16, 2016 by Smeeg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smeeg Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 (edited) Edited November 10, 2016 by Smeeg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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