Re: Turn your Trav-A-Dial into DRO kit proposal

Eric R Snow wrote:

I've been learning about encoders. All the DROs use some kind of
encoder. There many encoder schemes. I like Trav-A-Dials because I can
watch the needle go round and round lots easier than watching a
digital display increment. On the other hand a digital display doesn't
suffer from parallax. Best is both. So, after a little research I
figured out how to add a digital encoder and display to a Trav-A-Dial.
This mod would require reversible modifications to your own
Trav-A-dial that anybody here could do. It could be set up to be
battery operated with the digital display located at the Trav-A-Dial
and a battery life of about 150 hours. Or it could be set up with a
remote digital display connected by a cable to the Trav-A-Dial. The
remote display would be powered by a wall wart. The display would NOT
remember where it is when the power is off, such as when changing
batteries. Anyway, it looks like I can retail these things for around
$100.00 US. If demand was high enough this could be lowered
substantially. So, anybody interested? Should I try to develop this?
Thanks,
Eric R Snow,
E T Precision Machine

Please think about including a hold-up capacitor in the power supply circuit that'll keep it going at least for a while -- having a power line "blip" reset the thing in the middle of a cut would be a royal pain.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com
.