Igaging products

[ycroosh]

My apologies for I have apparently confused you and the blu dro people. Are your boards the same? It’s the blu touch dro company that has listed stock to be on back order with no information of when available and not returning my email request for information. I have 3 igaging absolute Dro on my mini mill and as so many others two of them jump in readings. I have used battery, separate power supplies and also a hard wired 120-12&1.5 converter. My light is 12 volt ring light around the spindle. I wanted to continue not having to have four separate wall warts hanging off the back of my mill. I have been curious about the touch dro hoping that it would cure my problem. Can you provide me with some information on the product you offer and the cost please. Thanks for your time

No worries; people confuse me with Blu-DRO all the time . I just replied to your email.
Regarding Blu-DRO: it's a separate "company" run by a gentlemen by the name Al. He used to buy boards from me and put them into a 3D printed box. He disappeared around April (not responding to my emails or picking up his phone), so I don't know if he is OK or not. A few weeks ago I started offering a kit that includes a 3D printed box here: Wireless DIY DRO Adapter for iGaging Scales with 3D Printed Box. It's basically all ready to go; you just need to put the board into the box and tighten four M3 screws.
Hope this helps
Yuriy

 

[MikeG]

Hi all

I have a 6" Igaging caliper, it's hands down the best I've ever had. I also use Mitutoyo and B&S.

MikeG

 

[werowance]

Have to try this, I've got a set of Mitutoyo calipers that have been at the bottom of a drawer for a decade+ that had the same issue.

L98Fiero, if you try it please let us know how it does. I still have the igaging handheld caliper that jumps frequently. I just keep an eye on it when I use them because its always .400 when it does jump and that's a pretty big leap when I'm usually just measuring .250 or something. if it works for you I think ill try taking mine apart and attempting it. I have other calipers that don't do this - also igauging brand just different models though.

also, here is the website that I saw that scotch tape trick on - it wasn't reddit like I was remembering. but it wasn't for igauging brand. I figure same principal though.

https://woodgears.ca/caliper/

 

[haakonpe]

iGaging scales are designed to be used with battery power and single display, so they don't have any power supply conditioning circuitry in the reading head. When they are used in pairs or triplets on a machine, the cables form ground loops that act as antennas. I was helping a local guy to troubleshoot TouchDRO issues and we measured over 5V spike on the ground line on one of the sales. The result was a momentary reversal of power supply (Ground = 5V, Vcc = 3.3V).
Thre are really two common ways to fix it: use a mains-isolating power supply (a wall wart with a transformer) or, as you suggested, isolate the scales from the machine's frame. More intermittent issues can be usually fixed by adding 0.1uf or 0.01uf bypass capacitors between Vcc and Ground, either on the board or in the scale.

For future reference, here are a few resources for dealing with scale stability issues in a TouchDRO (or similar) setup:
Avoiding Common DRO Scale Problems
Reliability Issues with iGaging Digital Scales
Three Ways to Improve iGaging DRO Scales Reliability

Regards
Yuriy

The wall wart did the trick for me - Yuriy - Thank you for all you do!

 

[gbritnell]

I started out with an early Enco mill/drill. Now I'm talking 1976. The quality at that time was pretty good, for a Chinese machine. With the work that I do, stepping off shapes, I couldn't use the hand wheel dials so I bought scales, stainless steel, and a reader head with 2 axis readout from Shars. I installed them and never had a minutes problem with them. As I mentioned, this is the second Igaging scale and it does the same thing. As some have suggested you get what you pay for! It's not a matter of money, I have DRO Pros readouts on my new mill but just didn't want a large readout box for one axis on my lathe, plus the space to install the larger scale. If I was alone with my problem I would say ok I have to go another way but it seems like they, Igaging, have a problem and only want to make money with no support whatsoever. My rant!
gbritnell

 

[mu38&Bg#]

I have a Fowler caliper that is usually at my desk. It started waking up to random positions occasionally. Another in my shop doesn't do this, ...yet

 

[ShopShoe]

gbritnell,

I think I understand where you are coming from....... Sounds like some of my decision-making......

I agree that ANY company that doesn't even want to acknowledge that users want to talk to them is lower in consideration for any future business.

However, It seems that you spent some time deciding how you want to address your own needs for a specific installation and want to do whatever comes closest to that.

I have not been aware of the blu-DRO. I have been aware of Yuriy's work. I think there are a lot of suggestions here regarding making the igaging products work, but I probably would not want to spend down my reservoir of patience when it is needed for solving actual machining problems. I have not discarded my un-installed scale and may revisit it someday: I've added it to the pile on my electronics bench. I just won't put it back on my mill.

I guess, in your situation, I might just buy another SS igaging unit, power it with a wall wart or other power supply than the internal battery, and also get a spare one so I could install it when things got crazy again.

I am intrigued by Yuriy's solution, and LMS sells a package with the scales and a tablet (last I looked), but I see myself having problems with that, too.

Another option that is interesting is the Shooting Star system, and I was surprised that Keith Fenner chose to put that system on a lathe. (see his Rutland Lathe rebuild series on YouTube) I believe it used rack-and-pinion readers. I have been hesitant to go that way because I have more or less decided that I will have to pay for what I want and I'd rather wait until I can than try any more less expensive approaches that might have more problems.

Good Luck with whatever you try and please let us know.

--ShopShoe

 

[jpigg55]

I joined your forum to access this thread.
Some friends and I have recently decoded the algorithm used for the original iGaging Absolute DRO scales and created a sketch for use with the Arduino platform to make them compatible with Yuriy's Touch DRO App. A sketch for the TI mSP Lauchpad platform will follow shortly after the release.
We are currently finishing the detailed write-up and shield build instructions for release to the wild.
We are wanting to gauge interest to decide the best platform to release the information on. Yuriy has agreed to post a link on his site for the location once it's posted. This should be happening within the next few weeks.
If anyone here still has these scales and wishes to use them with Touch DRO, send me an email to [email protected] and just type "igaging absolute" in the subject line.
This is just for a number count to decide what platform will be best suited for the release

 

[dethrow55]

hello been trying to get back to installing igaging absolute +dros on my taig mill (health issue) was wondering what are all the holes for in the back of the scales for? also have igaing absolute 6 inch caliper which is great. also have digital micrometer but the battery all ways drains just sitting around on off ? oh well. will be posting some pics of the scale setup soon the mini mill is rather tricky to setup.i believe ive got it licked. good day all

 

[jpigg55]

Sorry, I'm not familiar with the iGaging Absolute Plus scale version. These are the scales iGaging replaced the original ones with.
The "Plus" version uses a BCD coding (Binary Coded Decimal), the original scales used a 3-track Pure Binary coding scheme.
The Plus version is already supported by Touch DRO and available at Yuriy's Toys (creator of Touch DRO App). You might be able to find more info there.

My posting was targeted to those, like myself, who purchased the original version scale with the intention of using them with the Touch DRO App only to find out they weren't compatible. For those with the original scales, this is now a possibility.

 

[Rotormac]

but the battery all ways drains just sitting around on off ?

It may have already been discussed but budget digital calipers and scales do not in fact turn off when the on/off key is pressed. This can be verified by moving the device while "powered off" and checking the reading when repowered. only the display blanks, the processor remains live. Battery life is typically a year or so.

 

[BaronJ]

It may have already been discussed but budget digital calipers and scales do not in fact turn off when the on/off key is pressed. This can be verified by moving the device while "powered off" and checking the reading when repowered. only the display blanks, the processor remains live. Battery life is typically a year or so.

This is like the battery operated drills, where the battery goes flat in a few days.

I've found that the speed control trigger circuit leaks current and flattens the battery ! Charging the battery and not putting it back into the drill, I've found that the battery is still charged months later.

Though if there is a bad cell the voltage may have dropped by a volt or so.

 

[jpigg55]

It’s finally ready. We now have a sketch to take the data from the original iGaging AbsoluteDRO scales that will transmit it in a usable fashion to TouchDRO.
Our little team then developed controller build instructions along with the sketch code for use with Arduino and Arduino type MCU’s and constructed both a website detailing this information and a Google Groups support page.
The website is here: TouchDRO Main
Links to the Google Groups support page are on the website.
It’s been a long road, but there is now a way to use the original iGaging AbsoluteDRO scales with TouchDRO.

 

[dsage]

Do you have a schematic for your scale interface?
There's a pretty high chance of making a mistake building from your perf board pictorial instructions. A schematic is essential to check ones work against what it is you are trying to accomplish.

 

[jpigg55]

Yes we do or at least Brian was working on one.
I think we all got wrapped up in getting the website and feedback forum ready that we forgot to add it.
Thanks for the reminder DSAGE.

 

[dsage]

Can you put a link to it here. Or at least let us know when it's added to the website?
Thanks

 

[kwoodhands]

I have two on the mill Y&Z axis. Also one on a drill press and two on a lathe. For 5or more years I had no problems. Until Monday I had problems with the Z axis on the drill press and the X on a lathe.
I tried several things, first I isolated the scale from the brackets with electrical tape. This helped on the lathe. On the DP no need to isolate the scale as The brackets did not touch metal.
I then cut the wire in two places to shorten it. There are 4 wires and a ground . I bought solderless connectors and installed them to splice the wires together by heat shrinking. At first I was going to solder the splices but stripping insulation from these small wires looked like a problem.
I wound up buying a Klein wire stripper that will strip very small wires. After stripping about 1/2" of insulation from each wire I pushed them into each connector. I set up a heat gun and shrunk the material as the solder melted . The kit I bought also came with sleeves that fit over the connectors. I slid these on first a few inches away from the connectors until the connections were done. Then wrapped the wires with electrical tape. I tried the the display on the DP. Worked perfect. I will do the same on the lathe in a day or too.
By the way I got the information on Yuriy 's website. I was ready to trash both digital scales until I read the info on his site, thanks Yuriy