Touch DRO Features and Pin Question

[Citizen Smith]

I just installed a new Touch DRO and scales on my mill. It all seems to be working except the screen is lacking a couple features listed on the website. How do I get these working? The tablet is a Samsung Galaxy A7 Lite with Android 11.0 op system.

• Integrated calculator
• Centerline function

I could use a separate calculator but really need the centerline function. Here are a couple shots of the tablet screen.

Second question. My scales use 6 of the 9 pins.
pin 2 0v
pin 4 Cable Screen
pin 6 A
pin 7 +5v
pin 8 B
pin 9 Z

Touch DRO docs recognize 4, 5 and 8 pin configurations but only show how to connect the basic 4 pins and the additional A1 and B1. I understand Cable Screen is not well defined but Z is known. How should this be connected? I can't find this in the docs.

Bonus round. The settings list choices for horizontal and vertical mills. I have a universal. The horizontal choice seems to remove bolt pattern features. Although is would be rare the feature would be nice to have.

 

[ycroosh]

The centerline function is in the "Axis Details" (when the DRO is connected, press the axis readout. It will bring up the dialog with axis-specific functions).
The calculator is built into the input fields. I.e. you can type "1/32+0.5" into the "Set Dimension" field.

Newer Samsung "Experience" software has a lobotomized keyboard that doesn't respect the spec for input setting and doesn't show the extra characters. If you don't see the characters like the screen above, install Google Gboard from the play store.


The cable Screen needs to be tied to the ground on one end. Some scales have it connected in the head, If not, you can tie it to 0v. If your scales have a metal shroud, grounding it to the machine is sufficient.
Z is not used. There is no standard to what Z actually does. It can be a periodic pulse that is 1/2 the cycle of A/B, a single reference mark somewhere on the scale, reference marks spaced at some large interval, etc.

The new app handles machine types differently, so the "bonus round" will be fixed. There is some stuff here if you feel like reading: TouchDRO V3 Status Update - December 2021

Regards
Yuriy

 

[Citizen Smith]

The centerline function is in the "Axis Details" (when the DRO is connected, press the axis readout. It will bring up the dialog with axis-specific functions).
The calculator is built into the input fields. I.e. you can type "1/32+0.5" into the "Set Dimension" field.

View attachment 393646

Newer Samsung "Experience" software has a lobotomized keyboard that doesn't respect the spec for input setting and doesn't show the extra characters. If you don't see the characters like the screen above, install Google Gboard from the play store.


The cable Screen needs to be tied to the ground on one end. Some scales have it connected in the head, If not, you can tie it to 0v. If your scales have a metal shroud, grounding it to the machine is sufficient.
Z is not used. There is no standard to what Z actually does. It can be a periodic pulse that is 1/2 the cycle of A/B, a single reference mark somewhere on the scale, reference marks spaced at some large interval, etc.

The new app handles machine types differently, so the "bonus round" will be fixed. There is some stuff here if you feel like reading: TouchDRO V3 Status Update - December 2021

Regards
Yuriy

Sorry but I don't follow. Let's separate the questions. First, the centerline. In other dro's the steps are
1. select an axis
2. push the centerline button
3. find the first edge of a part and push Enter
4. Find the second edge and push Enter
5. Go to the "0" point on the readout

How does entering numbers in a circle radius work?

 

[ycroosh]

Centerline:

1. Find edge
2. Long-press Abs/Incr button next to the axis to set 0 (or zero at the bottom to zero out all axes)
3. Find the other edge
4. Press the readout for the axis (big green digits are a button)
5. Press "Center"
6. Go to the "0" point

Calculator:
Enter an equation into a numeric entry field (as show in the example of Hole Circle function)

 

[Citizen Smith]

Centerline:

1. Find edge
2. Long-press Abs/Incr button next to the axis to set 0 (or zero at the bottom to zero out all axes)
3. Find the other edge
4. Press the readout for the axis (big green digits are a button)
5. Press "Center"
6. Go to the "0" point

Calculator:
Enter an equation into a numeric entry field (as show in the example of Hole Circle function)

That looks like it might work but the display shows a red colored negative number which corrupts the calculation. I was playing with a tool offset and now cant clear it. Its there a document with instructions for users?

 

[ycroosh]

To clear the offset you long-press the offset button.
V2.5 doesn't have a proper manual. I'm writing one for the upcoming V3.

 

[ycroosh]

That looks like it might work but the display shows a red colored negative number which corrupts the calculation. I was playing with a tool offset and now cant clear it. Its there a document with instructions for users?

This is not quite a full manual, but I put together a short "Quick Start" guide that covers some of the most common questions I get. Here is the link: TouchDRO Quick Start Guide
Hopefully, it can help...
Regards
Yuriy

 

[sdavilla]

Ahh, bug "TouchDRO Keeps Disconnecting", and I though that was me doing something goofy. Good to know.

 

[ycroosh]

Well, it should not be dropping connection randomly. The bug I described has very specific behavior: if you power off the adapter and let TouchDRO time out, when you try to reconnect, TouchDRO will disconnect a few seconds after establishing the connection.
It used to be more common several years ago when most tablets still shipped with Android 4.x and many had lobotomized BlueTooth stack. You would not be able to reconnect without power cycling the BlueTooth chip or the whole tablet.
If your unit keeps dropping the connection randomly, there is either a problem with the power supply (i.e. the whole adapter just loses power and resets), or the BlueTooth module is failing.
Regards
Yuriy

 

[9t8z28]

That looks like it might work but the display shows a red colored negative number which corrupts the calculation. I was playing with a tool offset and now cant clear it. Its there a document with instructions for users?

Youtuber DaveM had made an instruction manual. I have not reviewed it in a while so I am not sure if what you are looking for is discussed.