Touch DRO features compared to Chinese DRO

Headrc

Headrc

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I have been educating myself on adding DRO to my hobby machinist Mill/Drill and keep coming back to the question of why TouchDRO over just buying one of the Chinese 3 axis mill/drill kits. It seems that going the TouchDRO way with using even the cheapest scales comes out to a higher price then the Chinese approach ...and the scales would still be Chinese glass as I understand it. So are there actual features in the Touch DRO other then the Bluetooth ability that need to be considered? I would have to buy everything to put together a TouchDRO...including an Android tablet because all of my regular computing is Mac OSX based. Thanks, Richard
 
A couple of google site searches will provide you with a bunch of answers to your questions.
DRO Discussion Threads
TouchDRO Threads
I went with Ali-Express for a 3-Axis and it has more than met my expectations.
TouchDRO is easy. You can snag a decent Android tablet off of eBay cheap.
I have a HP TouchPAD waiting to be put to use with TouchDRO when I can afford the board.
It has a nice large 1024x768 screen that IMO provides a better size that the newer Hi-Defs. I've loaded TouchDRO on it and it's nice.
 
Thanks ...and yes I have Googled TouchDRO ...as well as joined the forum on Yuri's site. But I am not finding anything that addresses this threads title. Again ...total cost looks like it could be more than a Chinese 3 axis ...so what are the features that make TouchDRo better?
 
Having a pair of Chinese DROs... I would suggest that the features are similar. What touchDRO may win at is ease of use and support. Some features on my DROs are a bit difficult to figure out and the documentation they provide is lacking. Overall I like them and they work well. But that's one area I suspect they would be easy to beat. I figure if the display dies, it will likely be replaced with touchDRO.
 
Thanks, that helps. That is actually one thing I was thinking might be a plus to TouchDRO ...no issues with screen dying and now the system is useless. Also the idea of support and possible upgrades. What is this like with TouchDRO ...from anyone that does use it? Does Yuri do improvements often? I joined the forums on his site and do not get the idea there is a lot activity/response to questions there.
 
Richard!
Haha... small world. I just sold you that Albrecht chuck.

Anyhow, I was in the same boat as you and received some advice on here (H-M) that I should just get a Chinese 3 axis DRO. So I ordered one from Siton Technology store https://www.aliexpress.com/store/1021179 It is run by Wilson Huang which most people have had good luck with. I however, have not. I received my DRO on Friday and he sent a 2 axis head instead of the 3 axis that I ordered. He wants to ship it back to him (just the head) at my expense, which will be a little over $50. I opened a dispute with AliExpress but I am not expecting much from it.

So I may entertain the BluDro again. The big draw for me when looking at it originally is the lack of wires running up to the head unit and having a nice display. Beyond that, I am not sure of any benefit. In fact, having the bluetooth connect every time could be problematic IMHO because that protocol is not perfect. If I were to do it over again, I would order a DRO from Precision Matthews and be done. He takes care of any issues and has fantastic service. You could also go the DRO Pros route, but they are expensive for same Chinese DROs that you can get from AliExpress, but then again they take care of any issues.
A rather rambling post but hope this helps.
 
Thanks Neil. I wonder if someone here could address the BluDRO connection and give some feedback on dependability. I know abut wireless problems :) I will check out that suggestion regarding PM.

The Albrecht BTW works great. The only issue really was that that shank does not appear to be a JT6 because I bought wedges for that and they did not work. Instead I bought an R8 5/8" collet and cut the shank down and all is good with that setup. I have a feeling that the shank is actually a JT4. Thanks again for all you do. Richard
 
Glad you got it working. Sorry again about that error.
 
I have the Blu set up and like it. I am running it with Igaging stainless magnetic scales. I use a cheap amazon Fire table $45 and it works very well. I am about 60' from my router and outside the house in my shop blue tooth and internet connectivity has not been an issue so far. The only issue I have had with it was flicker but that was solved with a better wall wort. I may be wrong but I don't think my scales are acurate to tenths so I don't use the tenths display just the thousandth with no flicker. I think that the flicker I get in the tenths display is some what due to lack of rigidity.
 
Thanks Kenny. That begs a question. In my shop there is no internet connection and probably will not be. I did not think of this but is Internet connection a requirement for the Blue DRO? Those Igaging scales are not truly magnetic from what I understand ...is that true?
 
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