Show your new toys Topic

craigbru

Cramming big things in small boxes since 2006
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Jul 2, 2015
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That looks EPIC

What an awesome machine. I just looked at their website, and wow is that a reasonable price, I expected a price three times as high.

Thanks guys. It's been a fun little project. It showed up in a dozen boxes totaling about 300 pounds. It's quality through and through, and the company has a great reputation.
 

Phuncz

Lord of the Boards
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May 9, 2015
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What an awesome machine. I just looked at their website, and wow is that a reasonable price, I expected a price three times as high.
I thought so as well but the extras needed add up to that price severely. Nice machine though, I wish I knew how to use one.
 

craigbru

Cramming big things in small boxes since 2006
LOSIAS
Jul 2, 2015
343
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I thought so as well but the extras needed add up to that price severely. Nice machine though, I wish I knew how to use one.

Right. The extras do add up. The base cost is just for the frame and rails. You need to add all the electrical components and motors, spindle mounts, cable track, proximity sensors, and in my case, I added the steel leg kit. Still, you end up with a very capable machine. One that should last as long as I'll ever want to use it.
 

jeshikat

Jessica. Wayward SFF.n Founder
Silver Supporter
Feb 22, 2015
4,969
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Got this in today:



It's the Pax Instruments T400, a 4-channel thermocouple temperature datalogger. I had gotten in on the early bird special for $125 during the Kickstarter. I've been using an Amprobe TMD-52 but it's only 2-channel and I've been wanting something with more channels and the ability to log data so the T400 should fit the bill nicely.



I'm not sure if the post-Kickstarter version comes with the same accessories but I got (from left-to-right) a type-K thermocouple probe, the T400, four general-use type-K thermocouples, 5V wall adapter, 256MB microSD card, and a MicroUSB cable (for charging the battery, which is replaceable BTW).

I don't have much need of it now since Project Nova is past the thermal testing stage but it'll come in handy for future projects. I went ahead and did a quick test to check the accuracy though, comparing it against the TMD-52:



Spot on :)

One thing I really like about the T400 is the LCD can display a graph of the 4 channels over time (albeit low-resolution), which is something you don't get even on much more expensive units.
 

Phuncz

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May 9, 2015
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@Aibohphobia that's probably going to be relevant for a certain prototype :D


From Conrad I got these crimp pins and buses (loose ones in images), which are remarkably like the ones I got from online modding shop (on reel). I also have some little higher quality ones (on reel, spaced further apart), but these cheap-ass ones crimp very nicely.

I also got a proper wire good for modding, finally I found the correct specs.

These are the order numbers for who's interested and lives in Germany or Benelux:
608458 --> H05Z-K 1x0,75mm black wire, stranded, PVC insulation
747987 --> Bus crimp for AWG 22-18
747999 --> Pin crimp for AWG 22-18
 

Phuncz

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May 9, 2015
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Too much awesome toys. When I'm seeing the first good racing game supporting this, I'm throwing my money like it's a Cerberus.
 

EdZ

Virtual Realist
May 11, 2015
1,578
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Ooh neat, a Pre! I've only had a chance to try the earlier Vive DK. Have they fused the cables yet (sleeving or shared insulator), or are they still individual cables Velcro-tied together?
 

lhl

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Nov 16, 2015
121
143
Oh cool! Not to start a flame war but any thoughts on Vive vs Rift?

They're both great. I feel like the Rift CV1 is still more polished - Oculus has done a lot of work trying to get the launch right, and the fabric/strap mechanism, all the HMD work is top notch. They've had a huge head start on ecosystem/software support, but HTC/Valve are being very aggressive, and have shown a lot of love (ie, I don't have a CB/CV1, so I've been working mostly in my Vive recently). The hand controllers and room scale is awesome, although I do think that setup for regular folk is definitely going to be an issue (also, I have a 2m x 2m space in the office, but still have issues w/ many of the SteamVR apps in dev that don't scale right). As far as flamewars, fanboys who are complaining about the price of the Rift I feel will be ... not buying a Vive anyway, lol.

/r/oculus has been slightly more contentious as of late, but is still a good place to get the latest info on all the various VR goings on for those interested in this kind of stuff btw.

Ooh neat, a Pre! I've only had a chance to try the earlier Vive DK. Have they fused the cables yet (sleeving or shared insulator), or are they still individual cables Velcro-tied together?

My VDK1's cables are "fused" - 3 cables glued except for the terminator, which is the same for the Pre. The differences is that the cables' hard-mounted into the HMD instead of w/ detachable connectors and are wrapped around the back over the head strap (which is now a 3 point stretchy harness that has a topstrap) Audio jack is at the back of the strap. The cables seem slightly lighter, also they have sharp Half Life orange accents on the terminators (and on the connector box).

Overall, the fit and finish (down to the super slick translucent packaging plastic) seems production ready. All the plastic is matte/soft touch/rubberized. I suspect the Vive consumer release will be very close to the Pre.
 

Phuncz

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As far as flamewars, fanboys who are complaining about the price of the Rift I feel will be ... not buying a Vive anyway, lol.
No idea how a flame war could start about that, it's not like the Vive has been promised to be much cheaper. In fact, the absolute silence about the price should be an indication it's not going to be cheaper.

I personally wouldn't care about which I would possibly get, I see myself as brand-agnostic and I look at the product and it's possible future. I believe more in a future with Valve since it's a gaming industry behemoth, but I know if Nvidia signs one of these exclusively or releases it's own, the playing field might again be skewed.
 

EdZ

Virtual Realist
May 11, 2015
1,578
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Remember that while Valve did a lot of development work* for the Vive and Lighthouse, It's HTC's product. I have no idea whether HTC would be willing to subsidise headset price as Oculus are doing (via their Facebook money-hose); on one hand they may need to in order to be price-competitive with Oculus, and to be honest headset sales are going to be so tiny for the first gen that any real loss is going to be tiny compared to HTCs other losses from their mobile device arm. On the other hand, HTC seem to be angling on VR pulling them out of their mobile-device slump and want it to "be a meaningful, uh, not just in revenue, but hopefully the profit generation, uh, contribution." for 2016, which doesn't sound like a first-gen loss-leader. Valve could be intending to subsidise sales via HTC I guess, though they don't have much reason to.


*All the low-persistance and OLED 'cutoff' driving modes developed at Valve also went over to Oculus, so both are starting from a nearly identical technology base. in terms of HMDs.
 

Phuncz

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May 9, 2015
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It's not SFF though, the space in between the screw holes is wasted and the cable isn't custom length. I'm affraid I'll have to remove that SFFN sticker as it doesn't meet our stringent criteria.
 

iFreilicht

FlexATX Authority
Feb 28, 2015
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I would really, really like to keep SFN as our acronym. SFFN might have a HDV (hight distinction value), but it's not a TLA (three letter acronym), so it's not as ETR (easy to remember).
 

Phuncz

Lord of the Boards
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May 9, 2015
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Thanks for saving us the huge amount of time with the acronyms, it really helped that you abbreviated those or we would have wasted an awful amount of time. I do prefer SFN too because it rolls out of my mind's tongue better when I type it, but SFFN is the OCD-approved abbreviated version of Small Form Factor dot Net. Also let us not forget that the letter F on the keyboard will now last twice as long when typing SFFN or SFN. It's all about efficiency !
 

PlayfulPhoenix

Founder of SFF.N
SFFLAB
Chimera Industries
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Feb 22, 2015
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I would really, really like to keep SFN as our acronym. SFFN might have a HDV (hight distinction value), but it's not a TLA (three letter acronym), so it's not as ETR (easy to remember).

FWIW, TLA's are ETR IMO, but AFAIK HDV FLA's that are 2G2B4G provide higher CPM's/GRP's since LSI captures UID's for SI/SEO purposes. BOCTAAE, TMTOWTDI and WYSIWYPF regarding SEP.