Dan,
I wish you well as you do a career change. Based on what you told me, my
first suspicion is that one of the camera's two contacts carrying power to
the camera lamps is not making good contact. Have you tested for light when
the Optacon is turned on? Here's something else to check: Set the Optacon
to invert and turn it on with the camera's opening shielded from light.
Turn the threshold clockwise just to the point where the array stops
vibrating. Next, Expose the camera to light such as that coming from a
known light on an appliance or other light source. If the Optacon responds
to light while in the invert position, I would lean even more toward the
idea that you have either a contact or lamp issue in the camera. I
Have on one or two occasions had a case where one of the contacts in the
camera was the culprit, and the fix was quite simple.
I wish you well as you learn to use the Optacon. I believe that the hardest
skill to master is that of camera hand-tracking on lines of a printed page.
I assume that by now you know at least the uppercase print letters and
hopefully the lowercase letters as well. When I learned Optacon, I was
taught based on three skills: hand-tracking, print character recognition,
and print format (paragraphs, columns, tables, etc. The hand-tracking was
the most difficult skill for me; my instructor told me that he had found
that the hand-tracking was the most difficult skill for most students. Take
your time; practice diligently but don't overdo that practice. If I had to
give you only one word of wisdom about Optacon learning, that word would be
PATIENCE!!! You'll likely need lot of it. Best wishes in your endeavor and
good luck in getting your Optacon working properly.
-----Original Message-----
From: optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Dan Tevelde
Sent: Wednesday, 13 September, 2017 7:30 AM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: Visual Display
Hi David,
Yes, the optacon is vibrating at the pitch you mentioned. The threshhold
and intensity buttons are working as expected. I think the issue is
probably the camera or the camera cable. Once I get the optacon fixed, I
will need to learn how to use it. I hope I am successful so I can make some
YouTube videos to promote the optacon. This may take me awhile though as I
have a web design course I need to complete.
I am primarily focusing on accessibility testing because that is what I need
to do to earn a living. My previous job of 26 years ended recently so I am
making a career change which is a challenge. I still am interested in the
optacon and other research projects I think would benefit the blind
community.
Thanks,
Dan
Sent from my iPhone
On Sep 12, 2017, at 7:51 PM, David Plumlee (Redacted sender "knobman" forDMARC) <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
something in the
I am an Optacon user since around 1980, and I have received Optacon
service from Richard Oehm. He has been quite busy of late, but he
does excellent work; I recommend that you check with him if you want
Optacon family repaired."light probes"
His phone number is 408 971-6250.
Although I don't know anything about checking the visual display, I
have a few remarks for you about the Optacon itself. You say that the
image on the array does not change as you move your camera over a page
known to have print; but what happens as you rotate the threshold knob
from its minimum to its maximum with the unit on? By the way, what
"note" is the Optacon producing? It should "play" something around
the pitch of the "B" just below Middle-C. If the note is very far
removed from that pitch, the Optacon probably won't work well, if at
all. If the normal/invert switch is in the Normal position, the pins
would normally stop vibrating when the knob is turned fully
counterclockwise, no matter where you had the intensity control set (I
suggest setting that Intensity control somewhere around the
1:00 position while checking as I am suggesting).
Now, if rotation of the threshold control produces normal array
behavior with respect to array vibration, I suggest that you find out
for sure whether the lights in the camera are working. If you have
light-detection software on an iPhone or if you have one of those handy
available from a few places selling items for the blind, test for
light when the Optacon is turned on. One problem which sometimes
prevents an Optacon from working properly is that of those tiny
contacts inside the camera failing to make good contact with the two
"pins" on the retina. Great care is REQUIRED if you do what I am
suggesting next: With the Optacon turned on, press VERY GENTLY on the
retina as if you were trying to push It a tiny bit more into the
camera module. DON'T PUSH ON THE CABLE! PRESS ONLY ON THE "FLAT"
PART OF THE RETINA CASE ABOVE THE CAMERA CABLE. If a contact in the
camera is not making good connection with the retina, this slight
pressure might cause the Optacon's lights to turn on and help achieve
normal behavior. If one of those tiny contacts is not making a good
connection, that contact can sometimes be bent out toward the retina's
pin. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DELICATE PROCEDURE, AND I HESITATE TO
MENTION IT BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO EMBOLDEN A PERSON NOT SKILLED IN
DELICATE ELECTRONICS WORK TO DO A PROCEDURE THAT WOULD DO FURTHER
DAMAGE TO THE CAMERA! But if you have that skill and want the
associated risk, you should first turn off the Optacon, then remove
the retina as if you were going to turn it over. With the
