Definitely tracking is the hardest skill to develop. It
might be a good idea if you got a print book, maybe text
book, to lay across the material you are reading. Use it as
your top for scrolling across the line. It is almost
impossible, in the beginning not to skew down. One does not
realize it is happening. Going straight across has to be
developed. Once you are sure that your Optacon is working,
it would be good to spend a couple of hours a day, at least,
for several months. It should take about two years to get up
to your full capacity with it.
When Optacon training was given, 40 or 50 hours was
required, which I took. Then, at home every night, I would
spend an hour or two reading a novel, since that would be
fairly easy and interesting. In the meantime, I was using it
at work, so that helped me acquire a better skill level. It
was something that I wanted really, really bad. We mortgaged
our house to get it for me.
Best from,
Carolyn
-----Original Message-----
From: optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of David
Plumlee (Redacted sender "knobman" for DMARC)
Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2017 6:08 PM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: Visual Display
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 (Redactedsender "knobman"
forDMARC) <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
received Optacon
I am an Optacon user since around 1980, and I have
service from Richard Oehm. He has been quite busy oflate, but he
does excellent work; I recommend that you check with himif you want
Optacon family repaired.display, I
His phone number is 408 971-6250.
Although I don't know anything about checking the visual
have a few remarks for you about the Optacon itself. Yousay that the
image on the array does not change as you move your cameraover a page
known to have print; but what happens as you rotate thethreshold knob
from its minimum to its maximum with the unit on? By theway, what
"note" is the Optacon producing? It should "play"something around
the pitch of the "B" just below Middle-C. If the note isvery far
removed from that pitch, the Optacon probably won't workwell, if at
all. If the normal/invert switch is in the Normalposition, the pins
would normally stop vibrating when the knob is turnedfully
counterclockwise, no matter where you had the intensitycontrol set (I
suggest setting that Intensity control somewhere aroundthe
1:00 position while checking as I am suggesting).array
Now, if rotation of the threshold control produces normal
behavior with respect to array vibration, I suggest thatyou find out
for sure whether the lights in the camera are working. Ifyou have
light-detection software on an iPhone or if you have oneof those
handy"light probes"
available from a few places selling items for the blind,test for
light when the Optacon is turned on. One problem whichsometimes
prevents an Optacon from working properly is that of thosetiny
contacts inside the camera failing to make good contactwith the two
"pins" on the retina. Great care is REQUIRED if you dowhat I am
suggesting next: With the Optacon turned on, press VERYGENTLY on the
retina as if you were trying to push It a tiny bit moreinto the
camera module. DON'T PUSH ON THE CABLE! PRESS ONLY ONTHE "FLAT"
PART OF THE RETINA CASE ABOVE THE CAMERA CABLE. If acontact in the
camera is not making good connection with the retina, thisslight
pressure might cause the Optacon's lights to turn on andhelp achieve
normal behavior. If one of those tiny contacts is notmaking a good
connection, that contact can sometimes be bent out towardthe retina's
pin. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DELICATE PROCEDURE, AND IHESITATE TO
MENTION IT BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO EMBOLDEN A PERSON NOTSKILLED IN
DELICATE ELECTRONICS WORK TO DO A PROCEDURE THAT WOULD DOFURTHER
DAMAGE TO THE CAMERA! But if you have that skill and wantthe
associated risk, you should first turn off the Optacon,then remove
the retina as if you were going to turn it over. With the
