Some of you may recall my earlier post when I was trying to find a method of running the x and y remote display units from mains electricity rather than the two 1.5V batteries for which the units are designed to take. The essence of the problem is that you need both 3V to power the display and 1.5V to power the sensor.
I had a most helpful response from Peter in Australia and Sandy in Scotland. Peter was up to his neck with work so Sandy kindly undertook to design a circuit, which would do the job.
The outcome has been most successful and Sandy felt there may be other members who may like to put one of these devices together.
The DRO X and Y DRO displays on my mill now powered by my new dual output regulated supply.
Whilst the circuit schematic, as supplied by Sandy, gives full details of the necessary mains transformer and AC/DC rectification components, the good news is that you can avoid having to play around with the dangers of mains electricity by using a readily available cheapo AC/DC power adaptor. (As used to run radios or cameras etc. from the mains supply) having either a fixed, or adjustable DC voltage output.
Warning - I would at this stage like to make it clear that neither Sandy or I, can accept any responsibility for personal injury or damage to equipment should you decide to construct one of these units.
From a performance point of view the only minor downside is that, when you switch off, the reading isnt retained in the displays memory.
One final word of caution to anyone using these remote DRO display units, regardless of whether you are using batteries or mains derived power supply, it is important to remove the small cell battery in the scale sensor unit. I didnt appreciate the need to do this and as a result battery leakage damaged one of my sensor units.
Should anyone like a copy of Sandys schematic diagram, build notes and a list of components send me your email address via a pm on the site and I will send these on to you.
I purchased all my components from Maplins at a cost of around £20 (approx $40 US dollars). Adjustable voltage AC/DC power adaptors are readily available and I found a couple in original packaging at just £4.00 each at a local car boot.
I found that copper stripboard was ideal for the build. All the components were slotted loosely into position before soldering on the reverse side.
I used a crocodile clip as a heat sink.
Here are one or two pics of the completed dual voltage regulator unit with adjustable AC/DC power adaptor.
Min-din plugs and chassis sockets provide neat connections from unit to DRO displays. The final connection using choc-bloc connectors which slip conveniently into the battery compartment in the DRO.
I would like to thank Sandy for designing this useful unit and for his patience in guiding me thro the build of the prototype - thanks Sandy.
John S
I had a most helpful response from Peter in Australia and Sandy in Scotland. Peter was up to his neck with work so Sandy kindly undertook to design a circuit, which would do the job.
The outcome has been most successful and Sandy felt there may be other members who may like to put one of these devices together.
The DRO X and Y DRO displays on my mill now powered by my new dual output regulated supply.
Whilst the circuit schematic, as supplied by Sandy, gives full details of the necessary mains transformer and AC/DC rectification components, the good news is that you can avoid having to play around with the dangers of mains electricity by using a readily available cheapo AC/DC power adaptor. (As used to run radios or cameras etc. from the mains supply) having either a fixed, or adjustable DC voltage output.
Warning - I would at this stage like to make it clear that neither Sandy or I, can accept any responsibility for personal injury or damage to equipment should you decide to construct one of these units.
From a performance point of view the only minor downside is that, when you switch off, the reading isnt retained in the displays memory.
One final word of caution to anyone using these remote DRO display units, regardless of whether you are using batteries or mains derived power supply, it is important to remove the small cell battery in the scale sensor unit. I didnt appreciate the need to do this and as a result battery leakage damaged one of my sensor units.
Should anyone like a copy of Sandys schematic diagram, build notes and a list of components send me your email address via a pm on the site and I will send these on to you.
I purchased all my components from Maplins at a cost of around £20 (approx $40 US dollars). Adjustable voltage AC/DC power adaptors are readily available and I found a couple in original packaging at just £4.00 each at a local car boot.
I found that copper stripboard was ideal for the build. All the components were slotted loosely into position before soldering on the reverse side.
I used a crocodile clip as a heat sink.
Here are one or two pics of the completed dual voltage regulator unit with adjustable AC/DC power adaptor.
Min-din plugs and chassis sockets provide neat connections from unit to DRO displays. The final connection using choc-bloc connectors which slip conveniently into the battery compartment in the DRO.
I would like to thank Sandy for designing this useful unit and for his patience in guiding me thro the build of the prototype - thanks Sandy.
John S
.............. as I see your mill is the same as mine ............. what DRO are you using for X and Y .............. and Z 
