The EAGLE has landed (well, almost)

The ShumaTech DRO-550

I need to open this blog with a full disclosure. Wildhorse Innovations (and therefore myself) cannot be considered an impartial observer where the DRO-550 is concerned. We sell, among other things, the DRO-350. The potential for the DRO-550 to have an impact on our sales is undeniable.

We always encourage reader comments and feedback. But especially in this instance we welcome you to point out any bias you find in our writings. Any reader is free to express differing opinions, and most especially, correct any factual errors found herein.

With a speed that has surprised many, the DRO-550 has been announced and advance orders for a "Power-Buy" have been submitted in, what might be called, "record time". Once the magic 100 piece mark has been reached, delivery is estimated at 4 weeks. The last information we have indicates that well over 200 orders WITH DEPOSITS have been made. That would seem to indicate that the Power-Buy is moving forward and will be a greater success than anyone had predicted. (Perhaps I shouldn't include Scott in that statement. He may have had an idea how big it would be.)

Scott has announced a cutoff date of January 20th for the Power-Buy, so there is still time to submit your order. Missing this Power-Buy could either make it necessary to wait for a future Power-Buy, or put you at the mercy of speculators who have purchased extra boards to be sold at a premium price.

Inside the DRO-550

The DRO-550 is a device comprised primarily of surface mount components. This puts it outside the normal definition of a DIY project. But this technology was necessary to load all the technology found in the DRO-550 onto a board that is the same basic size as the DRO-350. My understanding is that the reason for wanting to match the DRO-350 form is to allow current DRO-350 owners to pull out the old board and plug in the new DRO-550.

Little compromise was needed to accomplish this goal. The LED displays have been changed from Common Cathode to Common Anode so the LED displays can't be transferred from one board to the other, but I'm not sure this is a realistic process anyway. Removing the LED displays without damage is not a trivial task. Besides, the $7.50 cost for new displays really is a small price to pay when all the other improvements are considered.

The switches have also be changed, however the switch caps remain the same.

Bottom line is, in my opinion, build the DRO-550 as a completely new unit. Move your DRO-350 to a different machine or sell it on eBay.

The DRO-550 has another major change. It is now a 4 layer board (the DRO-350 is a two layer board). So between being built with surface mount components and having a 4 layer board, the DRO-550 is not only not a DIY board when it comes to construction, but it is also not a DIY board when it comes to most repairs. Ideally the repair of this type of board requires specialized equipment which is usually accompanied by pretty high shop rates (in the neighborhood of $60.00/hr).

Warranty

According to the ShumaTech web site, this board is sold without a warranty of any kind. This policy has not been clarified as it relates to DOA product. As it reads now, if you get a DOA board you're just out of luck.

There is also no statement as to whether or not post production testing is performed.

This same disclaimer of warranty also applies to the software, OpenDRO, which makes sense since almost all Open Source software is offered without warranty.

I hope that Scott is ordering a few extra boards to handle the potential DOA issue. Unless thorough post production testing is being done, the chances are reasonably high that a least one board out of the several hundred that are going to be produced will have problems "out of the box".

Making it work

The DRO-550 board is just one component in a list of components needed to make a working DRO.

The board contains the surface mount components, but a collection of through hole components is also needed. These through hole components are available as an extra cost item (at a very good price) when you purchase your DRO-550 board. I would recommend that unless there is something you want that is not found in the standard through hole component kit (such as green LED displays) you take advantage of the Power-Buy pricing for these items also.

As an aside, the switches that are contained in the through hole kit, are not through hole devices. I suspect the cost of having them placed on the board using automated methods would have raised the cost of the board disproportionately, so Scott is offering them for manual mounting with the through hole components.

Next you need some internal cables. These cables connect the headers on the board to the back of the plastic case. Which cables you need will vary with how you configure your DRO-550, but at the very least you will need a couple of internal scale cables and an internal power cable. Wildhorse offers these individually, or in kits for the most common configurations. Technically you can make your own internal cables, but I don't recommend it. Getting a reliable connection to the MTA connectors is a real pain without the proper tooling. You can buy a $10.00 or so "manual" tool, but I've used one and not only is it a pain, it's a real crap shot as to whether you will get a good connection.

Now it's time for the case. The case of choice is the Hammond 1599HBK. This is a black, fire resistant case that will stand the abuse heaped upon many components in machine shops. Again Wildhorse offers this item, either as a semi-custom case machined specifically for the DRO-550, or as on off the shelf item which you machine yourself.

Another quick side note. With the DRO-350 and the DRO-350/DPU-550 combination, the case could be machined with just two "operations", one operation to machine the front and one to machine the back. But the DRO-550 has the USB port on the end of the board and thus requires a third operation. This adds time to the machining process and thus adds to the cost of the machined case. This is reflected in the price of the case on our web site.

Next you will want a "faceplate" or "overlay". These are identical to those used on the DRO-350. As always, those offered by Wildhorse come with pre-applied adhesive eliminating the messy "spray adhesive" technique.

You can't operate all of this without a power source. Wildhorse offers the standard 9vdc 1.2amp power source that has been used for years on the DRO-350. This power supply is ample for all but the most demanding operation. If you're going to be running five glass scales, you might want to run the numbers using Scott's formulas as found in the DRO-550 hardware manual. Chances are you will require a higher amperage.

And the last two items are what the DRO is all about, the scales (and the cables that connect them to the DRO-550). The DRO-550 is a very flexible unit and will work with just about any scale on the market. The "Chinese" scales are generally the most economical for smaller installations. But when you start to look at equipping a BridgePort with a 42" table, the gap closes.

Each of these areas will be discussed in more detail in future blogs. Hopefully the information contained here-in will be enough to get you started with the planning for your personal installation of the DRO-550.

Visit http://www.wildhorse-innovations.com for the parts and accessories to complete your DRO-550.

As always, you comments are welcome.

Gary