DRO

Has anyone bought this

**LINK**

It does say its 60 cycles (50 for UK use), I don't know if that would make a difference ?

• Voltage range: AC85V~250V,50HZ~60HZ

Wont make any difference, the power supply is of the switch mode variety, capable of operating over a wide voltage range, hence the 85-250v figures.....

I have a "Sterling" branded DRO on my mill. It looks almost identical to the unit that you are looking at. I don't know how it compares on price as the DRO was fitted to the mill before I bought it. So far it all seems to work fine but I don't use any of the functions, I just use it as an accurate positioning system and for eliminating backlash when moving axis

Console looks to be a standard Sino unit, compare it to the M-DRO one. Very aggressive pricing, but as always you take your choice by buying from overseas.

I got a couple of very similar 3-axis sets from HXX in Shenzhen. I actually had them dropped off at my hotel when I was there on business to speed up delivery. I have to say, the one I fitted to the mill has been fine (pictures here). The other set is either a spare or may end up on the lathe one day although it doesn't have any special lathe functions.

One real bonus was the manual which is absolutely hilarious. The Chinglish is completely unfathomable, possibly more intelligible if you are blind drunk. However, these products are carefully "benchmarked" against other market offerings, so the operation is fairly conventional and you can download manuals from other manufacturers' sites.

I fitted Z axis scales to both the knee and the quill, although the knee almost never gets used. I can swap over the connections at the back of the display easily if required.

If buying stuff like this directly from China, you would be advised to run it from an RCD / RCBO protected outlet, as you can't count on the electrical safety being what it needs to be.

Murray

There may well be quality differences between consoles that look the same. E.g. the same seller also sells Sino readouts at a higher price, and on the 'real' Sino listing it mentions the case is diecast metal - on the cheaper version it's not completely clear but it's likely plastic.

I have bought items from AliExpress in the past and have had no problems.  HXX seem to get a slightly better rating. The one I linked to I can seem to see if the scale is magnetic or optical/glass. Which is better?

Edited By petro1head on 03/01/2017 20:00:28

I have a DRO removed from a Bridgeport Mill which needs re homing if anyone is interested? I am open to fair offers😊

Roy M.

Edited By Roy M on 03/01/2017 20:09:22

I've no experience of magnetic, only glass. FWIW, the glass ones are laser marked and claim spectacular accuracy. HXX seem to focus more on measurement equipment than machine tool scales and they seem to prefer optical / glass. As long as the output from the scales is complementary (A/B/index), it probably doesn't matter from the display's point of view.

If you want to see what is inside a glass scale, this is what I found. It's easy enough to shorten a glass scale using a sharp scriber to score it before snapping it off. If you do so, make sure you don't lose the index mark in the process - check where it is before marking out.. It's useful in this context for picking up the datum after powering down.

Murray

Roy M, I've sent you a PM.

Any more info ie make, 2 or 3 axis, Glass or magnetic. Some idea of price

I bought virtually the same item **LINK** from Aliexpress, although I paid £199 with free delivery (It appears to be £5 dearer now).

It arrived safely after 8 days via DHL and appears to be decent kit for the money. Glass scales and generic display, and it all works when connected together. I haven't fitted it yet but don't anticipate any problems. The manual's b&*%$y awful, but the display functions the same as Sino fitted to my lathe, so not a problem.

Edited By Andrew Holdaway on 03/01/2017 22:08:33

I also looks a lot like an Easson DRO and less than 1/2 the price.

Lots of good videos on youtube by DROPROS (older models but operation the same)

Paul.

Edited By Paul Lousick on 04/01/2017 13:05:47

Looks identical to the Warco dro recently purchased with a VMC mill.

Not used it much yet but functioned well out of the box, bit of a swine to fit though. A lot of head-scratching before I made my own mounting brackets.

Trev

Does everyone use credit cards to pay for these items from China on Aliexpress??

Last time i bought something from China using a Capital One card the payment went through a Chinese server fine,but several months later i had a right ding dong with the card company over several unexplained debits for a few hundred pound that appeared on my account (all related to online gaming and based in Indonesia). I got my card refunded but i don¬t have much confidence dealing with Chinese sellers any longer.

I always use Paypal and no problems.

A lot of the stuff i look at don`t give paypal as an option, occasionally it will say paypal for offline payments??? Whats that about?

I would only use Paypal