[optacon-l] Re: Introduction from a Long-Time Optacon User
- From: Susan Webber <Susan.Webber@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "'optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx'" <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2010 15:52:27 +0200
VIVA THE OPTACON!!!!!
I recently bought Tom's Optacon after mine was stolen from my flat in December
2009 and my life has been a lot better since I have the freedom it brings. I
attended one of the FIFA World Cup football ganes and enjoyed it due to a MP3
player/fm radio receiver which I was given to listen to the game. My Optacon
has made it more accessible and I'm quite familiar with it already.
I recently said to someone that my Optacon is as important as my guide-dog.
Kind regards
Susan
-----Original Message-----
From: optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Wilna Turnbull
Sent: 07 July 2010 01:09 PM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: Introduction from a Long-Time Optacon User
Yes, the Optacon may be of the old generation of technology, but nothing can
replace it yet. Especially if the layout of a document is familiar it beats a
scanner by far.
-----Original Message-----
From: optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of DAVID PLUMLEE
Sent: 05 July 2010 08:40 PM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] Introduction from a Long-Time Optacon User
I am an Optacon user who began using the instrument around 1980. I obtained my
first Optacon from the Kansas City Optacon Foundation; and when that
organization disbanded, those of us who still had Optacons were given letters
saying that the units were now ours to keep. I use mine for a variety of
reading tasks such as checking mail that doesn't read very well on the scanner,
digging through instruction manuals, and reading some displays on some
electronics. Several years ago, I read Popular Electronics and even built one
or two small projects according to the schematics given in those magazines.
As I have told some friends, I can read things with an Optacon that no scanner
or OCR device currently available on earth will touch. Since the "decoder,"
"motor controller," and "information processor," if you will, are all contained
in my mind, I can understand a variety of print material because I can take
that camera anywhere I want on the page or display.
I hope that a "new generation" of the Optacon can be fabricated. I'd like to
see an instrument that would do better on modern appliance displays; I'd like
to see some kind of "memory" so that a line could be "captured" and examined.
One problem
in reading modern displays is that the reading flashes off and on. I can
envision an instrument that is still portable but equipped with a computer
interface that would use computer memory and software to do the "capture"
functions of which I speak.
Also some of the contrast is poor on many displays, so that the current Optacon
models will not read them. Additionally, some displays are recessed or set at
an angle so that the standard Optacon camera will not read them. I have only
the standard camera and a CRT lens for my Optacon. I did not obtain the
"calculator"
lens for
my unit.
I would be interested in following an email list on the Optacon. I found your
email address in the March 2009 Missouri Chronicle. I look forward to hearing
from you.
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