I received my Optacon training from someone who came to my house. One of my
friend's refused to buy it because training was a requirement in order to
purchase it. I agreed with him, but I wanted to be able to read print so much,
that I did the training. Another friend had an Optacon that someone gave her.
She ended up giving it to me and since I really didn't need it and it needed to
be repaired, I sent it to Richard Oehm so that he could use it for parts. The
Optacon has allowed me to read knitting patterns that are written out in
charts. Something that a scanner would never be able to read.
Peggy & Dixie Marie
Sent from my iPhone
On Feb 8, 2022, at 3:16 PM, <dan.tevelde@xxxxxxxxxxx>
<dan.tevelde@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
This discussion about sawtooth waves is interesting. When I was a music
student in college I had to take a physics of sound course and we talked
about which instruments emit sawtooth waves. Now I can't remember which
ones.
Dan
-----Original Message-----
From: optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On
Behalf Of Benjamin Blatter
Sent: Tuesday, February 8, 2022 2:00 PM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: Training
Charles, this is amazing. I can somehow imagine the Sawtooth being the best
suited waveform for this It probably has the correct bite to make things
sharp and clear.
What did became of the Optacon III project? and what would have been
different in the Optacon III you were considering in difference to the
previous models?
Ben
Am 08.02.2022 um 19:40 schrieb Charles ("wpg67")<dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
time. It's sad that your people felt disturbed by the sounds of the Optacon.
allow me to amend a part of my previous message. More accurately, a
sawtooth waveform felt the best. it most closely resembled the
optacon's squarewave when its pulse width was at 50%. My apologies.
Charles
On 2022-02-08 1:36 p.m., Charles (wpg67) wrote:
I had experimented with sine waves and other waveforms when attending
to an optacon III project, but either because of training and
experience or because of something intrinsic to the optacons R1 and
II,, or to human perception, its driving square wave felt best and
it gave the clearest tactile and audio information.
As for the painful finger picking which limited reading time, I
used polymer reeds rather than copper wire reeds. Like fine fishing
line with a good stand-up coefficient. So, whoever develops an
optacon display, a mechanical one at any rate, should not ignore the
texture of the fine tactile pins.
Charles
On 2022-02-08 1:24 p.m., Benjamin Blatter wrote:
Dan, it was very interesting to read from you how things worked at your
I read or heard somewhere that the developers of the Optacon would have
changed the sound to a less disturbing sound curve like par examples sinus
wave. But the Optacons where progressed already way to far for this.
their optacons in the trash. I'm sure I could find someone to use it if IWhile I had joy with my Optacon the constant picking needles made me
tired after maybe 30 minutes and so I didn't really want to read
whole books this way. I for sure couldn't have kept up during my
musical education with an Optacon. In this time book scanners and
OpenBook came up and I got many materials presented on floppy discs
:-)
Ben
Am 08.02.2022 um 18:20 schrieb dan.tevelde@xxxxxxxxxxx:
When I got my optacon in high school there were limited options
where I could get training and an optacon to keep. I got my
training at a school for the blind and my optacon was loaned to me
by the U.S. Department of Education with the understanding that I
would need to return it when I graduated from college. Some people
I know went to Associated Services for the Blind in Philadelphia
for training which I think included an optacon. I wonder how much
the training cost. The fact that I would not be able to keep an
optacon was a disincentive for me to ever become a fluent user. I
did not get much pleasure from the device and my family hated the
noise. I was always having problems keeping paperback books and
magazines open. Maybe my skills would have improved if I had spent
more time with the optacon. In college I wasn't able to keep up
without hiring readers. Recently A friend gave me an optacon and I
need to get around to fixing it. It isn't my highest priority. If
we ever get a new type of optacon with more features I probably
would be more interested in developing my skills using it. If I
don't get around to fixing the optacon then I will donate it to
someone on this list. I wouldn't do what some friends did by throwing
decide getting it fixed wouldn't justify my using it.
research and development. It is a sad situation.
I know my comments sound negative but this is an example of where I
would want more modern technology to interest me more in an
optacon. I think the device should be essentially the same but with
newer components and a digital interface so software could be
updated. We have the technology except for a practical tactile
array which is a real shame. The worst of it is that we don't have
enough interest in an optacon where we could obtain funding for
the quotes) in the message subject.
Dan
to view the list archives, go to:
www.freelists.org/archives/optacon-l
To unsubscribe at any time, just send a message to:
optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" (without
message to:
Tell your friends about the list. They can subscribe by sending a
quotes) in the message subject.
optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "subscribe" (without the
quotes) in the message subject.
to view the list archives, go to:
www.freelists.org/archives/optacon-l
To unsubscribe at any time, just send a message to:
optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" (without the
message to:
Tell your friends about the list. They can subscribe by sending a
quotes) in the message subject.
optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "subscribe" (without the
quotes) in the message subject.to view the list archives, go to:
www.freelists.org/archives/optacon-l
To unsubscribe at any time, just send a message to:
optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" (without the
message to:
Tell your friends about the list. They can subscribe by sending a
quotes) in the message subject.
optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "subscribe" (without the
quotes) in the message subject.to view the list archives, go to:
www.freelists.org/archives/optacon-l
To unsubscribe at any time, just send a message to:
optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" (without the
to:
Tell your friends about the list. They can subscribe by sending a message
quotes) in the message subject.
optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "subscribe" (without the
to view the list archives, go to:
www.freelists.org/archives/optacon-l
To unsubscribe at any time, just send a message to:
optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" (without the
quotes) in the message subject.
Tell your friends about the list. They can subscribe by sending a message
to:
optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "subscribe" (without the
quotes) in the message subject.
to view the list archives, go to:
www.freelists.org/archives/optacon-l
To unsubscribe at any time, just send a message to:
optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" (without the
quotes) in the message subject.
Tell your friends about the list. They can subscribe by sending a message to:
optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "subscribe" (without the
quotes) in the message subject.