Hello Jimmy D..... I apologize in advance for making a post here that is not addressing the topic of your thread..... But Gary and Brady have made a some points I'd like to comment on......
Hello Brady: While I don't know about the majority of Shopbot owners,I do know that I unfortunately fit your comment 100% about my being unwilling to pay for advice to service my Bot. Yes, I have banged my head on the wall for months with issues, hoping to somehow get my problem fixed without having to shell out money. And more precisely, it isn't even as much about spending money, as it is about spending money for technical expertise.......... I always figured it was a guy thing, being willing to buy a physical object, but not wanting to pay for advice/directions,,,, Not that you need any statistical validation, I wanted to express mypersonal resonance with your observation.
Again, venturing out without knowing if this is just myself, or not........ I bought my used PRT Alpha maybe 10 years ago,,,,,,,,,, I bought it because it was all that I could afford, and all that could fit into my basement workshop that would allow me to cut bigthings I planned to make. (A few months ago, I sent you/Brady a model of the type of thing I want to make, and they can be large,as they go on the outside of large Victorian houses.) But IF Iam typical of a significant segment of Bot owners, that could be aproblem for Shopbot itself, as they would of course benefit from a larger customer base that is willing to spend $$$$$$. As if someone is willing to spend for technical advise, that technical advice will almost certainly translate into the need to then purchase some type of hardware.
But the interesting point is, tying into what Gary observed based upon his industry knowledge and the results of his survey, while I am reluctant to spend money for advice, and I am very cheap, I would be willing to spend money to improve my Bot undercertain conditions.
From day one, I have had random Com Error issues, which made me feel that I just couldn’t trust my Bot. And for the last 5 or more years, I have felt like Icouldn’t trust my Shopbot because these Com Errors made me feel my Bot was fundamentally flawed as a platform. Specifically the Bot flaw seemed to me to be: passing corruptible data from a remotely located (5 feet) control PC to the Bot over a corruptible USB port, when powerful computers are so tiny, that they could be stuck inside my big aluminum box along with the motor drivers and all the support hardware, and thusly eliminate the potential for external events from corrupting the USB communications.)
The result is that when my faith in my Bot is shaken by operational instability, andI subsequently come to feel that my problems stem froma flawed designconcept, I just don't want to spend money on my Bot, even for hardware.
So when Gary wrote specifically "that if they remain with a USBconnection going forward"...... He really caught my attention.
I would spend money on my Bot for hardware if I felt like I would be fundamentally making my machine more robust and reliable. And the occasionally mentioned possible future FABMO upgrade at least appeals to my intuition as the way to get me re-energized about myBot. That would also make me more willing to invest in some other possible hardware upgrades to my machine.
But nothing will get me energized when I feel my machine just isn'tstable. And that isn't good for Shopbot, especially IF theyhave a lot of cheap customers like me, who need to be really excited and positive about something before they will be willing to part with precious cash......... I offer this not to be gloomy or mean, but to offer a positive insight into the mind of at least one Bot customer, and to flesh out things I wanted to say in Gary's survey, but for which there weren't any appropriate boxes..........
ThanksGary and Brady. And sorry Jimmy for not following your thread'stheme............ Chuck