anyone useing the hand held key pad

[Alan m]

is it worth it.

is it hard to fit

thanks alan

[mclimie]

The pendant?

Best thing ever. We use it constantly. Reliable and well made, too.

Marc

[Alan m]

doe it need to be wire in or jyst pluged in. which pc does it conect to

thanks alan

[mclimie]

Any USB on the control PC. Long cord supplied.

[waynelocke]

I use one and find it, while not indispensable, really useful and helpful. I like being able to zero all three axis without being at the computer. It is especially useful for zeroing the axis for my indexer (I use a special routine for the xy and for the z) which runs down the x axis on the back side of the sb. Like the previous poster said, the cord is long. I think that it is 15'. The cord is USB and can be replaced. I have had it for about a year and really like it.

[Ajcoholic]

is it worth it.

is it hard to fit

thanks alan

I started a thread a while back ( little over a year iirc) about this. St that time it seemed like several members didn't like the fact it was wired in.

I've used mine now a lot. A VERY handy thing to have imo. I love it. I'd not want to be without it. And it has never not performed as it should.

I'd certainly reccomend one.

[Alan m]

it would be better wireless but at least you wouldnt need to worry about batteries

[knight_toolworks]

using my phone has been problematic as I use it so seldom it never seems to be setup. so it is hard to justify the cost but sometimes it would be handy.

[Martin Reid]

Dear Alan

I realise this is a little late to join in here, did you get to the bottom of this?

We use a wireless keyboard. Has all the advantages of a keyboard and can be carried around anywhere. Great when changing cutters, zeroing, spacebar is always to hand if you want to pause and nudge up or down. We haven’t but if you get one with a touch pad you will have a 'mobile' mouse as well.

Anyway just thought I'd let you know what we are using.

Sincerely and in good faith
Martin Reid

[tlempicke]

No matter how you do it you will be working with your hands in the way of a powerful sharp tool. We all know this and accept the possibility that something could go wrong and we could be badly hurt.

Adding an RF link into the chain seems like tilting the odds in the favor of a chance meeting with a sharp turning bit.

That said I have had one of the hand held key pads for about two years and would not be without it. It was originally made for use in a kitchen environment, which is about as computer un-friendly as you can get. It has never mis-fired or done anything unexpected. I work on two machines and carry the thing back and forth, I like it that much.

[knight_toolworks]

I just bought one but then realized my shopbot software is pretty old since I have a prt alpha. will this work with older versions?

[tlempicke]

You can program each key to spit out whatever string you want it to, so yes, it will work with any shopbot.

[knight_toolworks]

You can program each key to spit out whatever string you want it to, so yes, it will work with any shopbot.
so it is not dependent on the shopbot software version? that would begged.