Semiportable build, and other beginner questions

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hg1027

Re: Semiportable build, and other beginner questions

Post by hg1027 »

This post will be mainly so my brother knows what to do with the boxes I sent him, but we’re also open to feedback. This is assembly only, happy to provide dimensions if anyone’s curious. I'll break the post up if requested. Prepare for a wall o' text and pics.

What’s in the boxes:

Small screwdrivers
Wrench to fit the triangle clamp nuts
Zipties in case you need them

Wooden stand
3 large gray rectangles
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4 small plain triangles
Bag of bolts labeled “cradle” I think, 3/8ths stuff
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Camera mounts
Two pieces of wood
Bag of hardware, ¼ inch stuff
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Platen
Two preassembled lexan and aluminum bits
Wooden braces
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Bag of hardware labeled “platen”, #6 stuff
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Light stand
PVC pieces
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2 bolts to hold PVC from rotating, stuck in the Styrofoam

Light fixture
Light fixture
Threaded rod, nuts
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Electrical
Second camera
USB and video cables for second camera
Power supply with USB hub and switch wired in (Ericsson, 5v)
Power supply for second camera (3v, 2a I think)
Power supply for lights (24v, 1.7a)
Box with switch and two DC jacks
Blue cable with DC jack on one end and spade connectors on the other

That should be it for what I sent, since you already have the first camera. I tried a red one and a silver one and both had wrong firmware, you’ll have to tie a ribbon around one or something.

Assembly:
The chef in me suggests you lay everything out in piles as I grouped them above. Each bit can be put together and set aside.
Cradle:

Start with the base flat on the table. There is no left or right. Orient thusly:
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Connect A triangles together and B triangles together, big fender washers on the outside only, and put loosely on the rails:
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You might want to make one end of each tight. This will make it less flobbery during the next step.
Put the faces on. Beveled long edges are inside/down, short edges away from you. It may help to have a friend at this point, as you might need 3 hands. You have to hold the face at 45 degrees, push it against the triangles and tighten the wingnut. Once the first face is on you can push the second against it.
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Tight up against each other would be good for a magazine, spread apart for encyclopedia.

Camera mounts:
Short flat head screws go down through the faces of the cradle. Then the wooden bits go on, doesn’t matter which side/end, and a wingnut on each. Once you’ve aimed the cameras, these should be made quite tight. You can get some angle adjustment by sticking a piece of metal/wood/plastic between the camera arm and the face inboard or outboard of the screw.
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The longer screw gets one hex nut, then up through the arm, right side up wingnut, and upside down wing nut to go against the camera. I don’t know if I included rubber washers, but I thought it would be a good idea. If I didn’t, a piece of cardboard or something will work to put pressure on the threads and not scuff the camera too much.
Now you should have this:
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I needed a snack at this point. May I recommend a bacon sammich and a beer:
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Platen:
These parts have some numbers and letters scratched in. Lay the two lexan/aluminum bits next to each other, bare edges left and right, lexan down, bigger holes outside. One of them is slightly narrower than the other, and fits inside (don’t do it yet). If you look in the small hole inside corners, 1s go together, 2s go together. You’ll be able to see both 1s and both 2s. I believe the piece with “A” scratched in is the narrower one. The piece with the label on the plastic is the wider one. Put it flat down, and fit the other piece in. Put the small screws in from the inside, wingnuts on the outside.
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Fit the wooden pieces, I think I marked them 1 and 2.
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Now you can put the platen in the cradle and set it aside. If the triangles are tight, you can pick the cradle up by the faces.
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Light stand and light
Put the elbowed bits on the T as it is in the picture, screws that were stuck in the Styrofoam through the holes so it won’t rotate, the three pieces with the couplings on the vertical bit, then the elbow, then the long piece with the farther apart holes up and down.
The light frame has bits of foam over the lights for shipping. The potentiometer has a knob on it. Take the knob off with the small screwdriver (just loosen the brass set screw a turn or two, not all the way out), nut off the shaft, and put the pot through the hole in the light frame. There’s a little tab on the pot that goes through the smaller hole in the light frame for alignment. Tighten the nut on the shaft, turn the pot all the way left, on with the knob, tighten the screw, and you have:
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Then the ¼ inch threaded rod gets a nut, then through the holes in the short sides of the platen (careful with the wires) and another nut. Leave them a bit loose to make the next step easier.
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Hold the light frame up while you put the threaded rod through the holes, and a wing nut on each. Again, a third hand could help, or maybe you could put the long PVC on the threaded rod before you put the stand together. Now it looks like
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All together now

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Electrical
The blue wire plugs in to the connectors on the light stand, red to red and blue to blue. If the connectors are too tight and you find yourself assembling and disassembling often, you can use one of the small screwdrivers to open up the female sides a bit. Wrap/twisty tie/tape the wire to the light stand so it isn’t dangling in the way. The other end goes in either of the jacks on the switch box. Flip the switch down (screws are the top) and plug in the 24v power supply. Turn the pot knob all the way left, flip the switch on, and turn the knob right. There’s some dead space before the lights come on. They are very bright, even on low. I think it would be best to turn on and off with the switch, I don’t know if the LEDs are still pulling power when the knob is all the way down.

Cameras
Put a piece of cardboard/rubber washer on the camera mount, thread the camera mount screws all the way in to the cameras, then back off about ¼ turn. Tighten the upside down wingnut against the camera. With the cardboard, you should be able to tighten them right up. I think it would be best to get that part tight, then adjust angle with the bottom wingnut, against the wooden arm.
Plug the USB cables in the jacks on the cameras, and find a good spot to put the hub. The hub I got will fit around the PVC, but I’m not sure if the cables are long enough. If you don’t use it that way, feel free to cut the ring off or cut the zip tie and just use the board. I didn’t mount the switch so you can see where it goes best. It would definitely be easier if it were screwed to something. Plug it in the wall and you should be all set.
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daniel_reetz
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Re: Semiportable build, and other beginner questions

Post by daniel_reetz »

On April 13th, 2011, a bacon sammich graced the DIY Book Scanner Forums for the first time in recorded history.
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curious
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Re: Semiportable build, and other beginner questions

Post by curious »

Received the scanner in the mail today!

I used CHDK to do a time lapse while I assembled the scanner. I'll post it as a video in the next few days... for now, here's from start:
start.jpg
start.jpg (234.04 KiB) Viewed 9184 times
2-1/2 hours...
to scan:
scan.jpg
scan.jpg (199.14 KiB) Viewed 9184 times
yielding:
image1.jpg
image1.jpg (83.66 KiB) Viewed 9184 times
Up next: fine tuning and software.
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curious
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First assembly and uses

Post by curious »

I posted the time lapse of me unpacking the boxes and doing my first assembly and book scanning:
http://vimeo.com/22590570

Challenges that arose:
  • one side of the cradle railing on the base isn't square, so one of the cradle faces fell backwards when I put the weight of the camera on it. Current solution: jam a piece of cardboard between the railing and the clamp.
  • remote triggering via CHDK and a 5-volt pulse didn't work. It seemed to half trigger the camera, focusing and the LCD going black, but not actually taking a photo. No luck with extended button pushing or series of button pushes. Maybe this has to do with CHDK settings. Also, I'm using a Canon A495 with firmware 100f, and the CHDK for that is in beta, so maybe it's a glitch... Any advice here much appreciated.
  • reflection of camera in platen. Current solution: ignore it. Future possibility: black fabric draped over camera with a hole cut for the lens.
The next morning I put some of the kit to its first use. At a farm, about to host a forest garden design course, we wanted a map of this place that included aerial/satellite photo with contour lines overlaid. I found the needed photos online, but didn't find high-quality contour data (neither vector nor raster), so I took a USGS topographic map off the wall, screwed the camera mount onto the camera and clamped it to the light stand, then set the map about 2 centimeters below the camera lens and took photos using the timer (to avoid the shake of my hand messing up the image). After a few hours of image manipulation (would take less if I do it again), I had the map we wanted, and the next day we printed it on 3 ft x 2 ft paper. Now that serves as the base map for designing forest gardens for multiple areas of this farm, and the computer version of the map awaits further enhancements and someone with GIS skills.
Ryan_phx
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Re: Semiportable build, and other beginner questions

Post by Ryan_phx »

I'm betting your triggering issue is a CHDK settings problem. It sounds similar to the problem I was having, and mine was a problem with the settings. In the Miscellaneous settings>Remote directory, "Enable Remote" and "Enable Sync" should both be selected. On mine, "Enable Syncable Remote," "Enable Remote Zoom," and "Enable Sync Delay" are unselected. The settings are the same on both cameras (both A480s).
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curious
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Re: Semiportable build, and other beginner questions

Post by curious »

Ryan_phx wrote:I'm betting your triggering issue is a CHDK settings problem. It sounds similar to the problem I was having, and mine was a problem with the settings. In the Miscellaneous settings>Remote directory, "Enable Remote" and "Enable Sync" should both be selected. On mine, "Enable Syncable Remote," "Enable Remote Zoom," and "Enable Sync Delay" are unselected. The settings are the same on both cameras (both A480s).
This solved it, though they are a bit finicky sometimes... I see why some folks just set an intervalometer script instead of using a remote. I look forward to using the remote for other fun stuff in addition to book scanning.
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