Comments on the Revelation II dedicated chess computer

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herzog51
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3 questions on the Revelation II

Post by herzog51 »

I am very much interested in this (expensive) beauty...but I have 3 questions :

- is it possible to define freely time controls (like 10min + 5 sec/move for instance)? can it be done on the rev II or must it be done on a pc via bluetooth?

- at the end of a game, is it easy to upload it to the PC (in a Chessbase database for instance)?

- a more general question : for those who have a Rev II, could you give the main benefit you see in this set up in particular compared to using simply a bluetooth DGT board?

many thanks for your reply

Michel
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Steve B
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Re: 3 questions on the Revelation II

Post by Steve B »

herzog51 wrote:I am very much interested in this (expensive) beauty...but I have 3 questions :

- is it possible to define freely time controls (like 10min + 5 sec/move for instance)? can it be done on the rev II or must it be done on a pc via bluetooth?

- at the end of a game, is it easy to upload it to the PC (in a Chessbase database for instance)?

- a more general question : for those who have a Rev II, could you give the main benefit you see in this set up in particular compared to using simply a bluetooth DGT board?

many thanks for your reply

Michel
Welcome to the Forum Michel
1.Yes the levels can be changed to any combination of moves/time
2.Yes the Rev ll can send a PGN of the current game in memory to your PC
however the notation is in simple algebraic notation ..showing the from and to square of the piece moved
so 1.Ng3 is shown as 1.g1f3
not sure which(if any) PC engines or PGN readers can read this type of notation
i know Ruud is currently working on improving the PGN function in the Rev ll
3.the chief difference between the Rev and a run-o-the-mill DGT Board is that the Rev is a completely contained chess system
you do not need to be tethered to a PC to play chess
it has 9 chess programs hardwired into it as well as many emulations of older dedicated chess computer engines of years past
all this and it can be used as a normal DGT board as well
personally i think the Rev ll is much more cosmetically appealing then a plain ...flat.. DGT board but thats a personal opinion

In summary the Rev ll can be thought of as a DGT board running on..

Steroids Regards
Steve
ifekali
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Post by ifekali »

And then there are LED's. At the end of the day, all kinds of software can be run on any electronic board, but those LEDs are *very* hard to emulate. ;)

-Izmet
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Steve B
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Post by Steve B »

ifekali wrote:And then there are LED's. At the end of the day, all kinds of software can be run on any electronic board, but those LEDs are *very* hard to emulate. ;)

-Izmet
Yes...

not 16
not 64
but a glorious 81 Leds...4 for each square
leds work now in both NORMAL Mode and DGT E-Board Mode

Electric Light Orchestra Regards
Steve
herzog51
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Post by herzog51 »

Steve,

many thanks for your reply...very unfortunate the PGN transfer does not work as yet...is this a difficult issue to solve? already a beta version tackling this?

best regards

Michel
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Steve B
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Post by Steve B »

herzog51 wrote:Steve,

many thanks for your reply...very unfortunate the PGN transfer does not work as yet...is this a difficult issue to solve? already a beta version tackling this?

best regards

Michel
nope.. no beta version out yet for the PGN feature
i really have no idea how hard this is to implement

Clueless Regards
Steve
xchessg
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Re: 3 questions on the Revelation II

Post by xchessg »

herzog51 wrote:I am very much interested in this (expensive) beauty...but I have 3 questions :

- is it possible to define freely time controls (like 10min + 5 sec/move for instance)? can it be done on the rev II or must it be done on a pc via bluetooth?

- at the end of a game, is it easy to upload it to the PC (in a Chessbase database for instance)?

- a more general question : for those who have a Rev II, could you give the main benefit you see in this set up in particular compared to using simply a bluetooth DGT board?

many thanks for your reply

Michel
Hello Michel,

1° There are a wide variety of time controls available, but no increment tempi (yet). It's one of those things on the "to do" list. I proposed to implement the official FIDE increment tempi to start with. Really freely defining time controls would suggest a complete rewrite of the "set level" function;
2° I can upload a game to Chessbase on PC already today; although the method can and will be improved: Rev sends an KISS-protocol to the PC (not quite a PGN format), I open this in my notepad, and copy the game notation to the notation window in Chessbase, then string+V and voila...
3° Well, I always smile a bit when people talk about "simply using a bluetooth connected board": Bluetooth is tricky! Any table with iron in it, any adapter or any electronic device in proximinity, yes even human flesh (a hand) causes disturbances in the connection. When you decide to go for an normal DGT board, I would strongly suggest to playing it safe with a USB connected one... Rev costs a lot more, but also offers a lot more: If you'd like to play games yourself, you'll appreciate the standalone modus above any PC connection available... Further having the Leds functionality is a dream when playing with or on the PC (internetservers, etc).

Just my two cents regards
Xavier
Scrooge_Mcdude
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Post by Scrooge_Mcdude »

Finally got version 3.14 working on my machine. For those of you who will have troubles with this firmware, I suggest you redownload the file from the Rev II website. My first download was problematic. PC says download complete, and Rev says file transfer complete, but when I turned the Rev off and back on, the machine did not update. Second download was a success. I'm now in business. The Revelation II is indeed wonderful. It's got all the features I want .... andmore. Thanks to Ruud and his vision.

Regards,
Scrooge
Kater
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Revelation II

Post by Kater »

Can someone help me with regards to the Revelation II?

Where can I find the content of the opening books installed on the Revelation II? The lines in the opening books seems to be too limited. Does some has the opening keys and number of postions?

Can I install or import my own opening book on Revelation II?

Can I install or import End Game Hash Tables on the Revelation II?

How can I select the following level: Time control: 40 moves in 90 minutes, followed by 30 minutes for the remainder of the game, plus 30 sec. increment, bonus from the first move.

Thanks a Million for your help?

Marcus
xchessg
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Re: Revelation II

Post by xchessg »

Kater wrote:Can someone help me with regards to the Revelation II?

Where can I find the content of the opening books installed on the Revelation II? The lines in the opening books seems to be too limited. Does some has the opening keys and number of postions?

Can I install or import my own opening book on Revelation II?

Can I install or import End Game Hash Tables on the Revelation II?

How can I select the following level: Time control: 40 moves in 90 minutes, followed by 30 minutes for the remainder of the game, plus 30 sec. increment, bonus from the first move.

Thanks a Million for your help?

Marcus
Hello,

1° It's not my experience that the opening lines are too limited... Most engines come with their own books, and apart from that one can select three optional Nomen-books. For the number of positions, keys etc. you'd better turn to Ruud. The user can't folder through the opening lines like one can with most PC programs, although admittingly that would be a nice thing...
2° About importing/installing one's own opening book: That's not possible for the user now. Would be nice for training purposes...
3° Engines like Shredder, Hiarcs come with their own end game hash tables. It's not like one can have the complete Nalimov bases installed on the Rev or available on an bluetooth connected PC. Would, again, be nice for training purposes...
4. Increment tempi are not on the Rev to this day, it is something for an next update. Would you like just the official three FIDE increment tempi or a freely definable one?

Interesting questions!

Regards Xavier
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Steve B
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Post by Steve B »

Its probably just me but i notice that when i initially setup the Rev ll with the black pieces on the bottom i have trouble connecting to the Blue Tooth UCI Server
it wont connect
when i initially set up the white pieces on bottom i can connect with no problems

anyone else notice this?

Bottom Feeder Regards
Steve
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Steve B
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Post by Steve B »

Steve B wrote:Its probably just me but i notice that when i initially setup the Rev ll with the black pieces on the bottom i have trouble connecting to the Blue Tooth UCI Server
it wont connect
when i initially set up the white pieces on bottom i can connect with no problems

anyone else notice this?

Bottom Feeder Regards
Steve
Anyone??
Bueller?..Bueller?
Anyone ..Anyone Regards
Steve
Scrooge_Mcdude
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Post by Scrooge_Mcdude »

I'll pull my Revelation tomorrow, Steve, and get back to you. Did you get a chance to ask Ruud?

Regards
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Steve B
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Post by Steve B »

Scrooge_Mcdude wrote:I'll pull my Revelation tomorrow, Steve, and get back to you. Did you get a chance to ask Ruud?

Regards
Nope
I suspect its a problem with the built-in Bluetooth device in my new Laptop ..its a bit quirky most times anyway
so I am curious if any one else has this issue
if so I will follow up with Ruud

Thanks Regards
Steve
xchessg
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Post by xchessg »

Steve B wrote:
Scrooge_Mcdude wrote:I'll pull my Revelation tomorrow, Steve, and get back to you. Did you get a chance to ask Ruud?

Regards
Nope
I suspect its a problem with the built-in Bluetooth device in my new Laptop ..its a bit quirky most times anyway
so I am curious if any one else has this issue
if so I will follow up with Ruud

Thanks Regards
Steve
Steve,

My Rev connects just fine with the server with the black pieces in front of me. Trying an new Bluetooth dongle is certainly an option. Beware of interferences from adapters and other electronic devices, Ruud even demonstrated the other day that holding his hand over the dongle is enough to cause an interrupted connection. Running other software or even moving the mouse a bit while trying to connect causes bluetooth trouble, etc...

Good luck with the trouble shooting regards
Xavier
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