Thoughts on the DGT chessboard

Bryan Whitby · Post by **Bryan Whitby** » Sun Nov 10, 2013 8:37 am

Rricardo
Not too sure why my link isn't working for you as I have no trouble with it?
http://usbchessboard.yolasite.com

Steve
The Venus set is probably my favourite chess set design!
The folowing circular lines of each piece just make them a pleasure to look at.

Good job we all don't like the same things as life would then be boring.

Regards
Bryan

sje · Post by **sje** » Mon Nov 11, 2013 2:19 pm

It is possible to add an LED square indicator array to a DGT board, or any other board. One way is to drill the holes and add the LEDs from the back of the board.

A less intrusive way would be to make an overlay of thin plexiglass and mount the LEDs and wiring on the overlay. This could be done for a 64 LED or an 81 LED arrangement. It would be simpler to instead make two 8 LED plexiglass strips and use these to indicate ranks and files.

For my DGT board, I may just get a DGT XL clock and have it display the moves. That's not a great solution, but it is a simple one.

Wardy · Post by **Wardy** » Mon Nov 11, 2013 10:29 pm

I haven't used my Xl clock in a while but I could never get it to display moves using Fritz, but it did work with Arena and Shredder interfaces. The software appears to have changed a lot since I last tried so hopefully they fixed that.

The user interface of the XL is..........quirky!

sje · Post by **sje** » Tue Nov 12, 2013 8:10 pm

According to tracking, my board should arrive in two more days, thus making the trip in one day less than the ten day upper estimate for free shipping.

sje · Post by **sje** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 12:59 am

The DGT XL clock would not be a choice of mine if it didn't have DGT board connectivity, and even then it's not really needed if the board is connected to a computer running suitable software.

The DGT XL sells for about US$90, and that's twice the price of a Saitek Competition clock which has a similar feature set plus dual color LEDs in the move buttons.

Also, since I got a ZMF II clock (US$60) with metal touch studs, I can go without move levers and move buttons.

Wardy · Post by **Wardy** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 11:40 am

That's the only reason I went for the XL, I'm not sure my one was quite right as I could never get it to beep on move either.

I used a couple of long usb extension cables to move me away from the whirring pc and the glare of the screen so I could play in peace.

Be interested to hear how you get on with the whole dgt set.

sje · Post by **sje** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 2:22 pm

I see that PicoChess can drive the board and the board drives the clock display; since PicoChess is open source, I should be able to see the details of how it's all done. This will give me the information to drive everything from Symbolic.

It also appears that the operation of the most or all of the XL buttons can be overridden when the clock is under computer control.

There are USB wireless extenders available, but they are much more expensive than just using a long USB extension cable. Maybe you should try the RaspPi approach; with no moving parts, it must be totally silent.

--------

The package tracker says that my board was last seen on the other side of the country.

Wardy · Post by **Wardy** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 2:39 pm

I've looked at the RaspberryPi a few times as a solution but not sure the solution is quite ready for prime time yet. I'd want a nice simple switch it on and it boots straight to chess with a nice simple menu system.

As ever I want everything

I've used my dgt with my pocketpc with some success in terms of silence but there is still screen glare and it has to be mains powered all the time and it won't sit easily in the cradle with the usb cable sticking out the top to the board without putting some strain on the connections which I'm wary of.

sje · Post by **sje** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 11:45 pm

In Jonas' video, you can see how he's added labels to the XL clock for the adjustment buttons for sending commands to PicoChess, so there's some ability for a bit of interaction although not much.

I suppose I'll order both an XL clock and a RaspPi after I get my DGT board (tomorrow?) and verify its operation.

The RaspPi has severe limits on its computational throughput compared to a modern desktop. Its CPU is one used in a medium grade smart phone, and that's about fifteen years behind the level of today's notebooks. And unlike a dedicated chess computer, the RaspPi may take 30 or more seconds to boot. A RaspPi can be had for US$40, but there's the additional expense of cabling, a power supply, an enclosure, and an SD card.

One very nice aspect of the RaspPi is that it can generate 1920×1080 video output via HDMI. This is handy for me as I have a couple of 24", $200 Vizio 1920x1080 Smart TVs which I use for computer displays and I can gate a RaspPi to one of these. Interestingly, these TVs can also be driven at 1920x1080 with a VGA signal; I had thought that the VGA spec didn't go that high.

ricard60 · Post by **ricard60** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 12:42 am

Chessmaster Ireland wrote:Rricardo
Not too sure why my link isn't working for you as I have no trouble with it?
http://usbchessboard.yolasite.com

Finaly i could see the link. Great work Bryan.

I am going for a Mysticum II but for the moment i only have a 1% of the job done almost nothing

. It will have a bigger and wooden 81 led board, faster hardware and an oled display.

Somewhere in the near future regards
Ricardo

sje · Post by **sje** » Fri Nov 15, 2013 5:44 am

sje wrote:The package tracker says that my board was last seen on the other side of the country.

The package tracker now says that my board is only two states distant. Yay! Average speed is about 6.7 meters per second.

sje · Post by **sje** » Fri Nov 15, 2013 3:48 pm

sje wrote:
sje wrote:The package tracker says that my board was last seen on the other side of the country.
The package tracker now says that my board is only two states distant. Yay! Average speed is about 6.7 meters per second.

Now only 30 km away. Woo hoo!

Post by **Steve B** » Fri Nov 15, 2013 8:17 pm

sje wrote:
sje wrote:
sje wrote:The package tracker says that my board was last seen on the other side of the country.
The package tracker now says that my board is only two states distant. Yay! Average speed is about 6.7 meters per second.
Now only 30 km away. Woo hoo!

Well?
30 KM and 4 hrs later..and still nothing??

these guys must have a

Union Job Regards
Steve

sje · Post by **sje** » Fri Nov 15, 2013 8:57 pm

The package just arrived. I'm last on the delivery loop, I guess.

ricard60 · Post by **ricard60** » Sat Nov 16, 2013 1:41 am

Well one of my hardware package for building the Mysticum II has to travel from North America to South America.

Happy 2014 regards
Ricardo