# New DRO review after 6-8 months



## terryw123 (Mar 18, 2020)

Its been a while since I posted here but I'll keep this short as possible.  A couple years ago I bought a new Chinese DRO because I could save some money.  It had glass slides and 3 axis.  It seemed to work ok once I figured out the owners manual.  (sort of figured it out but is leaves a lot to be deired).  Anyways, after using it for a few months it seem like I couldn't trust what it was saying.  It wouldn't hold numbers/measurements accurately.  The business I bought it from was very good and helpful, he did try but hard to understand as he was foreign speaking.  He did try everything to correct my problems.  Even replaced the slides and replaced the entire box one time.  But it never did correct the problem.

  So from other members here they said I should go to https://www.dropros.com/.  I bought their DRO but was a little concerned how trustworthy it was.  So to see how accurate the readout was I mounted 2 slide readout (theirs are magnetic slides) on the cross feed of my lathe. See pictures. So when one readout pickup would move, the other readout pickup should move the same amount, and it did.   I proved just how accurate they are in the video.  I hope I can upload it. .  But I can run the cross feed full length in both directions, stopping at several points and the numbers are exactually the same.   If some can tell me how to upload the video I will do it.

  Final word on Dro pro readouts.  You will never be sorry if you get one.  I couldn't be happier.  Magnetic slides are the only way to go in dirty environments.  Dirt, metal, water, oil etc won't affect the performance of the pickups.


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## finsruskw (Mar 18, 2020)

I sure do ,like mine!
Pricey for sure but no issues what-so-ever
My hats are off to the old timers that had to live with out one of these for like forever!!


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## projectnut (Mar 19, 2020)

I've had an Electronica DRO from DRO Pros on my mill for about 8 years.  The machine has been used hundreds of hours and it's worked perfectly every time.

One note of caution with magnetic scales.  If you use a magnetic stand for your test indicators don't get it too close to the scales.  It will affect the readings.  Also don't store magnetic holders on the table when not in use.

Both these cautions are mentioned in the installation instructions.


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## Cheeseking (Mar 19, 2020)

I’ll 2nd or third the recommendations on the dro pro units.
Put a EL400 on the lathe a few years ago and its been awesome. The mag scales were the only ones I could find small enough to mount reasonably compact and out of the way and still maintain useability of all the machine adjustments.
Lot of nice looking installs out there. 

One of the methods I used to attach cables was with several small beam clamps. Places like Home Depot sell them in the electrical aisle by unistrut.
They have 1/4-20 holes already tapped on 2 sides which work great to attach cushion clamps for the cables. No drilling required.


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