Screen Size To Small for My Old Eyes

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If you are like me and your eyes aren’t 20 years old any more you may find it a little hard to use the screen that comes with the OneFinity. Not to worry though. You can easily connect a computer monitor to your controller and have a nice big easy to read and manipulate display. The only real requirement is that it have a hdmi port on the monitor. I ordered a 22 inch touch screen monitor and connected it to the hdmi port on the back of the OneFinity controller. This makes every thing very easy to read and use. The touch functionality is a little quirky but with a mouse it all works perfectly. I quickly threw together a box to put the controller inside to keep it clean and provide a base to attach a monitor wall mount on a swivel. It isn’t particularly pretty but it is functional. Later, when I have time, I will remake the base so it looks nicer and perhaps even add some options such as a cup, pencil, bit, and other holders.

The real takeaway here is that you can replace the monitor that comes with your machine with a larger computer monitor and still have the same functionality. If you add a wireless keyboard that has a mouse pad on it then you become mobile as well. You can see both in the picture below.

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Does your keyboard/mouse wireless receiver just plug in to the controller?

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Yes it does. I picked up a Logitech K400+ and a protective skin that just lays on top to keep the debris from getting stuck under the keys. I have been uising one for my milling machine for a couple of years and it works great there too., It is right at $25

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Here is a cover for it. I think you can find different colors too.

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awesome idea - especially because you can permanent mount it with a much stronger mount than the 3d printed ont.

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Nice, Charley! Me and that 7" monitor are not going to play nicely together, I’m afraid.

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Just fine any computer monitor with a HDMI input and it will work. Then a pc keyboard and mouse and you will not loose any functionality.

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@charleyntexas, what did you mean that the touch screen functionality was a bit quirky? Was it plugged into a different port than the 7" screen uses? Just curious if the quirkyness was a function of the monitor or the HDMI port.

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I used the same connecting points that the original tablet screen used. My monitor uses the HDMI cable for video and a USB cable for sending touch inputs to the controller. It does recognize when I touch the screen but most of the time I cannot “Click” on anything to activate it. I did some research and apparently the raspberry pi is does work with a computer monitor just fine, it isn’t fond of computer monitor touch screens. I’m not sure what the difference is but obviously there is something different. Even loosing the touch screen capability, The larger format screen is well worth the trade off at least for me anyway. Aside from that, I’m loving this machine.

By the way, did you know that you can connect to the OneFinity from another computer over wifi and have full control over it? I absolutely love that ability. I can use a different PC to design a project and save the carving file on the PC. Then when I’m ready I can connect to the cnc and upload the file directly to it and start the carve. So far I have found that anything I can do at the cnc I can do remotely from a PC connected over wifi.

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Thanks for the good info Charley. It did occur to me sometime after I asked that question that I had read somewhere that you could connect it to another computer. What great versatility! If I don’t get along with the 7" monitor, I have some good options.

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Just to be clear here, the provided monitor is very convenient to use and well formatted. It would probably be just fine if I would get off my but and get some new glasses!!

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Aces Charlie - well done. Sell a couple more touch plates then go get those glasses :wink:

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Hi Charley, as I will be connecting my 1f controller via ethernet cable will I have to run another ethernet to my computer to connect to the controller over wifi or is there another way.
The wireless connection is hit and miss as my workshop is some way from the main hub in the house.

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What I did to get solid internet coverage in my shop was run a single ethernet cable from the house to the shop (225 feet away from the main router). I connected a secondary wifi router to that ethernet cable. Then connected an ethernet switch to the secondary wifi router in the shop. From the ethernet switch I connect all of my computers and have a good strong wifi signal in the shop for smartphones and my 1F controller. Attached is a layout with links on what it looks like. It has greatly enhanced my internet speed and quality and I set this up abo8ut 4 years ago.

Network layout.vsdx.pdf (108 KB)

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I just recently ran a new Ethernet line (~200ft from main router in my home) and installed a 2nd router in my workshop. The second router has multiple Ethernet ports, and I used one to run an ethernet cable to the Onefinity controller, so hard connection instead of wifi. The second router is installed as an Access Point to the main router and as an added bonus I now get fantastic wifi across my whole back yard.

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FYI
Has anyone been able to connect a laptop directly to the onefinity controller with an ethernet cable?
Tech support says it has to be through a router just curious as another option if anyone has found a work around.
Thanks in advance

UPDATE
After getting my hot spot on my phone to work and connecting through the network on the controller i was able to establish a connection via wifi with the controller I then took my laptop and plugged it into the ethernet port on the back of the controller and entered the IP address into the browser and presto direct connection with full laptop access without needing to add a router.
Not sure if this any help to anyone else but might be. I used a vizo 24" TV just to see everything from across the shop.

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So both were using the wifi Hotspot? Doesn’t make sense to me that you use the Hotspot and a cabled connection.

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I don’t have wifi available in my shop and its to far away to add it by using the hot spot on my phone I’m able to log into the controller with the hotspot on my phone. I wasn’t able to log into the laptop from the hot spot but if I hooked up the ethernet cable I had full access to the laptop. I have tried to find away to do it wirelessly and could not figure it out tech support couldnt figure it out either unless I used a router and I don’t have one.

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Kurt, what is sitting on top of your control box?

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I was watching the ‘Jog Options’ video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbSKSDpvo-k

They show an iPad (as well as a phone) with a mirrored screen, jogging with it. Is this option strictly for jogging, or is there access to all screens from a mirrored device?

Apologies for the totally noob question, but I’m not accustomed to this type of controller, having used an ‘offline’ dedicated CNC controller on my x-carve for 4 years.

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