[HN Gopher] Traintrackr - Live LED transit maps
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Traintrackr - Live LED transit maps
Author : bschne
Score : 74 points
Date : 2021-08-29 16:32 UTC (6 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.traintrackr.co.uk)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.traintrackr.co.uk)
| ape4 wrote:
| UK rain tracker = all LEDs on all the time ;)
| sokoloff wrote:
| I wonder how they settled on the price point, what testing was
| done, etc.
|
| It seems to me that it's a beautiful product that's got high
| margins and is priced so far above the "screw it, I'll buy one!"
| threshold that I wonder if they're leaving a lot of cashflow on
| the table. Alternatively, perhaps almost everyone who would have
| paid $99 will also pay $199 and I'm totally off.
| PaulHoule wrote:
| They don't say where they are making them (mainly China or ex-
| China) but a device like that with discrete components is going
| to cost basically what they charge. An amateur could make one
| with a considerably smaller bill-of-materials, but then you are
| paying $0.00 for their time.
|
| This is how discrete electronics vs ICs is like a model rocket
| vs a moon rocket. The methods that are used to assemble panels
| for TVs and phones are astronomically more economical than
| laying out a hundred or so LEDs on a circuit board.
| sokoloff wrote:
| I'm not sure I understand. The board is clearly using ICs and
| those LEDs are surely placed by a pick-n-place. Maybe the
| power connector is manually soldered (but probably not). It
| looks like a board with single sided placements (at least the
| few I looked at).
|
| Sure, they don't have the volume to get to large-scale mass
| production, but these are almost surely machine assembled.
| dom96 wrote:
| This is cool, but definitely asks for a steep price. I can
| appreciate why it is as high as that, but for something that
| doesn't offer much practical value I personally wouldn't buy it.
|
| I'm actually currently working on replicating the TFL departure
| boards[1] and creating a generic LED Matrix display that can show
| departures as well as other things (BTC price, Deliveroo status,
| and whatever else anyone can imagine. I plan to offer an API).
| The price point that I will need to go for worries me, but when
| you're putting these things together by hand there is no way they
| can be sold for less than PS100.
|
| 1 -
| https://i2-prod.mylondon.news/incoming/article17723571.ece/A...
| ldjb wrote:
| That sounds like an exciting idea - all the best with it!
|
| In case you're not aware, UKTroniX are selling something
| similar:
|
| https://uktronix.co.uk/product-category/px-boards%ef%bf%bc/
| dom96 wrote:
| Yeah, I'm aware of these. I actually considered purchasing
| one but the high price is what got me to create my own :)
| budafish wrote:
| Something like Tidbyt?
|
| https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tidbyt/retro-display
| dom96 wrote:
| Thanks for the link! Didn't see this one and indeed it looks
| like very much what I have in mind, my current prototype is
| very similar (even using wood for the enclosure).
|
| Will be tough to compete (since they have an actual team and
| manufacturing in Shenzhen), but hey, there are many different
| kinds of phones out there, there can be multiple retro
| displays too :)
| ionwake wrote:
| I love their products Im about to buy one, it would be great to
| see what other ones they come up with.
| dylan604 wrote:
| They could make a California fire tracker version. Seems like it
| would have a decent amount of constant activity to display.
|
| Or a display of earthquakes, again of California, or a larger
| global view. I'm always amazed by the amount of shaking listed by
| USGS.
| robbiet480 wrote:
| They just announced a new large format product, starting with
| California. Initially it'll show rain but soon they will
| support many data layers as well as pushing data via API. I
| bought one in the hopes of displaying fire data.
| akudha wrote:
| where do they get the data from?
| dylan604 wrote:
| Shit, you just need a blank piece of paper to show rain in
| California. No LEDs necessary.
| jillesvangurp wrote:
| They presented at Geomob a few months ago:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzHA0Y9Urdc
|
| Great thing to follow if you are into all things maps and geo.
| PaulHoule wrote:
| Kinda annoying that it asks me if I want to view the "US site"
| but still shows the London Underground and UK graphics even
| though they have NY, MA, CA, BART and other gfx appropriate for
| US.
|
| They still list prices in pounds.
|
| If they're not going to personalize it, why claim there is a "US
| Site?"
| jtokoph wrote:
| The redirect after the prompt to go to the US site seems to not
| work. If you manually change with the flag icon at the top, it
| redirects you to https://www.traintrackr.io/ which shows US
| centric products and prices.
| [deleted]
| smcl wrote:
| Hmm not sure what's up, I'm seeing USD prices and US-centric
| products when I click the flag icon and select the US one. Must
| be kinda weird for an American user to open a commerce site
| where they're not treated as first-class citizens :)
| sytse wrote:
| I have one for the San Francisco BART system and I love the
| product. It was easy to set up and has stayed up for multiple
| months. It is beautiful and a nice reminder of the weekend (way
| fewer trains).
| robbiet480 wrote:
| Ditto, I have the BART one and its fantastic!
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