Thanks for the reply. I did know about the design origin of the OmegaTrac.
Back in the day I spoke and corresponded frequently with Jim Finch (the high quad designer of the Omegatrac), and his father Tom Finch. I first met them in 1998 (I think) and saw some of them a few times thereafter. They lived in Texas; I lived in Rhode Island; and once when Mrs. Finch and some of the Teftec staff were attending a Disabilities Expo nearby they had dinner at my home.
It was really too bad for Omegatrac users when the Finch family sold their rights to the chair. Successors have pretty much neglected the chair and its user base in recent years. I hope they are working on improving things, because the chair can still perform better than most of its peers, in those areas where high quads have the most need.
My son is still driving his original chair, although it no longer turns left or right and our last (used) replacement controller board has died. I have two Omegatrac hulks in my basement, and am trying to bring at least one of them back to life.
In the meantime, Jeff is thinking about getting a new Omegatrac. On 5/30/2013 4:18 PM, Bob Vogel wrote:
Hi Richard, At the risk of sounding like "Cliff Clavin" from the sitcom Cheers; the interesting thing you probably (or may not) know about the OmegaTrack is that it was invented, designed and manufactured by a man named Jim Finch, a C2 complete quadriplegic. He was able to breath without a vent because he had diaphramatic nerve stimulators implanted--like a pacemaker for breathing.
