Mesa card plugin

[smurph]

The SoftDMC firmware does not support steppers, so this is a servo only deal.  Besides, there are plenty of great options for steppers already out there.

An analog VFD spindle would use an axis.

There is no such thing as inexpensive Galil controllers on eBay.  Those days are long gone.  People saw them selling and started jacking the price up.  Now there are auctions that start the bidding for a DMC-1040 ISA (useless to us) at $250.00 !!!  And one guy wants ~2600.00 for a 2 axis DMC-2100 controller!!!  

5i20, 5i23, and 7i43 via USB.  These are the cards I have.  And it one point, I had tested them all.  The 5i22 is in the works as soon as there is a SoftDMC for it from Mesa.  It may already have one by now.  I guess I need to talk to Peter to find out.

I know that it runs on XP, as that is what I developed it on.  But it should work on any 32bit system that Mach runs on.

The encoders will read back to Mach.  It's functionally equivalent to the Galil plugin.  I don't know about the dspmc, as I have never run one.

Steve

[TOTALLYRC]

Hi Smurph,
The only reason that I ask about steppers is that I have a stepper driven rotary table that works great.
I really didn't want to change it over to a servo. I was hoping for a mixed mode sort of thing but it is not a real problem.

To save an axis would it be possible to use it with a Modbus spindle or other option? As long as I don't need rigid tapping or single point threading.

I know what you mean about the ebay prices!

The 5i22 would allow for 2 axis cards and 2 I/O cards so that would be really sweet.

Thanks for the info, I will see what I can order. I could always use the 5i20 or 23 and upgrade to the 22 when it is working if I need all the I/O.

Since the first one will go on the lathe I am leaning towards the 7I43-U-4 Anything I/O USB/parallel 400K FPGA - 48 I/O plus 1 of the 7i37TA and a 7i33TA
It should be under $300 including shipping. Looks like I will have to sell something to pay for it but it will be worth it.

I have Win2k  XP,Vista and Win7 so I should be able to get it to work on something.

The DSPMC reads the encoders back into Mach3 also.

Thanks for the info.

You can either PM me and send me the files I will need or wait until the stuff comes in and I will contact you.

Mike

[TOTALLYRC]

Hey Smurph, is there an option for analog inputs which are great for spindle speed overide and feedrate overide???
I just emailed for a total price including shipping.

Mike

[smurph]

No analog inputs.    There is an analog board that Mesa sells, but there is nothing in the SoftDMC firmware to support them.  I'm sure Peter could do up some special firmware.  Or, all of the source is there in VDHL, so a person could roll their own if they wanted to.  The sky is the limit with the Mesa FPGA stuff.  It's just that knowledge of programming FPGA firmware is needed.  But one could throw in a cheap modbus device and accomplish the same thing. 

The deal is that you will not get closed loop servo control at a better price.  Even if you have to do other things with other devices, it is still the best thing going.

Steve

[TOTALLYRC]

Hi SMurph,
Thanks for the info,
I will go with the basics first and then see if I need the fancy stuff.
Hopefully I will hear from them today and be able to place my order.


Mike

[TOTALLYRC]

Hi Steve,
One other question before I order.
Will the 7I48 6 channel work instead of the 7133TA??

For the few dollars extra if I need to move this to a mill I could.

The 8 axis looks real cool with all the analog I/O but that is a lot more cash and I understand that it would be a lot more work for the plugin.

Next machine perhaps.

Mike

[smurph]

No.  The SoftDMC firmware doesn't support the 6 or 8 channel daughter cards.  Again, Peter may be able to make a special FW, but the standard FW is what I wrote the plugin for.

Steve

[TOTALLYRC]

Hi Steve,
Just being gready i guess.
Thanks for the info.

Mike

[BR549]

(;-)

[TOTALLYRC]

Hi Steve,
I placed my order today for the 7I43H, the 7I33TA-ROHS, and the 7I37TA-ROHS.
They should be here in a few days.
Please let me know how to get the plugin for testing and the needed drivers.

I am really looking forward to testing this as I have a bunch of analog servo drives and nothing to drive them with.

Mike