How to- USB powered LCD display of DRO`s

[Astroguy]

If anyone is interested here is how to have a remote DRO display using a USB powered LCD.
First buy a USB LCD driver kit from http://www.gravitech.us/sechlcddrbok1.html
And an LCD display http://www.gravitech.us/20chyelcdwib.html
After making and testing  the kit go into windows divice manager and find out what port it is on, it will be listed under ports  and say USB serial port with the number.
Than go into Mach3 General config. setting and set the com port on the lower left corner and check Run Macropump box. See picture below.
Copy and paste the Macropump file attached here to the macro folder in Profile folder you are using.
All done, now you have a USB display of your DRO`s

[Hood]

Looks great, thanks for sharing, I am sure a lot of people will like this.
Hood

[Tweakie.CNC]

Nice work Astroguy.

This will make a very useful addition, thank you for posting the details.

Tweakie.

[Astroguy]

I had a lot of help from member BR549, I could not have done it without his help.
It it very convenient to have the display at the machine when using a pendant and
now for less than $35 anyone can have one or build it into there pendant.
This is the original thread: http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,18702.0.html

[budman68]

Fred, thanks so much for posting this, I actually gave it a try and it works, but one question for you. The cursor is blinking on the "X" in the top left corner, is there a way to stop it from blinking?

Thanks for sharing your work and also to TP for helping sort it out with you.  

Thanks,
Dave

[Astroguy]

Fred, thanks so much for posting this, I actually gave it a try and it works, but one question for you. The cursor is blinking on the "X" in the top left corner, is there a way to stop it from blinking?

Thanks for sharing your work and also to TP for helping sort it out with you. 

Thanks,
Dave

If you look in the manual for the for the LCD it lists the comands. I believe there is a way to do it but I am out of town right now, I will give it a try next week when I get back and let you know.

[budman68]

Thanks, Fred, are you saying I have to add something to the macropump you uploaded, or is this something that is programmed into an application like "LCD Smartie" and that "shuts off the blinking cursor, and the LCD driver remembers that state?

Ran into another snag as well as I connected this to my actual machine PC, and when I "run macropump" on the General config screen, Mach doesn't function correctly. It will not go in and out of Reset and I can't control the jogging. Possibly it's getting crossed up with another plugin I'm using. Oh well, I'll have to play with this another time as I'm just swamped with work at this point 

Thanks,
Dave

[Astroguy]

I messed around with the blinking and could not get it to stop. I believe it is a Mach3 problem as it reruns the macro over and over. If you notice on the driver board the red led blinks when data is sent to the LCD, it`s blinking rate is the same as the blinking on the LCD so I believe it is caused by data refreshing. As far as the problem you are having with it resetting it may be a windows thing if you have something else conflicting with the port the LCD is using. Maybe someone Else with more experience can chime in here.

Thanks, Fred, are you saying I have to add something to the macropump you uploaded, or is this something that is programmed into an application like "LCD Smartie" and that "shuts off the blinking cursor, and the LCD driver remembers that state?

Ran into another snag as well as I connected this to my actual machine PC, and when I "run macropump" on the General config screen, Mach doesn't function correctly. It will not go in and out of Reset and I can't control the jogging. Possibly it's getting crossed up with another plugin I'm using. Oh well, I'll have to play with this another time as I'm just swamped with work at this point 

Thanks,
Dave

[budman68]

Fred, as per the manual, you actually do program the cursor "style" through something like hyperterminal (what I used). This is retained in the eprom chip on the board that you built. You can also make your own boot up text as well. This thing is really pretty nifty, thanks for turning me on to it    Now I just have to figure out why it's not happy with my machine PC.

Set cursor style:

- ?c[style]

- [style] is range from 0-3.

- A 0 configures are no cursor, a 2 as a non blinking cursor and a 1 or 3 as a blinking cursor.

Hope this helps you.
Dave

[Astroguy]

Thanks for the info, I really have not had much time to  mess with it yet but it sounds like it has more possiblities than I thought. I hope more people jump onboard with it and see what they can come up with.

Fred

Fred, as per the manual, you actually do program the cursor "style" through something like hyperterminal (what I used). This is retained in the eprom chip on the board that you built. You can also make your own boot up text as well. This thing is really pretty nifty, thanks for turning me on to it    Now I just have to figure out why it's not happy with my machine PC.

Set cursor style:

- ?c[style]

- [style] is range from 0-3.

- A 0 configures are no cursor, a 2 as a non blinking cursor and a 1 or 3 as a blinking cursor.

Hope this helps you.
Dave