Machsupport Forum
Mach Discussion => General Mach Discussion => Topic started by: Nato36 on April 17, 2012, 02:49:57 PM
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Hello,
I recently purchased two Newmark slides with stepper motors and a 3 axis simultaneous motion controller (nsc-g3). I need to set this up via ETHERNET because the laptop doesn't have RS232. Does anyone know how to get this to work with Mach3? Do I still need to use the Galil tools software? ANY HELP WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. BTW, I am fluent with CNC and G & M codes. I just have never actually built my own CNC machine before. We're playing around with making a simple 2-AXIS diamond wheel dresser.
Thanks,
NB.
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Not sure what controller you actually have as it does not sound familiar to me, do you have a link?
Hood
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Sorry but without a plugin to interface it it is NOT compatible with Mach3
(;-) TP
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Hood, here's a link to the manufacturer of the controller and slides I bought.
www.newmarksystems.com
BR549.....tell me ur not serious!!! If that's the case...I'm out $3500.00!!! Surely there's got to be an easier way to program this. I guess I just assumed that as long as you had the slides and the controller....u could use pretty much any language to make them move. NO GOOD! haha
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As Terry has said you would need a plugin to use that with Mach so unless you or someone else writes one then you will just have to use the software that comes with it.
Hood
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Yah, I was afraid of that. I'm going to see if I can return it. Is there any controller out there that you would suggest? Also, can I still use the slides at least? They just have the two cables coming out of each end. I think one's the motor and the other is the signal??? I figured that if I bought a really nice controller then it would be no problem setting up and programming but I'm finding out that's not the case. It seems like Newmark doesn't even want to help me or give me any real support either. I called them yesterday and they were just like, "Well...I think Mach3 works with it. You'll need to call them."
Thanks again for the info and the help guys! :-)
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Not sure what slides you have but assume it is just a slide with a stepper attached. You would most likely be able to use something like a Gecko drive to control each axis you have. The specs of the motor would need to be known to be sure but likely the G540 would be a good choice.
Hood
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As Hood stated you still have a good set of slides and stepper motors. ALSO in the black box there MAY be a good set of stepper drivers hooked to teh motion controller.
The worst case senario you would need to get a set of Stepper drives to work with the motors and a simple Breakout board(BOB) to interface the drives to teh PC.
THEN you can run MACH3 (;-)
(;-) TP
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You guys are awesome! Thanks!
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Yes definitely have a look inside that box if they will not accept it back as it will have drives in it of some description.
Hood
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Oh ya.....I just thought of one more thing. The laptop I bought for this only has an ethernet port....no RS232. Is that going to be a major problem? I was reading about some ethernet issues with Mach3 and also something about a "smooth-stepper"??? Is this related to Mach3 not having much Ethernet support? Are they even related?
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It is not a serial port you need for Mach but rather a Parallel port (Printer Port) If your laptop does not have one then you would need to use one of the external devices such as the SmoothStepper. I would say to go for an Ethernet Smoothstepper rather than the USB version if you are going to go the Smoothstepper route. There are other devices such as KFlop and even the Poekys has an Alpha plugin that has motion control but the latter is just 25KHz max at the moment.
Hood
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Might be worth noting, the NSC-G series controller uses GalilTools software.
Maybe there is a plugin that is ready to go ?
Might check with K. Krouch over on the Galil board of this forum ?
Just a hunch, might be way off.
Russ
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Will do Overloaded. Thanks for the info. I've purchased a few high-end CNC machines now, (mill/turn and 4 & 5 axis mills) but I am totally blown away at how much stuff there is out the for the hobby "do it yourself'ers" and the little guys. It's hard to know exactly what to purchase. I'll figure it out though...sooner or later.
Thanks again everyone. :-)
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Good Point Russ, IF it uses the Galil card that is supported he may be in luck.
(;-)TP