Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bridgeport conversion help

« on: May 25, 2010, 10:31:26 PM »

  Charles,
  I understood the diagram to eliminate the board on the Boss system and wire into the harnesses described in the instructions.
  I can't tell you any more than that because I ran into a killer deal on a set of Gecko 201's and eliminated the entire Boss system. I'm glad I did. Much simpler wiring and I haven't had any unexplained accuracy issues. I think I have less than 25 wires running in a junction box with drives,power supply,Smooth Stepper(I am running a laptop with no issues),SmoothStepper direct B/O board(Why doesn't this come as one board?).I used all the original wiring from the Bridgeport steppers and limit swithches.
  I do know that Derek was willing to answer any questions I had within a day or two.
 

2

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bridgeport conversion help

« on: November 08, 2009, 05:49:42 AM »

  So,each driver has 2 inputs,according to the schematic I got with the machine. One is #19 and the other is #13. #13 also has a H beside it on the schematic,and #19 has a L. Do the step and direction pulses have to go to a certain input? Is there a difference in the signals? Or do I just hook them up with a 50% chance of being correct? Then if things are wrong,just reverse my step and direction signals at #13 and #19? What I don't understand is does each wire conduct a step or direction pulse,or is it one in the same. I see a chart in the manual that shows the inputs and outputs through the driver,but don't quite grasp the relevance. I may be trying to understand a little deeper than I need to to make chips,but this whole project is as much about fascination with cnc as it is practical. Thanks for the help so far.
Nick

3

General Mach Discussion / Bridgeport conversion help

« on: November 07, 2009, 03:27:17 PM »

  Hello.I am trying to update a Bridgeport Series one with a Boss5 controller.I am no electronics whiz.I am just curious if I can use the Bridgeport SMD drivers with Mach3.I see the drives receive ttl inputs through two pins on each board(Step & Direction?).I want to eventually update to a servo system,if I like the way this works.So,I don't want to put too much into the stepper system if I don't have to.Any ideas out there.I am thinking of just getting a break out board for isolation and seeing if the pulses from Mach will control the SMD's.