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Topics - mvcalypso

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1
Hi,
If you'd be interested in assisting with alpha testing of a screen set being developed for Mach3 V4, please see this notice in the screen sets in progress section:

http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,13417.new.html#new

I can still handle a couple of more testers.... 

Dave

2
Hi all,

I'm looking for a few (1-4, probably not more) experienced Mach3 users.

I've been working with Brian to develop an updated screen set for Mach3 V4. The initial screen set version has been prototyped on V3.

The screen set is at an alpha stage of development.

I'm looking for Mach3 users that would be interested in helping test the Alpha screen set software on their CNC hardware.

The essential requirements are:
1) Being interested in participating on a volunteer basis (there's no money involved in this testing gig).
2) You explicitly understand that this is Alpha level software - it could well still have bugs hidden in it. You would be trying this alpha software AT YOUR OWN RISK.
3) You have a working Mach3 controlled Mill or Router.
4) You have a good familiarity with Mach operations.
5) You are willing to document and report any problems you find.

At this time the package is ONLY suitable for experimental use by experienced Mach3 users. It has been loaded and run briefly on mill hardware. However, the total number of running hours can be counted with fingers only!

Alpha testers who also have experience in using VB macros with Mach and experience modifying or creating screen sets would be most helpful. If you do not meet this general criteria, I respectfully suggest that you wait for a later stage of the project to get involved.

Given an understanding that this is an Alpha stage of the project, if you are brave, careful by nature, and after reading this, you are still interested in testing the new screen set, keep reading...

A word about “support”: This project is being done by one person, in his “extra time”, with input from a few others.  I'll try to respond to correspondence re the project, but can not guarantee response time (and the holidays may slow me down a bit more what with family time etc.). Thus, patience would be a good virtue for an Alpha tester to have at this stage of the project. This is also the reason that I can only handle a couple of more testers at this time (there simply isn't the bandwidth necessary for a large formal test program). 

In case I get lots of responses to this post, I apologize to everyone in advance if I can't take everyone interested. Reality is that I just can't service lots of testers at this stage.

Now then, some formalities are in order.
This needs to be crystal clear to anyone thinking of participating:

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY CALYPSO VENTURES, INC. "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

If you're still interested, please send your contact info to my
corp email address: Dave (at) CalypsoVentures.com

Dave Bagby

3
Screen designer tips and tutorials / Display a string on a screen?
« on: October 26, 2009, 01:20:59 PM »
Hi,
Here I am working on some screens and VB code related to tools...

Here is the issue: I have in hand the string that is the tool description - and I want to display it in a fixed area on a screen....

I don't see a way to do this....   Conceptually, I think I want a "DRO for string values".
As long as I'm wishing, being able to select it and use it to get input would also be nice.

Is there a way to do this that I just have missed?

Does anyone have a clever way to accomplish this?

Dave

4
Screen designer tips and tutorials / height of title and menu bars?
« on: October 14, 2009, 05:11:39 PM »
Hi,
Does anyone happen to know the height in pixels of the windows titleand menu bars?
I'm wondering what height is left over for screen real estate after these are accounted for.

Dave

5
VB and the development of wizards / Find mach version from VB?
« on: June 02, 2009, 01:33:09 PM »
Hi -
I've loopked thru docs and the wiki but id not find this -
Does anyone know of a call to find the mach version info from VB?
Dave

6

Sigh, once again I find myself a bit confused – would appreciate any help.
(I also tried askign this on the yahoo list yesterday - no resposne so far)

Context: Mach 3.042.027 release candidate

I'm working on some TLO macros for using a master tool approach to tool setting, this also got me into doing some screen set modifications; I have run into something that seems odd to me.

OEM DRO 49 is the "Part Z Offset DRO" – my understanding is that it contains the offset for Z from machine coordinates for whatever the currently selected Work coordinate system is (G54, G55 etc.).

Weird thing 1:

For all the other DROs I have used, you
a) Click the DRO
b) Enter a value
c) Hit the enter key
d) The value you typed BECOMES value of the DRO.

For DRO 49, what I get is:
a) Click the DRO
b) Enter a value
c) Hit the enter key
d) The value typed is being ADDED to the existing value of the DRO.

Why is this? Is this "normal" behavior?

Weird thing 2:
When using the standard 1024 screen set, I can enter negative values into DRO 49.

When using the MachBue screen set, I can't enter a negative value, the minus sign is ignored.

I have looked at both screen sets in screen4 and in both screen sets they say the function is OEM code 49. The only difference in the dialog settings for the DRO in teh screens is the hot key value. I turned off the hot key in both screen sets – made no difference to what I am seeing.

How can the input parsing behavior be a function of the screen set and not of the DRO?
It changes with loaded screen set (I can swap back and forth between sets during one MACH session and the behavior changes with screen set).

FYI – a spot check of DRO 47, 48 and 50 (X, Y and A) show the same actions.

Help – Can anyone offer some explanation for what I'm seeing?

Dave

7
Hi,
I've been using the SteelBlue mill screen set for while and have grown rather used to it.
Now I have a desire to add some functions - so I started exploring screen mods (I've learned why it's called scream4  ::) )

My understanding so far is that the MachBlue series uses a bitmap that was developed as the page background (i.e. has the button images as part of the bitmap) and then scream4 was used to place transparent button areas on top of the bitmap.
I like the approach, but it does make it hard to make nice looking alterations.

I am wondering what tool was used to make the page bitmaps?
Is the source for the page bitmaps available? (I'm thinking this would be necessary to add buttons and sink them into the background image to make the new buttons look as nice as the existing ones).

To get things up and tested for functionality, I've just placed stock mach buttons, dros etc on the MachSteelBlue image... but, that's not real pretty.

Am I correct in thinking that to make this look nice I would need the source bitmaps?
Or is there another way to do this?
Or do I have the concepts all wrong (I'm just playing with screen sets for the first time and am not sure I have the overall mental picture right yet).

If I have the concepts right, are the mach Blue/steelBlue source images avail to work from?

Dave

8
VB and the development of wizards / VB defines/header file?
« on: April 27, 2009, 01:42:34 PM »
Hi,
I'm started to write some more macros and triggered my strong dislike for magic numbers in source code.
I'd just as soon use a set of names that are already in common use rather than invent names.

I think I remember seeing a post with a reference to a header file that defines names for all the mach DROS, LEDs etc. - but dang if I can find it now...

Is there a header file which is already in comon usage?
Can someone point me to such a critter?

Dave
 

9
Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Smithy 1240 CNC and enclosure
« on: January 21, 2009, 05:02:57 PM »
Hi all,
I thought I'd post a pic of my new mill. It's a Smithy 1240 CNC that I purchased a couple of months ago.
I didn't find a lot of Smithy 1240 owners when I was shopping, so I thought a posted pic might be of interest to others considering the model.
I talked them into selling the machine w/o a control (their standard model uses an EMC based control) and interfaced the mill to the custom control I'd developed for my prior knee mill.
So far I'm pretty happy with the mill (though it has not been issue free - but nothing that I did not expect from Chinese iron).
Most recently, I completed the enclosure seen in the pic.
I'm really liking how the chips and coolant now stay inside the mill  ;D

Dave

10
Modbus / Mach modbus inteface info?
« on: January 20, 2009, 02:46:10 PM »
Hi Guys,
I'm looking for some mach 3 modbus info.

I have a new mill I've interfaced to mach. The spindle has the usual 0-10v input on the VFD to control spindle speed, I currently have that hooked up to the PC via an SD to 0-10v board. This results in a Digital (mach) to analog (SD to 0-10) to digital (VFD 0-10 to speed) chain – which is rather nonlinear and hard to calibrate.

The manual for the VFD I'm using says it also has an rs-485 input and accepts what appears like it may be modus as a command structure. So I thought that a better way might be: mach mobus serial out (digital) to rs-232-rs-485 level conversion to the vfd rs-485 input. This would eliminate the analog conversions from the path.

I'm not real familiar with the modbus protocol so have been reading stuff off the web.

I think the vfd looks like a modbus slave and I think mach acts a mod bus master?

What I'd like is a pointer to detailed info (messages, sequences, formats etc)  on what mach puts on the serial port when modbus serial support is enabled. I'm particularly interested in messages resulting from M3, M4, M5 and S codes. (Note that I'm not looking for the Holman mod-io info, which I have - right now I'm trying to figure out if I could do a PC serial port direct (other than sio level translation) to vfd hook up approach).

Is there a doc that details how one would interface a modbus device to mach via the serial port?

Dave

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