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Topics - beefy

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1
The laser commands M10 M11 are normally used for switching an output at a specific point in gcode. In laser control it seems they are often used at the beginning and end of a cut to turn the laser at the exact moment in time the axis starts moving.

Another method of doing this has been to use the DIR pin of a "phantom axis" (unused axis).

Now this is my question - is there any way to use a DIR pin output DURING an XY move without affecting that XY move. Please don't suggest M10/11 for this, I have certain reasons I need to use the DIR pin for this and explaining why is just complicating matters.

So for instance, and to keep things simple, I want to move X to 5, then switch on my phantom DIR output at that point, then have X continue to 10, i.e. the X move from 0 - 10 is uninterrupted and the DIR pin is activated at the X 5 position.

Anyone know if that is possible.

2
I've read somewhere that Mach3 Plasma requires the switching on and off of a plasma torch with:

DoSpinCW()

and

DoSpinStop()

It was said that if you turn on the plasma without these commands, such as:

ActivateSignal(OUTPUT1)

then the behaviour of the machine will be incorrect ???????? (did not say in what way it will be incorrect).

I know that Mach3 plasma will release motion if the THC is not switched on, but when THC is switched on it will not release motion until it gets an ARC OK signal. So assuming THC is switched ON:

Does anyone know if the DoSpinCW() command is tied to Mach3 releasing motion ONLY when it gets the ARC OK signal.

Put another way, if ActivateSignal(OUTPUT1) was used instead, would Mach3 release motion immediately at the first XY move regardless of whether the ARC OK signal is present.

Or is that last sentence untrue, and Mach3 Plasma will not release motion until it gets ARC OK, regardless of what command fired the torch.

Cheers,

Keith

3
I have an MP3000 - DTHC system from Candcnc, based on Mach3 with a custom plugin.

M3 is used to fire the torch. The problem I am having is there is a pause of about 3 seconds after the torch fires before motion starts.

I recieve the ARC OK signal immediately (ARC OK led lights on the screen) after the torch fires.

The spindle delay settings are also at zero.

Anyone know where this pause could be coming from. I'm hoping it's not the Candcnc plugin that's the problem.

This isn't just causing a big hole at the pierce point, it's also causing the system to shut down due to overvoltage. The Candcnc plugin has a tick box "SHUT DOWN ON FAULT" yet despite that NOT being ticked the system still shuts down on volts out of range.

Keith.

4
General Mach Discussion / Create hard disk image in a different PC ???
« on: October 12, 2015, 03:16:24 AM »
Yet another PC died on me, and it was the hard disk this time.

Started to go through my spare PCs and found another hard disk had died, maybe they don't like being stored in a cold damp tin shed.

So this has got me wondering about creating hard disk images so I can just write the image to another drive and away I go again.

BUT here's the thing, I want to avoid doing the imaging on my Mach3 computer. I tend to strip XP down to the bone and disable all sorts of services, and I don't want to install any other software.

So is it possible to temporarilly remove the hardrive from the Mach3 PC and install it as a slave drive in my "imaging PC". Then I create the disk image, save it to file, then put the hard drive back in the Mach3 PC.

Likewise if I need to replace the Mach3 hard drive, I put a new drive in my "imaging PC" (as a slave drive), write the image to it, then put it in the Mach3 PC.

Feasible ????

Keith.

5
General Mach Discussion / Mach3 not for sale in a year or so ???
« on: July 15, 2015, 11:58:37 PM »
Copied these words from the Mach4 page:

Mach3 will continue to be sold for a year or more, while the number of compatible hardware devices is expanded through plug-in development.

Does this mean that when it is felt Mach4 is ready for "production", you won't even be able to buy Mach3 anymore. And Mach4 will have a price tag of $1000-$2000 per PC if it's going to produce profit.

Just trying to decide on my cnc future with Mach3/4.

Keith.

6
General Mach Discussion / Future of Mach3 ??
« on: July 11, 2015, 12:35:30 AM »
Just wondering others opinions on the future of Mach3.

XP will get progressively more difficult to find as time goes by (i.e. legal versions), and Microsoft won't sell licenses anymore.

And what about suitable PCs with parallel port, they are getting older more unreliable, and slowly getting harder to find.

I'm getting to a good stage with Mach3 but wonder if I should at some point start looking at Linuxcnc for the future. Not something I want to do but thinking down the track.

Opinions ?

Keith

7
I'm looking at saving what I'll call "Parameter Sets" for different materials (plasma cutting related).

So lets say I have a new material. I initially type specific values in various DROs, then I want to be able to save these DRO values to a file so that when I come back to Mach next day, I can load all these DROs at once by opening the chosen Parameter Set file.

This way I can have an ever growing list of Parameter Set files for convenience and speed.

Is this possible in Mach ?

Keith.

8
General Mach Discussion / No built-in THC DELAY in Mach3 ???
« on: June 12, 2015, 01:51:13 AM »
I'm working on making a torch height control for Mach3.

Does Mach not have a built in THC DELAY. Judging by what I read in the documentation it seems the THC becomes active as soon as Mach gets the ARC OK signal. However the torch could still be in the middle of a pierce and you don't want to have THC moves then.

I've got a Candcnc system and it has a user adjustable THC DELAY. I think from when the ARC OK is recieved the THC ignores any UP/DOWN signals for the duration of the THC DELAY setting. The DRO code is OEM 177 which is just a reserved DRO, so I'm guessing that the THC DELAY is part of the Candcnc plugin and not native to Mach3.

I can get around this easily enough by programming it into the THC controller, but just want to double check first that Mach doesn't have anything built in.

Keith.

9
VB and the development of wizards / Difference - "basic", USER, OEM
« on: May 08, 2015, 10:07:23 PM »
Could anyone direct me to a source of explanation, or perhaps describe to me the differences of these.

DRO
USERDRO
OEMDRO

LED
USERLED
OEMLED

etc.

Thanks,

Keith.

10
Brains Development / GCODE INPUT TO BRAIN
« on: May 03, 2015, 07:37:24 AM »
Never had anything to do with brains before so please be gentle with me, have only just looked at the video for the first time.

I see the input conditions to the brain - inputs, outputs, DROs, LEDs, etc.

Is there any way something in gcode can act as the input condition for a brain, so something you put in gcode triggers the brain to operate so to speak.

Must not be in a macro.

Keith

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