Topics

1

HiCON Motion Controller / Encoder feedback on Spindle with 0-10v control? Resolution?

« on: June 22, 2017, 09:44:52 PM »

I purchased the AMT102 encoder and attached it to my spindle motor shaft.
It has settable resolutions.
What will be the best option for using in this application? It seems that to get the best performance I should set this to the maximum of 2048 ppr.
Or should I go the other way and go with 48 ppr? Or anywhere in-between?

2048     1024     1000     800
512       500      400       384
256       250      200       192
125       100      96         48

2

HiCON Motion Controller / Analog Output not going to zero on M04 Command

« on: June 12, 2017, 07:25:54 PM »

Experimenting with analog spindle speed. I have the Hicon connected to a KBMM DC motor controller with the isolator board. It takes 0-10v

Turning on spindle in MDI with M03 S500 etc. works great. But when issuing M05 the spindle does not turn off. Mach4 shows it thinks the spindle has turned off but it hasn't

Any help?

3

HiCON Motion Controller / Homing using home switch AND encoder index?

« on: June 27, 2016, 09:08:52 PM »

Can you setup the Hicon to home using a switch and then the encoder index pulse without connecting the encoder itself in closed loop mode? Can't I just bring the index pulse into one of the other digital inputs?

4

Mach4 General Discussion / G66 Calls not working in Mach4?

« on: May 12, 2016, 07:05:26 PM »

I can get G65 to work, but G66 is puking. Is there a format error?
Code like this;
N54 (Drill - J End Bottom)
N55 G66 P10003 X1.3100 Y0.9400 K0.14 J1 I0
N56 X2.7400 Y0.9400 K0.14 J1 I0
N57 X1.3100 Y-0.9400 K0.14 J1 I0
N58 X2.7400 Y-0.9400 K0.14 J1 I0
N59 G67

5

Screen designer tips and tutorials / Bold Text not staying Bold?

« on: May 06, 2016, 05:01:13 PM »

Why in Mach4, when I edit a screen and set text to be bold, does the screen revert to normal when restarting?

6

General Mach Discussion / Display value of Gcode variable on a DRO

« on: December 11, 2013, 11:41:34 AM »

Is there a standard code to put in the screen designer DRO to display a variable value that will be set via gcode #var?

7

General Mach Discussion / Macro programming questions

« on: December 09, 2013, 06:21:14 PM »

I need to write a G-code program that calls certain other g-code programs in a specific order.

Say I have;
1.tap
2.tap
3.tap

If opened individually these files make a single part.

Then I want a "job" file that calls these like so;

Load 1.tap and run
Load 3.tap and run
Load 1.tap and run
Load 1.tap and run
Load 2.tap and run

Each tap file cannot know of the existence of each other, only the "job" file knows who to run next.

Is this possible?

Best guess so far is to create a macro, call it m999
Function Param1 () as String ' gets P word
StrutFile = "C:\" + Param1 + ".tap"
LoadRun (StrutFile)

The job file;
M999 P1
M999 P3
M999 P1
M999 P1
M999 P2


What am I missing? How does the macro return to original code running? Or once a new file is loaded is that it?

8

General Mach Discussion / 9 axis controller? Mach4 questions as well.

« on: October 15, 2013, 03:51:41 PM »

I may be building a custom machine in the near future.

One of my requirements is to use standard G-code to run it. It will have multiple spindles and multiple axis control.
Up to 6 axis is easy as I can simply call X, Y, Z, A, B, C and do what ever I want even using Mach3 to do so (Right?).
However I would like more axis control if needed. I have seen G-code references that add U, V, W.
Are these part of the standard G-code world?
Will Mach4 be able to read these and move up to 9 axis?
I see somewhere in the Mach4 page it states up to 6 separate coordinate systems. So does that mean 6*6 (36) axis? if so how do I address this via the code I send it?

9

General Mach Discussion / Post Processor for Pro/Engineer?

« on: October 28, 2005, 01:58:39 PM »

Does anyone know if there is post processor out there for Pro/Engineer (Pro/NC, nc post)? Or if not, which one of the included ones should I use?