Hello Guest it is March 28, 2024, 07:14:28 AM

Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - Keisler

Pages: 1
1
Thanks for your experiences with Mach 3 VS CamSoft, I also own a Tree Milling machine, a 320 Journeyman that I retrofitted back in 2006 to a CamSoft with Galil controllers machine and it has worked fine up until a week ago, It looks like I need to go back and retune the servos; and Camsoft doesn't seem to be making any difference when I change the servo tuning settings.

But anyway, about your mentioning your dealings with the Camsoft people, the experience I had with them was when I first was getting it up and running they were fairly helpful for maybe 3 or 4 weeks and then all of a sudden it was like "You need to pay for any more technical support from this point on" - and I was thinking excuse me, didn't I just pay you guys over $4000 for this freakin software already?

And yes, mine gets a popup screen every 6 months or so saying I need to pay for a maintenance fee, so far I've just been able to X out of the screen and it goes away for another 6 months or so...... I'll go to another controller like Mach3 before I pay CamSoft any more money for anything.  

I got the CNC Professional with the AS 3000 CAD/CAM and let me tell you, that AS 3000 is a joke, it took me about 2 weeks messing with it and I went back to TurboCAD/CAM

Yep, sounds familiar.  Gary gets amnesia and starts talking about you needing to hire tech support.  I was shocked that he would not even tell me the default password for Camsoft, "RISK."  That was when I realized there was no way I would send this guy aother red cent.  Times have changed and I don't see him keeping up with current business etiquette to earn business.

2
Hello.

Do I have to configure the motor outputs on mach3? or just the Galil plugin

  Next, config the run the GALIL PlugIn for MACH3.  Then config the Galil PlugIn so that MACH3 can communicate with the DMC-18x2.
a. Run MACH3 -> CONFIG menu -> CONFIG PLUGINS -> double click on GALIL PLUGIN.
b. Follow the instructions in the MACH3 GALIL PlugIn pdf manual file.  If you don't have this manual, download it under the SUPPORT -> DOCUMENTATION at the header of this forum.

I hope this helps some of your fellow Galil owners!

- Keisler

Sorry for the delay in reply. You should wire your limit switches in as a matter of machine crash prevention.  And the Galil card needs to be configured, and the tuning parameters dialied in.  Then you need to get the Mach3 plugin setup completed, which is not a big deal.

3
Galil / Re: Remote jog pendant again
« on: February 04, 2013, 07:39:02 AM »
Allen,

Thanks for posting. I was waiting to see how this purchase went for you.  I will get one of that seller's pendants also.
Please post a video of your end mill regrinding in action. I have lots of cutters needing resharpening.

4
Galil / Re: Remote jog pendant again
« on: January 24, 2013, 03:19:08 PM »
OK, now I am understanding.  IF the product in question has a MPG wheel, then it needs to go to the GALIL INPUT board directly.  Otherwise, the non-MPG wheel product can plug right to the PC, and MACH3 and GALIL will work together.

From this seller, here is his reply to me last night:
"Hi,
i understand your worrys.
we sold hundreds of the above item.
all are working well with Mach3.
it was made by China Manuafacturer.

mach3 MPG pendant datasheet download link:
https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=CB363E5D4717263F!130&authkey=!ANB54coqLU3RLeg

Mach3 software download link:
https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=CB363E5D4717263F!131&authkey=!AE0gPlrBxJrtR2g

thanks

kevin- onlyforever702"

Perhaps we can find something that works soon.

5
Galil / Re: Remote jog pendant again
« on: January 23, 2013, 08:58:34 PM »
Steve,

I am confused.  All I want to do is jog the axes.  One at a time is fine.  So I must be misunderstanding the MPG versus JOG control.  For JOG control, will the pendant work, or am I still looking at months of programming work for a plugin?  I just want to have the basic function of what the TAB key gives you but in a pendant or operator panel. 

Please tell me what I should be looking at.  Thank you,

Shafi

6
Galil / Re: Remote jog pendant again
« on: January 23, 2013, 03:53:00 PM »
Steve,

Thanks for answering our questions, and the extra information of your integration which is really nice!

In your reply to Allen, you mention option 2 below:
"You basically have two ways of accomplishing what you want to do:
1.  Use Galil inputs to drive Galil code to jog your axes.
2.  Use any input device to drive brains that push virtual Mach buttons and let Mach drive the axes just like if you were pressing the jog buttons on the tab screen.

Option 1 is probably more complex as you will have to figure a way to honor Mach's jog rules.  And using Galil code will require using Galil inputs.
Option 2 works like a charm and you don't have to use Galil inputs if you don't want to." <end of quote>

OPTION 2 is EXACTLY what I would like to do with the $115 pendant on ebay.  The seller says he has the plug-in for MACH3 on a CD included with the purchase, so perhaps no brain file is needed.  Like you said, when you hit the TAB KEY, MACH3 is telling GALIL what to do in as much as axis selection, increment, etc.  I want to just duplicate this functionality to the pendant.

If the seller's supplied PLUGIN is no good, can I write a brain file to utilize the serial data sent? 

Thanks!

Shafi

7
Galil / Re: Remote jog pendant again
« on: January 23, 2013, 08:24:13 AM »
I would like to add a few follow on questions to Allen's:

1. The MPG MUST be connected to the Galil interconnect board, right?
2. If above is yes, then MACH3 will monitor this encoder input as part of the plugin?
3. When the TAB key is hit for the JOG pendant on screen, you will need to select the axis and resolution/speed?
4. Say you select Y axis, then when you turn the physical MPG from 1. Above it will move the axis?

How can one use one of the off the shelf usb pendants to get all of those features to work plug and play, except for the MPG which has to be wired in direct.  I like the DRO on the pendant, and would like to be able to zero the machine using the pendant.

If it is better to split my questions out to a new thread that is OK. Thank you,

Shafi

8
Galil / Re: Remote jog pendant again
« on: January 22, 2013, 06:52:15 PM »
Hi,

I am also looking for this solution for my Mach3 + Galil 1842 combo running on a TREE CNC Knee mill.  This link for a $115 PENDANT intrigues me as it states it is for MACH3. Has anyone tried it?



9
UPDATE:  Over this past week I got the machine up and running on MACH3.  I am SO GLAD I switched from CamSoft to MACH3.  There are several important pieces of information I learned and would like to pass onto the forum, and writers of the Galil PlugIn.

My machine tool is an early 80s TREE Journeyman 200.  I performed the original retrofit FEB 2000.

Original Equipment circa Feb/2000:
HP Pavillion running Win98
GALIL DMC-1842 4 axis card (known as DMC-18x2 series), Hardware REV C, Firmware REV 1.0e
CamSoft CNC Lite

Newer Equipment Dec/2012:
DELL Optiplex GX-280 WinXP machine, running 2.8GHz, 1GB Ram, ASUS PCI-E 1GB add on video card, PCI Wireless N card
GALIL DMC-1842 4 axis card, Hardware REV C, Firmware REV 1.0e
MACH3 with GALIL PlugIn


PROBLEM: Device driver available from GalilTools creates Windows Device Error CODE 10, Device Not Functioning
Galil Engineering Support says hardware REV C is "not supported" but REV D and newer, including the Econo series, is supported.  Galil is using GALIL TOOLS for their software suite, which includes device drivers for Win XP for the DMC-18x2 series.

SOLUTION: Utilize GALIL SMART TERM software and included device driver (so a search for this on Galil's site and it will be found under Legacy products).
The SMART TERM device driver allows the DMC-18x2 to be properly registered to the computer.  
a. If GalilTools device driver already installed, remove it using DEVICE MANAGER.  Then remove the DMC-18x2 card from the machine.
b. Install SMART TERM
c. Under SMART TERM -> TOOLS, confirm the DMC-18x2 card is recognized and registered as the Controller.  This is important!  Once it is registered, the MACH3 GALIL PlugIn can recognize the DMC-18x2 card.
d. Optional: using SMART TERM, interrogate controller's P, I, D tuning parameters.  This is done as KP ? <enter>,  KI ? <enter>, KD ? <enter>.  I found that the tuning parameters in CamSoft's setup were different than the numbers output.  I didn't need to do any re-tuning, though. Record these P I D params in the section of the MACH3 manual that provides for you to write down important params in case of a complete PC system crash.
e. Optional, recommended: UPDATE your FIRMWARE.  The firmware and instructions can be found under the Software Downloads section of GALIL SUPPORT.  I updated from rev E to rev R.

At this point, the Galil DMC-18x2 is registered to the Windows system and to the Galil registery.  Next, config the run the GALIL PlugIn for MACH3.  Then config the Galil PlugIn so that MACH3 can communicate with the DMC-18x2.
a. Run MACH3 -> CONFIG menu -> CONFIG PLUGINS -> double click on GALIL PLUGIN.
b. Follow the instructions in the MACH3 GALIL PlugIn pdf manual file.  If you don't have this manual, download it under the SUPPORT -> DOCUMENTATION at the header of this forum.

I hope this helps some of your fellow Galil owners!

- Keisler

10
Hi All,

I am new to Mach3 and this is my first post.  I am looking to migrate from Camsoft to Mach3.  Yesterday I downloaded the software, docs, help files and Galil plug-in. 
I would like to know if there is a straightforward process to migrate the servo tuning data over to Mach3, along with any other calibration information specific to the Galil tuning for my machine?

Just a little background about WHY I am changing from CamSoft to Mach3:
I bought my '79 TREE Journeyman 200 in '99.  It was in need of retrofit.  I purchased a Galil DMC-1842 and Interconnect terminal board and cable, along with the Camsoft package.
My TREE Journeyman had about .0025inch backlash in X and .0014inch backlash in Y when I purchased it.  Camsoft could never get the backlash comp to work correctly.  It had a problem with compounding the backlash correction factor at every direction change, spiraling the accuracy out of control.  I finally gave up on getting Camsoft to get it working. 
The TREE was an important part of my small business and served us well from 2000-2006.  After purchasing a HAAS TM2 and VF3, the TREE got sidelined once the PC running the controller crashed.  Last year I put together another PC to get the TREE back up. Unfortunately, our CamSoft books were misplaced and I couldn't find the password for CNC Lite.  I contacted Gary, the owner of Camsoft, for help.  Instead of simply telling me to look for the password in the initialization file directory, Gary hit me up for a maintenance fee.  He never would tell me the default password was "RISK", and this really did not sit well with me.  Only this past weekend, after digging into all the files, did I find the password.  Had Gary given me the default password upfront, I would probably have upgraded to the latest version.  Since he didn't want to help, but offer me solutions to spend money just to overcome a lost password, I decided I would not return to CamSoft unless absolutely needed.

Going forward, I am looking to get Mach3 working in Demo mode with the TREE.  Once I see it will work, as recommended by the author, I will go ahead and pay the license fee to unlock the software.  I would like to add some linear scales to improve the accuracy.  And I have some Fanuc servos/drives that I would like to put to work with the extra drive outputs.

Thanks in advance for your support


Pages: 1