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2071

General Mach Discussion / Re: Help Please: Computer upgrade causes no communication with controller

« on: September 25, 2016, 05:25:31 AM »

I hear what you say Roger but I think there are quite a few EPP compatible PCI Parallel Port cards available on-line which operate perfectly with Mach3.

If anyone is in doubt or unsure which one to purchase then perhaps go to one of the CNC equipment suppliers (just for example CNC4PC) who can sell you a PCI Parallel Port card which is guaranteed to work with Mach3.

Tweakie.

2072

General Mach Discussion / Re: Problem with MACH3 and first peck drill cycle

« on: September 25, 2016, 04:58:55 AM »

Unfortunately Mach3 is now what it is and it is my understanding that no future changes or bug fixes will ever be made. Your ‘work-around’ of deleting the G64 is probably the way to go and something to be remembered for the future.

However, having tried it here, I can confirm exactly what Terry said earlier that your code snippet (with G64) works perfectly every time when using the Parallel Port and Mach3 version R3.043.062.

Over the last couple of years there have been many reported problems, here on the forum, with version R3.043.066 to the extent that Warp9 now recommend using R3.043.062 with their Smooth Stepper. Would it be possible for you to try version .062 with your set-up and see if the problem persists ?

Tweakie.

2073

General Mach Discussion / Re: new at cnc

« on: September 25, 2016, 01:42:05 AM »

On the Mach3 Settings screen use the Axis Calibration feature to set your Steps per Unit (use as large a dimension as you can) then see if your machine now moves the correct distances.

Tweakie.

2074

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: G-Code scaling program, mm to Inches and back

« on: September 25, 2016, 01:27:49 AM »

You need to do a web search but there are a number of utilities (many are free) which will convert the Eagle CAD files to Mach3 compatible Gcode.
These are just a couple off the top of the pile…

http://pcbgcode.org/
http://rapid-pcb.com/

Tweakie.

2075

General Mach Discussion / Re: MPG PENDANTS

« on: September 24, 2016, 08:22:19 AM »

If it helps Luis Maria said...

"I am new to the forum and I want to add an MPG using Modio".

(or something close to that).

Tweakie.

2076

General Mach Discussion / Re: Stepper issues

« on: September 24, 2016, 04:33:38 AM »

I think Rob has summed it up very well.

Something else to bear in mind is that some external motion controller will work with both Mach3 and Mach4 (using different plugins) but, as Rob has said, the Mach4 plugin software lags behind Mach4 development.

If it’s of any interest, my preference is a dedicated PC running WinXP (licensed copies can be obtained quite cheaply) and using Mach3 with the parallel port.

Tweakie.

2077

General Mach Discussion / Re: Stepper issues

« on: September 24, 2016, 04:00:35 AM »

Just to confirm what has already been said...

The parallel port cannot be used with Windows 10.
If you wish to use Win10 then you must use an external motion controller.
If you wish to use the parallel port then you must use Windows 7 (or earlier) 32 bit only.

Tweakie.

2078

General Mach Discussion / Re: Laser control on and off using Z

« on: September 23, 2016, 04:27:38 AM »

For your Z axis if you measure the voltage between +5v (Dir+) and Dir- it will change between 0v and 5v depending on which direction the axis was last moved.
Connecting a relay directly may not be a good idea (the Dir- can only sink 50mA current and it is already driving the Z axis controller) so use an opto coupler (or similar device) to drive your relay from the +5v and Dir- terminals.

Tweakie.

2079