Messages

3261

General Mach Discussion / Re: Hall of shame

« on: February 22, 2016, 01:20:38 AM »

Hi Graeme,

Thank you for sharing your experience.

Tweakie.

3262

General Mach Discussion / Re: Hooray! I helped myself, or how to let Mach3 know what tool you are using!

« on: February 21, 2016, 11:17:10 AM »

Excellent work Leslie - thanks for sharing the info.

Tweakie.

3263

General Mach Discussion / Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!

« on: February 20, 2016, 11:28:35 AM »

so mach3 will not work with 64bit  windows 7, no matter what?

Requirements if using an external motion device for machine control:

An appropriate external motion controller such as Warp9 Smooth Stepper or similar
Desktop or Laptop with Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8
1Ghz CPU
512MB RAM
Video Card with 32MB RAM(Large G-code files, especially 3D files will require a video card with 512MB RAM or higher)

Tweakie.

3264

General Mach Discussion / Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!

« on: February 20, 2016, 01:18:34 AM »

Thanks for the reply Tweakie. could this be resolved with a parallel port card? if so, any particular type?

Requirements if using the parallel port for machine control:

Desktop PC (Laptops are not supported) with at least one parallel port
32-bit version of Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 (64-bit versions will not work)
1Ghz CPU
512MB RAM
Non-integrated Video Card with 32MB RAM(Large G-code files, especially 3D files will require a video card with 512MB RAM or higher)

Tweakie.

3265

General Mach Discussion / Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!

« on: February 19, 2016, 02:19:55 AM »

I've decided to make the move to Mach3, and I'm already a little frustrated. I can fire up Mach2, go to the Motor tuning page, and all is good. I got to mach3, where I have enabled the lpt1 port, and then to the motor tuning page, and I can't get a motor to move. So I guess this is an intro, and a plead for help.. I've watched a few intros, and thought I'd read the manual, but..... here I am... lost... 

Welcome to the forum.

If you post your question as a New Topic I am sure it will get many answers / suggestions as to resolving the problem.

Could be that the Ports and Pins (Step and Direction) are not set correctly or that one or more enable signals are required.

Tweakie.

3266

General Mach Discussion / Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!

« on: February 19, 2016, 02:16:00 AM »

hi
I have been working with and around CNC machines my entire working life (over 30 years). I have purchased myself a small CNC router/mill for using at home making, mainly, guitar parts. I have downloaded and installed Mach3 and unfortunately it doesnt work. when running the drivertest it reports "No driver sensed installed. Run driver test" I have repeatedly uninstalled and re-installed to no avail. can anyone advise me as to what i am doing wrong? P C is more than up to spec although, i am wondering, is windows 7 supported?

Welcome to the forum.

Win 7 is supported but if you are using the LPT parallel port then the PC has to be 32 bit.

Tweakie.

3267

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Mach3 hanging up - new install

« on: February 18, 2016, 02:11:33 AM »

Which version of Mach3 are you using ?

Tweakie.

3268

General Mach Discussion / Re: Touch Plate Help Needed Please

« on: February 18, 2016, 02:02:58 AM »

Just a thought...  

Some Ethernet cables do not carry the ground connection through a shield to the outer metal parts on each end of the cable - you may be missing the connection between your machine GND and your PC GND.

Tweakie.

3269

Mach SDK plugin questions and answers. / Re: PID control proportional to velocity

« on: February 17, 2016, 08:18:15 AM »

Yes.
The actual step pulse for each axis would be available at the input to it's stepper motor driver (or the output from the Smooth Stepper - Mach3 outputs Step & Direction signals for each axis).

The software solution, I am thinking of, relates to the Engraving Trigger for Laser or Impact and the source code for this can be downloaded from here; http://www.machsupport.com/software/plugins/

Tweakie.

3270

Mach SDK plugin questions and answers. / Re: PID control proportional to velocity

« on: February 17, 2016, 07:53:22 AM »

To do it as Art did, within a plugin, would, I think, require inside knowledge of the Mach3 engine. My approach would be electronic – receive the PRF (pulse repetition frequency) of the axis step pulses and output PWM (or an analogue voltage) using a Microchip PIC (or similar). As said earlier I am not sure about the math of the blended federates of two or more axes but I am sure it could be handled.

Certainly makes for an interesting project.

Tweakie.