Messages

71

General Mach Discussion / campbell combo board

« on: July 13, 2008, 01:10:51 PM »

Hi Guys,

I am thinking about getting a campbell combo board. I will be using it with Gecko stepper drives.  Anybody had problems with the new board.

Thanks,
Joe

72

General Mach Discussion / Re: printer port vs controller card ?

« on: July 12, 2008, 05:00:25 PM »

Hey Guys,

Is anybody using the new Campbell combo board ?
I have tried to download the Pdf manual several times, and no luck it just will not transfer.

Since most people, also the guys from Gecko are telling me that I really do not need a controller card I am thinking
about going with this combo board.

I do not mind spending money on things, but I hate to spend money on things to find out they do not work well.
And then they are added to the useless shelf!

I( am looking at this board because I want to use a pendant for sure. I have been using a pendant for setup for so
long I would feel lost without it.

Thanks for your help.
Joe

73

General Mach Discussion / Re: printer port vs controller card ?

« on: July 10, 2008, 08:12:51 PM »

Thanks Hood,

You are absolutely correct about Marris. I have talked to him several times over the years. He is one of those super genius people.
What I really like about him is his patience, and ability to explain things in a way that us none electronic Gurus can understand.

What printer port breakout board seems to be working the best? I see several are available.

Thanks,
Joe

74

General Mach Discussion / Re: printer port vs controller card ?

« on: July 10, 2008, 07:03:14 PM »

Thanks Guys,

Much to learn before I take the next step it looks like.

I talked to Marris from Gecko today, and he told me with steppers unless I need to go faster than 300ipm (which I would never do on a Bridgeport)
that the G100 is not going to do anything that the printer port will not do. I would use a breakout board for sure. I do not want to have any noise
issues.

Are you guys happy with the performance of using the printer port?  ( no lost steps, smooth motor function)
I have been using a g210 Gecko on my 4th axis for years, and have been happy.

I just recently started using a g210 on my Z axis. I had a Ahha board go bad, and as they are not around any more I decide to try a G210.
I am absolutely amazed of the performance! With the Ahha I was never able to reliably have more than 80ipm rapids on the Z without stalling.
With the Gecko I tested up to 190ipm before getting stalls frequently.
I ended up setting the rapids back to 100ipm for now.

Since the software I currently run wingcnc is a vectoring software all of my rapids were limited to the 80ipm before, this is a huge performance gain for me.

I want to switch to mach3, I am just trying to do my homework before I make the leap.

Thank you so much for your input !
Joe

75

General Mach Discussion / Re: printer port vs controller card ?

« on: July 10, 2008, 02:08:32 PM »

Thanks Paul,

What type of machine are you running now on the pp ? (i assume this means printer port)
Do you have any knowledge of the G100?

I am like you very conservative about buying and trying new control/ software. Since 1997 I have
probably thru away $20,000 buying machines, controllers, and software which sounded real good on
paper and turned out to be junk in manufacturing.

Thanks,
Joe

76

General Mach Discussion / Re: printer port vs controller card ?

« on: July 10, 2008, 01:34:23 PM »

Thanks for the response guys. I would still like to hear some more responses.
I have been using the galil card with a software called wingcnc for about 7 years
with very good results. But the software is very basic (no offsets g54 etc.)
And I could not see how a milling software would not run as good with out that $1000.00 +
controller card.

Which card seems to be the preferred and why?

I appreciate your feedback. I am setting up a second bridgeport series1 cnc machine, and this time
I really do not want to go thru 2 or 3 controller/ software before I am happy.

Thanks,
Bubba

77

Galil / Re: Mach3 + Galil

« on: July 10, 2008, 04:34:01 AM »

When using galil plug in is Mach3 burning anything to galil card, or do all galil settings have to be entered thru terminal?

78

General Mach Discussion / printer port vs controller card ?

« on: July 10, 2008, 04:26:17 AM »

Which is giving the smoothest and most reliable operation, printer port or controller card?

Thanks,
Bubba

79

General Mach Discussion / will this work

« on: June 29, 2008, 02:24:01 AM »

Hi Guys,

This is my first visit.

I currently have a bridgeport series 1 cnc mill running with the following things. Have been using this setup for about 6 years.

Stepper motors from Pacific Scientific

wingcnc software from jraco (similar to Camsoft very stable, but very basic)

Pendant from jraco that works with galil

galil optima dmc 1740 isa card

Ahha 4 axis controller box  ( I had to integrate 2 Gecko g210 drives after 2 Ahha drives went bad and Ahha has closed its doors)
And by the way, the Gecko drives are far superior to the Ahha drives.

I am very interested in trying Mach3 or whatever Mach version is the best.

From your experience is Mach a stable software?

Should I continue to use the current Galil board? And if so why and how do I do it?

I know I am asking for much on my first post.

Thanks for any help.
Bubba

80

General Mach Discussion / Re: galil+mach3

« on: June 29, 2008, 12:02:37 AM »

Hi Guys,

This is my first visit.

I currently have a bridgeport series 1 cnc mill running with the following things. Have been using this setup for about 6 years.

Stepper motors from Pacific Scientific
 
wingcnc software from jraco (similar to Camsoft very stable, but very basic)

Pendant from jraco that works with galil

galil optima dmc 1740 isa card

Ahha 4 axis controller box  ( I had to integrate 2 Gecko g210 drives after 2 Ahha drives went bad and Ahha has closed its doors)
And by the way, the Gecko drives are far superior to the Ahha drives.

I am very interested in trying Mach3 or whatever Mach version is the best.

From your experience is Mach a stable software?

Should I continue to use the current Galil board? And if so why and how do I do it?

I know I am asking for much on my first post.

Thanks for any help.
Bubba