Messages

381

General Mach Discussion / Re: switch mode or linear?

« on: March 11, 2012, 01:31:17 PM »

Putting a large capacitive load on a switcher is likely to degrade it's performance, and won't provide any real benefit on a well-designed switcher.  Personally, I would stick to linear supplies for steppers or servos, but switchers can be used.  and "whacking great caps" are not always a good idea.  They should be big enough to provide an acceptable level of ripple, but no more.  The Gecko site has lots of good advice for *properly* sizing and spec'ing power supplies for both steppers and servos.

Regards,
Ray L.

382

General Mach Discussion / Re: usb or ethernet smooth stepper?

« on: March 11, 2012, 01:26:33 PM »

I suggest you e-mail sales@warp9td.com, and ask them.  You'll find them very helpful.  I used the Ethernet SS for a month or two, and found it to be very stable, and I know the drivers have been updated since then.  Support from Greg at Warp9 has always been excellent.

Regards,
Ray L.

383

General Mach Discussion / Re: usb or ethernet smooth stepper?

« on: March 11, 2012, 12:51:36 PM »

You'd have to ask them that question....  But the Ethernet SS has been out for a while - I got one of the very first ones last fall.

Regards,
Ray L.

384

General Mach Discussion / Re: usb or ethernet smooth stepper?

« on: March 11, 2012, 12:36:05 PM »

Tony,

Ethernet, no question.  The USB one generally works well, but can be finicky on some systems.  The Ethernet one seems pretty bullet-proof, and setup is dead-simple.

Regards,
Ray L.

385

General Mach Discussion / Re: power supply tolerance

« on: March 07, 2012, 10:05:59 AM »

"is a linear power supply the same as a regulated power supply" - absolutely not.  A regulated supply may, or may not, be linear, and a linear supply may, or may not, be regulated.  "Linear" indicates it is not a switching power supply, but says nothing about whether or not it is regulated.

Regards,
Ray L.

386

General Mach Discussion / Re: power supply tolerance

« on: March 06, 2012, 11:54:46 AM »

What you have is clearly an unregulated supply, which will reach the rated voltage only at, or near, full load.  Most electronic devices are spec'd at +/- either 5% or 10% on supply voltage, and you are well over that on all but the 5V output.  In particular, most ICs are spec'd for no more than +/-10%, and are VERY likely to be damaged if this is exceeded.  I would not use that supply to directly power any electronics, without knowing that they can tolerate the over-voltage.

Either get another supply, or add regulators to that one (and this is not really practical, or cost-effective at those current levels....).

Regards,
Ray L.

387

General Mach Discussion / Re: Lathe feed errors due to timing pulley runout

« on: March 01, 2012, 10:58:59 AM »

You seem to be concerned about an error of well under 0.001", which is certainly well BELOW the accuracy of your leadscrew.  So, how have you eliminated leadscrew pitch error as the cause of your problem?  That would seem to me a FAR more likely source of error.

Regards,
Ray L.

388

General Mach Discussion / Re: "Line #" window question.....

« on: February 28, 2012, 11:48:27 PM »

That's not the issue. He wanted the Line# DRO to display more digits.

Well, kinda the same thing applies.  Make the DRO shorter, and the font will shrink, allowing more digits to display.

389

General Mach Discussion / Re: "Line #" window question.....

« on: February 28, 2012, 10:22:11 PM »

If you increase the number of lines in the G-code display, it will use a smaller font....

390

General Mach Discussion / Re: Converting Heidenhain sine wave to TTL

« on: February 27, 2012, 03:17:06 PM »

"you could use an op amp to amplify this signal and square it up and produce a TTL quadrature signal." - Of very LOW resolution.

Regards,
Ray L.