Messages

681

General Mach Discussion / Re: spindle load feedback to mach3

« on: July 19, 2013, 09:09:52 AM »

in the end I got bored and just shoved on the analogue meter

Wuss! 

+/-10V -> bias by 10V -> 0..20V -> 4:1 pot divider -> 0..5V ADC

682

General Mach Discussion / Re: Insert a sequence anywhere on toolpath?

« on: July 19, 2013, 04:52:26 AM »

Hood reports 066 as being bad for all sorts of reasons and I agree with him - why it's still being pushed as the latest "stable" release appears to be a mystery. Try 057 or 062 from here

Then try altering your code to...

Code: [Select]

Code "G28.1 Z8"
Code "G92 Z0"
Code "G00 Z2.5"
Code "G92 Z0"
Code "G00 Z100"
while isMoving()
  sleep 100
wend

if that doesn't help then depending on the version of Mach you use you may need...

Code: [Select]

Code "G28.1 Z8"
while isMoving()
  sleep 100
wend
Code "G92 Z0"
while isMoving()
  sleep 100
wend
Code "G00 Z2.5"
while isMoving()
  sleep 100
wend
Code "G92 Z0"
while isMoving()
  sleep 100
wend
Code "G00 Z100"
while isMoving()
  sleep 100
wend

Ian

683

General Mach Discussion / Re: Insert a sequence anywhere on toolpath?

« on: July 18, 2013, 12:18:13 PM »

please post your button script code and which version of Mach.

Ian

684

General Mach Discussion / Re: JOG works right but cuts backwards or vice versa

« on: July 17, 2013, 10:09:02 AM »

If I have it set so it's jogs manually in the right directions the text on X axis is backwards. If I have the manual jog so it goes the wrong way it cuts the text fine.

What text are you referring to?

If I click the X axis so it has a checkmark under reverse then it jogs fine but cuts backwards.

AFAIK the only place where there's a column labeled "Reversed" is under "Homing" and this has nothing to do with either jogging direction or cutting direction.

I'll bet Brett's house you are using the Write Wizard and have the direction set wrongly or mirrored 

685

General Mach Discussion / Re: Flatten my G-code

« on: July 10, 2013, 11:51:32 AM »

The stack frames in CB are incorrectly implemented with regards to local variables and so recursion is somewhat flawed to say the least. I contacted Cypress way back in 2008 about this but with no joy. See this post.

Bring on Lua

Cheers

Ian

686

General Mach Discussion / Re: Emergency stop erroneously activates

« on: June 23, 2013, 07:01:17 AM »

I turned off the external stop switch in the configurations for MACH 3.  The program still stops periodically mid program and activates the EXTERNAL EMERGENCY STOP ACTIVATED.  So, how can this be if I have deactivated the input for the external stop button? Any ideas?

Because if you mean you unticked EStop "Enabled" in ports and pins, then Mach won't let you do this. Go back in and look - you'll find it's ticked again. i.e. you can't disable the EStop input.

687

VB and the development of wizards / Re: ATC built, need some macro help

« on: June 23, 2013, 05:50:45 AM »

Exiting a sub/func prematurely is bad practice. A sub/func should have ONE entry point and ONE exit point. I know you'll see a lot of code where people do it but it's never necessary and just makes code harder to read and more prone to error. The "if" statement comes with an "else" clause to allow structured code.

Code: [Select]

sub
  if condition then
    do this
  else
    do that
  end if
end sub
Simples

Ian

688

General Mach Discussion / Re: motor tuning - pulse setting relation to kernel speed

« on: June 22, 2013, 03:51:50 AM »

With Geckos, you do want to set the Step Pulse Polarity to Active Low.  That could be a large part of your problem.  

As a general rule this is true - however from the data sheet the 203V appears to be an exception and steps on the positive going edge of the signal - so unless it's a typo - active high in Mach.

Also if I've read the data sheet correctly the default step pulse width should be increased in Mach by 2 to 3us.

Could it be my motors are underpowered, 425oz on the Y, 269oz on the X.

These are just the spec HOLDING torques of your motors (i.e. when they're NOT moving) and even then IF and only IF they are powered as per their spec.

What power your motors have when they're moving and at what speed depends on the specs of the motors and how you're driving them. To check that they're being driven optimally you'd need to give us (at least) the current rating of your motors, the current setting of your drivers, the current capabilities of your power supply, the inductance of your motors and the voltage of your power supply and ideally the gearing ratio. Your motor torque curves would be a bonus.

689

VB and the development of wizards / Re: ATC built, need some macro help

« on: June 21, 2013, 05:19:54 AM »

what happens if you just run

Code: [Select]

activateSignal(OUTPUT12)
sleep 1000
deActivateSignal(OUTPUT12)
from the script editor?

then what happens if you just have that in your M6Start.m1s and do a M6T1 from the MDI?

Ian

690

General Mach Discussion / Re: axis zero moved

« on: June 21, 2013, 04:35:40 AM »

Simply because most TTL outputs can sink more current than they can source. Therefore you're less likely to pull down the voltage. Therefore your system is more likely to be reliable.

Ian