Messages

531

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 Windows 10 update -- don't do it

« on: May 08, 2018, 09:24:28 PM »

Yeah, don't let your Windows 10 update.
It looks like this is the end of the line for Mach3 on Windows 10 x64. Time to move to more modern software, if you need to run the latest version of Windows.

532

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 Windows 10 update -- don't do it

« on: May 08, 2018, 11:36:35 AM »

Someone at CNC Zone did some testing and it appears that Mach3 still works in 32 bit versions of Windows 10. It may be only 64 bit versions where Mach3 no longer works.

533

General Mach Discussion / Re: MACH3 spindle behaviour

« on: May 07, 2018, 07:51:19 AM »

I heard people saying this that is why I looked for one that would work and also changed all settings accordingly in the BIOS.
Also stepper and everything else works just fine.
I wonder how the Auto-Calibrate should work since there is no feedback of the actual RPM or anything and also no feedback line from the VFD

The easiest thing to do is use one of the Huanyang plugins, and you'll get perfect speed control.

http://royaumedeole.fr/informatique/plugin-mach3-pour-vfdhuanyang/mach3-plugin-for-huanyang-vfd/

534

General Mach Discussion / Re: mach won't save cv control settings.

« on: May 07, 2018, 06:45:34 AM »

yea that solved the problem, i had it set that way because someone told me to do otherwise mach3 will overwrite the file if you change something in it.

If it didn't overwrite the file, then it wouldn't save your settings when you changed them!!!

535

General Mach Discussion / Re: mach won't save cv control settings.

« on: May 05, 2018, 07:40:34 AM »

You should never change the file properties of ANY files, unless you know what you are doing, and have a specific reason to do so.

 Mach3 should always save your settings when it closes. But when you do change settings, it's a good idea to close and restart right away.

536

General Mach Discussion / Re: mach won't save cv control settings.

« on: May 04, 2018, 10:43:18 PM »

i've allready changed the xml file to read only.

The settings are saved in the .xml file.
If it's Read Only, then Mach3 can't save the settings.

537

General Mach Discussion / Re: Advice on components for a new build.

« on: May 03, 2018, 11:35:34 AM »

Geckos are still popular, and recently lowered their prices to be more competitive.
Leadshine drives are also quite popular, and some say that the top models are better than Geckos.

538

General Mach Discussion / Re: Which computer / operating system is best with Mach3

« on: May 02, 2018, 08:29:42 AM »

Are you serious when you say you see smoother motion out of your steppers when you use an external motion controller?

Whether or not you see smoother motion with a motion controller, would depend on how good the motion is from your parallel port.

A computer that runs Mach3 really good from a parallel port might not see any difference at all with a motion controller.

A computer that does not put out a clean pulse stream from the parallel port might see a big difference.

My preference is the UC300ETH. The UC400ETH or ESS are also good.

CS Labs are very popular, but it can be tricky to get probing to work with them. And they are expensive.

Stay far away from anything Chinese.

539

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 driver not install correctly on W7 32 bit.

« on: April 30, 2018, 05:58:38 PM »

I seem to recall a message here last week that the latest Windows7 update causes the parallel port to not work with Mach3.

540

General Mach Discussion / Re: wait action in macros

« on: April 29, 2018, 07:45:55 AM »

1) It depends on the motion controller that you are using.

2) It depends on where you use it.

Technically, you shouldn't need to use it in a While... IsMoving(), like this.

While IsMoving()
Sleep(10)
Wend

With the parallel port, Smoothstepper, or CNC Drives controllers, you don't need a sleep in the While...IsMoving, from my experience.
Apparently, it's required for many other controllers.

By itself, Sleep(1000) is just a 1 second wait.
With Mach3, it's often desirable to wait at times to allow the DRO's to update, which I think happens 10 times/second.
I'll often add a Sleep(250) whenever this is required.
Like when reading a DRO after a probing or other move.