Topics

1

Mach3 under Vista / Pulley Ratio Accuracy Problem

« on: July 18, 2019, 05:30:06 PM »

As someone else mentioned, you can set the pulley ratios in Mach3 to whatever level of accuracy you want, but as soon as you log out and the .xml file is updated, the ratio you entered is rounded to one decimal.  That is what comes up next time you start Mach3.

I am trying to get my speed control more accurate and need at least 2 decimals in the pulley ratio.  So, does anyone know how to either: (a) force Mach3 to keep more decimals in the .xml write out?; or (b) know where the pulley ratios are store by Mach3 so I can use a macro to reload accurate numbers each time I start without having to change each pulley individually?

I know variable 26200 holds the number of the pulley currently selected and 26210 and 26220 hold that pulley's min and max speeds.  i think the current ratio is DRO99, but I cannot find where the data is stored for the pulleys not in current use.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

2

VB and the development of wizards / Keystroke Trapping

« on: June 15, 2017, 05:12:18 PM »

Does anyone know of a way to read a keyboard keypress so it can be acted upon within Cypress basic.  I cannot find an "Inkey" function and don't see a replacement.  In particular, I'm looking for a way to see if the shift key has been held down.

Thanks for any assistance

3

General Mach Discussion / Partial Solution to Axis will not Stop Moving when using Arrow keys

« on: June 06, 2017, 08:25:12 PM »

When moving the axis using the arrow keys or buttons on the jogging control I've recently had a few times when the motion of the axis would not stop as I released the button.  Usually I noticed it right away and hit Escape in time to avoid problems.  Unfortunately last week I did not react in time and broke parts within the servo drive for my Z axis when the tool collided with my fixture.  This expensive problem has caused me to do some diagnosis.  I wish I had a full solution, but maybe this partial solution will help someone else.

The problem only happens when two things occur at the same time:  (a) the Jog Motion on the flyout window is set for step, not continuous; and (b) I have over-ridden the step action by using the shift key to high speed travel to the next point.  The problem of not stopping does not always occur under these conditions, but it has never occurred without both conditions.

So the temporary solution is to make sure the jog mode button is on Continuous before using the shift key!  I'm going to see if I can build a brain to halt motion if the shift key is pressed while the mode is Step, but have not done that yet.

For reference, I'm using Mach 3 with Smoothstepper.

4

General Mach Discussion / A Axis not Rotary but Affected by Rot 360 Rollover

« on: May 29, 2016, 05:55:16 PM »

I've configured my A axis as linear by unchecking "A axis is Angular" on the General Config page.  Nevertheless, when I give a code a move in the negative direction, the axis moves in the positive direction as if it were angular.  I have determined that if on the General Config page I uncheck the "Rot 360 Rollover" the axis behaves as I want a linear axis to do. 

Unfortunately, this means that I cannot use the Rollover feature on my B or C rotary axes.  This appears to be a bug in the Mach 3 software.  Does anyone have any comments or suggestions?

By the way, I have also found I can have the axis operate correctly as a linear axis even when the "Rot 360 Rollover" box is checked, but this requires going to Incremental Mode (G91) and out again every time I want to move in the negative direction.

5

General Mach Discussion / Problem with Arc Center Location Error

« on: January 26, 2013, 06:13:04 PM »

I'm having a problem where Mach3 (v. R3.043.066) is giving me error messages "Radius to end of arc differs from radius to start".  As I understand it, this message is only supposed to occur if the error is more than 0.0002".  I've checked the math and my calculations show the error at almost 10x less (0.00003").  The code was generated by MeshcamArt and runs fine under Cutviewer but not when I actually try to cut the part with Mach3.  Here's an example of the issue:

X2.2058 Y1.2136
G2 X2.2737 Y1.4341 I0.7115 J-0.0985 F10.0

Is anyone aware of any other reason this error message might occur?

By the way, I have other similar G2 moves that work just fine in the same program.  This also cannot be a hardware issue as I am getting the error on loading the code into a computer not connected to the NC router.

Thanks for any advice.

6

General Mach Discussion / Probe Ignored Error Message

« on: January 13, 2013, 10:23:11 PM »

I've seen a couple of other threads with the same problem I have:  When probing I get the message " probe ignored activated at call for probe" but no one seems to have the answer for what causes this problem or how to avoid it.  Has anyone experienced this problem and found the solution?

7

Brains Development / Problem Linking Brain to Macro

« on: December 08, 2012, 01:05:49 AM »

Hi Guys:

I've been puzzling over this problem for a few days now and think I'm missing something very basic.

Like others in this forum, I'm trying to have a brain trigger a macro.  I've read all the posts I can find and I understand the following steps are required:
a) Define a macro to run in the Init string which uses SetTriggerMacro to set which macro will be the default.  (In my case, M1000 in the init string causes M900 to be set)
b) Define a macro do do what I want when it is called (in my case, M900.m1s works when tested other than by brain activation)
c) Create a brain which waits until a defined input goes active then uses the terminator 1034 "Execute Button Script".  I tested the brain and it goes active when expected and appears to work with other outputs, just not the Execute Button Script output.

So my problem appears to be the linkage between the Execute Button Script terminator in the brain and actually calling the macro M900.m1s

I've tried all the tests I can think of and nothing seems to help.  Is there a way to look and see that M900 actually did get linked to OEMCODE 301 or whatever the brain activates?

Any help would be most appreciated... if I had any hair left I'd have pulled it out over this one!

Brian

8

General Mach Discussion / Parameter Definitions

« on: February 28, 2011, 12:40:28 AM »

The Mach3 manual (Fig. 10.1) identifies the uses of Parameters #5161 through #10306.  Can anyone advise whether any of the numbers below #5131 are in use or are they all available?  In particular, I'd like to know where Mach3 stores the current number of the loop parameter (eg. M98 P1000 L5).  Clearly the program indexes a register and acts differently when it gets to 5.  I could simplify my code if I could check the value of that register to select subroutines.