Messages

4281

General Mach Discussion / Re: Configuration problem with EStop

« on: June 18, 2018, 12:08:23 AM »

Hi,
run DriverTest.exe and take a screen shot and post it please.

Craig

4282

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Update mach4 help

« on: June 17, 2018, 02:43:07 PM »

Hi,
what screen set is your ScreenG0704 based on?

What I suggest is in the  Mach4/Screens folder make a copy of a screenset you like, say wx4.set and call it awleaphartwx4.set say.
Then when you create a profile use it as the screenset. It wont get overwritten.

The licence file no longer works if the PCID changes. If you have reloaded the OS for instance.

Craig

4283

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Update mach4 help

« on: June 17, 2018, 12:57:37 AM »

Hi,
you need to have a uniquely named profile AND screenset or it will get overwritten when you update.

http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,37337.msg255420.html#msg255420

Craig

4284

General Mach Discussion / Re: Microsoft Windows 10

« on: June 16, 2018, 04:16:52 PM »

Hi,
there has been some discussion about the latest Microsoft updates screwing up Mach3. There is a patched version of .062. This is the thread with the details:

http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,37291.0.html

Craig

4285

General Mach Discussion / Re: Start Up and Shut Down Procedure of Machine with regards to Homing

« on: June 16, 2018, 04:10:03 PM »

Hi,
I've never encountered a detailed tutorial on it.

Once you have home switches referencing is as easy as hitting <Ref All Home> when you start Mach. Its that simple.

Craig

4286

SmoothStepper USB / Re: ESS and C11G help needed

« on: June 15, 2018, 11:58:58 PM »

Hi,
had some more thoughts about the motor tuning parameters.

I read the ESS notes about it in the Warp9 forum. It suggested that the steps per unit be set equal to one and the velocity be set to the maximum of your spindle.
I am going to assume that your spindle max is 10,000 rpm. Thus if you issued an M3, ie turn the spindle on and an F word of 10,000 the ESS output pin would produce
10,000 pulses in a minute.

That's not what the C11 requires though. From the C11 manual the analogue output is maximum when the input is a pulse stream of 25,000 per second.
For a full minute:
60 X 25,000 = 1,500,000 pulses.

I would suggest that you put 10,000 in the velocity of the motor tuning page, your assumed maximum. Therefore the step per unit must change to:
1,500,000 / 10,000 = 150.

Note that this behavior is NOT PWM but rather F to V (frequency to voltage). The C11 manual tells us that the analogue output is maximum when pulsed at 25Khz, and would be half of maximum
at 12.5kHz and so on.

Craig

4287

General Mach Discussion / Re: Feed rate speed error

« on: June 15, 2018, 03:14:04 PM »

Hi,
I think you are onto it.

When a multi axised move is made they all move at such a velocity to arrive at the right place at the same time. If one axis is slow all the others will
slow to match it.

The F word applies to all axes. If how ever you specify F=5000 but an axis motor tuning specifies a maximum velocity of 2500, the 2500 limit will apply to that axis.

You may have your steps per unit value for your rotary axis at 53.333 but that's the steps per degree, so for one revolution that would be 19200 steps per rev.
If you have an F word of 2500, expecting a federate of 2500 mm per minute you will be disappointed because at that rate your rotary axis will turn only 46.87 degrees
in one minute. If you require it to turn one revolution then it will take over 7 minutes and the linear axes will slow so that they arrive at their anticipated endpoint at that
time.

Craig

4288

SmoothStepper USB / Re: ESS and C11G help needed

« on: June 15, 2018, 01:00:01 PM »

Hi,
lets start with using the built in spindle control circuitry.

On the Configure/Plugins/ESS V220/1) Settings.....choose OB
Confirm on Configure/Plugins/ESS V220/Motors that motor 5, which is going to be your spindle is set for step/dir
On Configure/Plugins/ESS V200/Pins Config enter at Port1Pin8 'spindirection' and at Port1Pin14 'spinpulse'
Click OK to save the changes to the .ini file.

On Configure/Plugins/ESS V200/Output Signals....Check Enable Motor 5 Step and select 'spinpulse' from the drop dpwn list of available pins
an Check Enable Motor 5 Direction and select 'spindirection' from the drop down list of available pins.

Now we need to configure Mach, also called Control in the latest Mach builds.
On Configure/Mach(Control)/Axis Mapping Enable OB(6) and select 'Motor 5' from the drop down list of available motors
and on Configure/Mach(Control)/Motors tune Motor 5

My knowledge at this point is pretty thin, you may need to experiment with Motor 5 tuning to get the right results. What we a re trying to achieve is that
at maximum spindle speed that Pin 'spinpulse' is pulsing at 25kHz. May I suggest trying Steps Per Unit at 25000, velocity at 1 and acceleration at 0.1

On Configure/Mach(Control)/Spindle select OB(6) as Step/Dir axis and in  row 0 populate the max and min values of your spindle.

If you have an oscilloscope now is the time to issue the MDIs:
M3, turn the spindle on clockwise
Check pin8 and note the output voltage
Now Issue M4, turn the spindle on counterclockwise
Check pin8 and note the output voltage. It should be in opposite state to the M3 condition

With M3 issued then;
S10000 (if 10000 is your max rpm) observe the pulse stream at pin 14, aka your 'spinpulse' output. Ideally it would be pulsing at 25kHz.
With an appropriate 10V supply, or even a 9V battery for experimental purposes, fitted to the BoB the analogue output pins should output max voltage.

Try the above ans see how you get on.

Craig

4289

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 THC

« on: June 15, 2018, 04:03:13 AM »

Hi,

Am I correct in reading that Mach4 is not able to support Up/Down signals from an external monitor?

Not quite, Mach4 has defined THC signals like THC_UP and THC_DOWN but it doesn't do anything with them. They are meant to be passed to the external controller plugin
and then to the controller board, in your case the UC100. Unfortunately the UC100 cant do anything with them.

CNCDrive, the company that makes the UC100 and its bigger brother the UC300 have only had a Mach4 plugin for about a year. It has not yet seen the development
of features that some of its more mature competition including THC. To give CNCDrive credit though their Mach4 plugin has proven to be remarkably reliable and trouble
free even if it doesn't have many controller only realtime features.

Craig

4290

SmoothStepper USB / Re: ESS and C11G help needed

« on: June 15, 2018, 03:40:24 AM »

Hi,

Note you will require a external
nominal 10V supply. If you have the ESS pulse at 25kHz the analogue output will be 10V.

I think if you had a 5V supply then the max output would also be 5V. I think the recommendation is the the supply be separate so that your spindle
and breakout board can't 'fight' each other.