Messages

11

General Mach Discussion / How can I figure out my PC's max pulse rate?...

« on: June 26, 2007, 09:09:25 AM »

Is there a way to actually see or determine how many pulses my PC is achieveing at the parallel port?  I'd like to compare various PC configurations so that I can get the max 45khz.
Thanks,
-Neil.

12

General Mach Discussion / Re: Is this a good PC setup for Mach3 ?

« on: June 26, 2007, 07:57:47 AM »

Actually, I was planning on running it headless -- ie: no video, kybd or mouse.  I would remotely access it from another machine.  I'm still not sure if Mach 3 would like that though.  I'm still trying to figure out why Mach3 needs good video, as so far I only see some crude path plotting in a small window in the upper right corner.
Thanks,
-Neil.

13

General Mach Discussion / Is this a good PC setup for Mach3 ?

« on: June 25, 2007, 09:10:29 PM »

Need urgent help on this please...

I have been experimenting with Mach 3 on a laptop (P3 550Mhz) for a couple days now and it works well, but I know my speed is significantly limited by the laptop.  So I have been looking for a dedicated PC for this machine, and today just took the plunge on a basic setup because I thought the price was decent...

- MSI K9MM-V motherboard, Micro-ATX, 1000Mhz FSB, Lan, USB, Video, Audio, etc.
- AMD Athlon64 3000+ Processor running at 1.8GHz.
- 1GB DDR2 RAM.

My intention is to run this headless and connect it to my local network, then remotely connect to it from another PC or laptop in the house to control it, so I don't care about the video capabilities etc of the mobo.  I'll actually disable the video on the mobo.  I'll be running Win2k if it works on this mobo.

Is this workable?  Or will Mach 3 complain about the missing video?  Also, I want to get the max speed possible from this setup, which I understand is 45kHz.  Can I get it with this setup?

I can return the mobo, CPU, ram, etc if I don't open it, so I want to find out asap.  Other option I looked at is a Biostar mobo with Celeron 2.5Ghz and 1GB ram from newegg (mail order) for about the same price.

Opinions?... please

Thanks,
-Neil.

14

General Mach Discussion / Re: minimum computor requirements

« on: June 25, 2007, 01:38:46 PM »

Surprising, as I don't see much graphics going on with Mach 3.  Actually, I was thinking of running it headless (no display and no kybd/mouse), integrated into my CNC driver box (yes I have the room).  And instead I would connect to it remotely with my laptop to control it.  Will Mach3 barf if I turn off the display driver?

15

General Mach Discussion / Re: minimum computor requirements

« on: June 25, 2007, 12:07:25 PM »

How do you know how many pulses it is putting out?  Is there some feature I'm missing (only experimenting with Mach 3 for 2 days now).  I am looking at ordering a MicroATX mobo, 2.5Ghz Celeron and 512mb or 1Gb of RAM, but not sure if it will be enough.  I'd like to get the full 45000 pulses that the parallel port supports.

16

General Mach Discussion / Re: aliencnc

« on: June 24, 2007, 02:47:50 PM »

You should really use the instructions from the stepper drivers and put them on any of the outputs from the parallel port.  Then you just need to tell Mach3 which pins represent what signals to the stepper drivers.

17

General Mach Discussion / Re: Configuring PC speed, motor speed, etc.

« on: June 24, 2007, 10:47:11 AM »

Laptop currently has 327MB.  An additional 256MB for this older machine is ~$70, which I'll need to take it to 512MB (max).  But a new mobo, CPU, cooler and 512MB RAM is ~$105.  I have HD's and PS's floating around here somewhere, so a new mobo seems like the way to go.  I'd probably just do 1GB while I'm at it for an additional $25.

BTW, the mill I bought came with the stepper drivers/PS in a nice large machined aluminum box with cooling fins all over.  Looks like it was re-used from some industrial-quality product or better.  It's also heavy!  I was originally thinking I'd chop it in 2 as only 1/3 of it is used for the drivers/PS, but I can fit a micro ATX mobo in the remaining space for a nice all-in-one package... http://www.narwani.net/neil/mech/cnc_enclosure_open.jpg .  There's a machined aluminum bottom-plate that covers it.  The big open area is about 10" x 11" and adjacent to that is about 7" x 4.5".  Should be plenty enough for a Micro ATX board, HD, PS, etc.  I'd just need to cut vent holes for cooling.  BTW, the stepper drivers in there are IM805's, which can do up to 5A RMS, 7A peak, 75V.

My network is wireless (Verizon cellular broadband).  If Mach3 will work properly with a local network then it seems like I can get this idea to work -- I'll setup the new mobo headless and disable the on-board video.  Then I'll use a regular crossover cable to connect it to my laptop or perhaps run the cable to the router and remotely access/control it from the laptop.  This frees up the new mobo to be only a CNC controller.  BTW, I'm using Win2k as I've found this to be the most stable version of Windows to date.

I just looked up the G rex and ncPod.  Nice.  So this eliminates the need for the parallel port right?  Actually, I also heard that 8 microsteps are enough as well, but I was thinking I'd go more if possible.  I forgot to mention something ... the motors are only 276 oz-in currently (small for this HF geared-head mill) and thus geared (belted actually) 4:1.  When it's time for the speed increase, I will change to 500 oz-in (highest torque I can find for Nema23's) and re-gear it 2:1, so that drops the frequency to 64kHz/axis for 16ustep at 60IPM.  At 8ustep that's 32kHz/axis.

Thanks,
-Neil.

18

General Mach Discussion / Configuring PC speed, motor speed, etc.

« on: June 23, 2007, 09:36:58 PM »

Hi all,

New here and evaluating Mach3 for the past 2 days, with a CNC mill I purchased (converted by someone else).  Currently I'm running it on a laptop, but want to know what's the best/minimum PC size for MY configuration.  Here's the way I see it...
The mill/controller is *currently* setup for half-step, with 1.8-deg per step motors, and 40 motor revs per inch. Max reliable speed seems to be ~20 IPM.  So that requires (360/1.8 ) x 2 x 40 x 20 = 320,000 pulses per min = 5333Hz.

Somewhere I read (in the manual IIRC) that a 1Ghz CPU ==> 25000 Hz output.  But do I have to multiply the 5333 by 3 axes???  5333Hz x 3 = 16,000Hz) which will require me to get a faster PC?

But I also want to change to at least 8, but preferably 16 microsteps.  16usteps ==> ~43khz output (per axi)s.  Again, is this fixed for all 3 axes or do I need to triple this value?

Later I'd like to up the traverse speed to about 60 IPM, which means 128khz output (at 16 usteps).  This somewhat implies that Mach 3 can't run it that fast (IIRC there is a 45kHz limit) -- am I wrong here?  Is the limit really 45Khz, or is my math wrong? Or...

If I do need to change PC's, I was looking at very small form-factor motherboards that I can fit into a small enclosure.  Mini-ITX boards are really nice at approx 7" x 7", but they are usually lower-performing than other form factor PC's at the same processor speeds.  Micro ATX (approx 9.6" x 7.2") are also workable and I'm looking at this... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138047 . Add RAM, HD and and small PS and I can run it headless.  I'd activate Mach3 remotely from my Laptop.  But there's another issue -- so far I've noticed that if I connect to the network with my laptop, Mach3 will bog down a lot and work "choppy" -- runs for a second, then pauses for a second, etc.  Response to key- or mouse- clicks is very slow.  Not sure if that's my laptop being too underpowered, or if Mach is not supposed to run with a network connection.

Thoughts appreciated.
-Neil.