Messages

61

FAQs / Re: Bob conections

« on: August 11, 2016, 02:32:36 PM »

Moving forward, especially with the lack of parallel ports on newer PCs, I would suggest looking into getting a motion controller of some sort.  Since you already have a breakout board with a parallel port interface, I would suggest the UC100 as it has an excellent plug-in to work directly with Mach3.  I'm not sure about Mach4, though.

Stephen "Highspeed" Kruse

62

General Mach Discussion / Re: Circles not Circular???

« on: August 11, 2016, 02:23:45 PM »

I would say yes, they should be the same.

Highspeed

63

General Mach Discussion / Re: Circles not Circular???

« on: August 11, 2016, 01:07:58 PM »

Motor tuning, acceleration too slow.  My initial thoughts when reading your message was scaling active on one axis or another but in that picture it definitely looks like an acceleration setting issue... at least to my limited experience.

Stephen "Highspeed" Kruse

64

General Mach Discussion / Re: Normally Open VS Normally Closed

« on: August 11, 2016, 01:02:04 PM »

Again, I don't see a need to make major changes to the macro.  No matter if it's NO or NC, due to the configuration of ACTIVE LOW for NO or ACTIVE HIGH for NC the logic in the macro would be the same.  If <switch active> THEN <do something> or IF <switch inactive> THEN <do something different>.  You could also use IF <switch active> THEN <do something> ELSE <do something different>; or even IF <switch inactive> THEN <do something different> ELSE <do something>.

The bottom line is the wiring does not change your macro logic as long as you have the configuration set in Ports and Pins to handle it appropriately.

Highspeed

65

General Mach Discussion / Re: Normally Open VS Normally Closed

« on: August 10, 2016, 11:28:29 PM »

Agreed.  Peter has said it all.  Safety.

Now, as far as the Mach3 bug, are you writing a macro to check the status of the limit/homing switches?  No need to do IF NOT.  Just set the switch input to an active high when using normally closed switches (wired in series of course) and you're done.  The logic for macros is still the same, IF <limit switch state = TRUE> THEN STOP (or whatever action you need to do).  No need to do an IF NOT check.  You could also do an IF <limie switch state = FALSE> check if you need to make sure the switch is NOT active.

Hope this makes sense.

Stephen "Highspeed" Kruse

66

General Mach Discussion / Re: scale of geode file?

« on: August 10, 2016, 05:29:04 PM »

It sounds like your machine/Mach3 is set to default to MM (G21).  You can either change this manually on the "Settings" screen (do NOT use "Select Native Units" on the Config menu) in the lower right or more preferably, make sure your G-Code file has the appropriate G20 (inches) or G21 (MM) as standard practice.  This will ensure the correct sizes are used regardless of the default settings on your Mach3 setup.

Stephen "Highspeed" Kruse

67

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Will MACH3 ever support 64-bit systems? Officially? FYI, it's 2010

« on: August 10, 2016, 05:19:42 PM »

Again, I can attest to this too.  I have a touch screen laptop that I am using and it works great.  Some of the controls on the screen may be a touch too small for my liking so I have to pay particular attention to exactly where I'm touching on the screen, but it works great.  I've also added an XTc HB04 wireless MPG to my system and that makes things even simpler to use.

Highspeed

68

General Mach Discussion / Re: Am I loosing Steps, and what should I do

« on: August 10, 2016, 04:45:13 PM »

Ok, yes.  Mine are the M542 and utilize only DC at up to 50V.  Yours are rated quite substantially and can use either AC or DC looking at that document.  So that eliminates this as a potential source of the issue.  Just something I saw and am glad you had the documentation for it.

Stephen "Highspeed" Kruse

69

General Mach Discussion / Re: Am I loosing Steps, and what should I do

« on: August 10, 2016, 01:52:48 PM »

Wow!  68V to your stepper motor controller?  That seems a bit much.  Most drivers operate in the range of about 24 - 48V.  Using too high a voltage can create issues too.  From looking at earlier pictures you posted, it looks like we have similar stepper controllers so you definitely need to look at that.  Additionally, coming off of a transformer you are getting AC voltage.  There should be some sort of rectifier at least and regulators, etc. involved as well.  Recommended is to use a full DC power supply the puts out the required 24 or 48V DC.

Stephen "Highspeed" Kruse

P.S.  I know I'm a late comer to the discussion and only briefly perused through the thread so forgive me if I've missed something or repeating information already supplied.

EDIT:  I just saw the post that your stepper drivers are AC power rated, so this my comments may be totally irrelevant.

70

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Will MACH3 ever support 64-bit systems? Officially? FYI, it's 2010

« on: August 10, 2016, 01:38:53 PM »

Correct!  I have this exact configuration - Windows 10, 64-bit and a UC100 Motion Controller.  Works perfectly.  I've even done some mods on my controller box to do some advanced functionality (including adding an E-stop input, VFD control by Mach3, etc.) and have had no issues.

Stephen "Highspeed" Kruse