Messages

121

General Mach Discussion / Re: newbie needing advice

« on: May 03, 2018, 08:41:09 AM »

I cover the Right Hand Rule and some other basics in this video based on homing and soft limits: https://youtu.be/IXuuGRACU1I

I hope that helps!

-Bryanna

122

General Mach Discussion / Re: newbie needing advice

« on: May 02, 2018, 04:06:18 PM »

You'll also want to double check that your machine is following the "Right Hand Rule". The post I've linked to below explains is and includes a nice graphic as well.

http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,10308.0.html

If your motors are not following the Right Hand Rule, changing the ActiveLow setting for the direction pin on each motor will reverse the direction.

Best wishes,
Bryanna

123

General Mach Discussion / Re: MACH3 fails after some updates of win7

« on: May 02, 2018, 12:14:40 PM »

how can I avoid that this updat comes again and again.....

You also have the option to upgrade to an external motion controller. The issue has been with Mach3 and the parallel port and the recent Windows 7 updates, but no problems have been reported with external motion controllers. Just some food for thought!

-Bryanna

124

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

« on: April 26, 2018, 08:34:39 AM »

One thing to note about Windows 7 and the parallel port: recent security updates have caused an issue where opening Mach3 or attempting to run the DriverTest will cause a reboot. Make sure that if you plan on using that operating system (or already do) you use it in an offline setting and/or disable automatic updates to avoid this.

125

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Zero Brane - bryannab

« on: April 24, 2018, 11:14:43 AM »

Hello RT,

It's on the list! The plan is to have a video ready to rock and roll before or shortly after that feature is released in a locked down version.

Stay tuned,
Bryanna

126

General Mach Discussion / Re: Switching from Mach3 to Mach4

« on: April 23, 2018, 10:49:08 AM »

Hello all,

I want to address two things briefly, so please forgive my interruption to your discussion. First, I have recreated the original post as a locked sticky topic so that users who *want* to switch to Mach4 have the worksheet readily available. I respect that not all Mach3 users fall into that category and did not want to silence any discourse on that pros and cons of switching so I have left this topic open and unlocked. I try not to get involved in these discussions normally because I am not here for marketing purposes and I don't imagine anyone would take my opinions on these matters at face value as I am an employee of this company.

That brings me to the second thing I wanted to address that was brought up in this thread. Hobby customers are important to both me personally and to this company as a whole. While the investments made via the Industrial channel are what fuel new developments, they are not kept solely to Industrial customers. As new features are created, we try to include them in Hobby releases when applicable--and for no additional cost. As I mentioned before, I usually don't respond to posts with a negative hue to them but I do read them. I always want to know what customers have to say so that we can make improvements and adjustments.

TLDR; a duplicate of the original post has been created but this thread will remain intact and Hobby customers are important to Newfangled Solutions and to me.

-Bryanna

127

General Mach Discussion / Mach4 Transition Worksheet

« on: April 23, 2018, 10:27:54 AM »

Whether you're an established Mach3 user or you're just starting out and all of your machine instructions are for Mach3, it can be scary to make the switch to a new controller. The worksheet attached is meant to ease the transition from Mach3 to Mach4 by helping you collect and organize your settings. Fill it out with with the settings you use in Mach3 and you will be able to use it as a reference when you make your profile in Mach4. It is meant to be used alongside the setup guide for your motion controller--as that will dictate which settings are configured in their plugin and which are configured in Mach4--and with the Mach4 configuration manual. It is written with the language and terminology used in Mach4 so you will know what you are looking for when you start applying your settings.

The worksheet should open in both Excel and Open Office. The first page is an introduction and the Worksheet tab on the bottom is where you'll actually fill out your settings.  Please PM me or submit a ticket at support.machsupport.com with any questions or for more information.

Happy CNCing!
-Bryanna

128

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Output for Limits and homing

« on: April 23, 2018, 10:12:19 AM »

Hello,

It sounds like your switches are working but Mach4 either isn't receiving the signal or doesn't know what the information means. Do you have home switches and physical limit switches? Both need to be assigned in Configure>Mach>Input Signals. For example, you would need to find Motor 0 Home in that tab, enabled it, select your UC100 as the Device, and select the port/pin it is wired to in the Input Name column. Test the configuration by manually pressing your switch and checking the Machine Diagnostics page to see if the corresponding LED lights up. If the LED is activating when the switch is not pressed and turning off when you press the switch, switch your Active Low setting back in the Configure>Mach>Input Signals tab.

Your soft limits are not switches but software boundaries that will also help protect your machines. Once you have your home switches set up, you can set up a soft min and max for each axis based on your machine coordinates. There is a wizard in Mach4 to assist with that and I also made a video going over some of the basics here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXuuGRACU1I

Happy CNCing,
Bryanna

129

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: mach 4 plasma

« on: April 23, 2018, 09:53:05 AM »

Hey all,

I haven't chimed in before because I don't have a definitive release date on the new Mach4 Plasma screen. Our team is working on making it the best we can before we release it to the public. If we were to deploy it before it was fully functional, we would never hear the end of it. That being said, I understand there are users who are eager to use the new screen and I am just as excited to share it with the world.

Sales to OEM manufacturers is the business life blood of NFS. Mach4Hobby at $200 with a perpetual licence just wont bring in the income necessary to run a business. Thus Mach4 is primarily for industry
but we as hobbyists can participate but our wishes are likely ignored in favour of industrial users.

I wanted to clarify something here. Our development and support teams do not think of hobby users as "less than" and, personally, the majority of my work day to day is focused on hobby users. It is true that industrial customers are responsible for more of our sales by dollar amount, but many of the features that are developed for those customers are eventually made available to hobby users--and at no additional cost. I don't respond to much on this forum because I don't want to interrupt the productive discourse that happens here, but I wanted everyone to know that you are heard and appreciated.

130

General Mach Discussion / Win7 and the parallel port

« on: April 16, 2018, 04:02:21 PM »

Hello all,

Recently, Windows rolled out several updates across their operating systems and those who had been using Win7 with a parallel port connection found that starting Mach3 would cause a system crash. If you can, it is always best to run Mach3 offline and without automatic updates. In reality, this is not always possible and hiccups like this are bound to happen. I have included a link below to an article below which explains how to uninstall updates in Windows 7 once they have occurred. The culprit of this particular issue is update KB4093118.

Windows 7: https://itstillworks.com/remove-windows-7-updates-8169897.html

I hope this helps save you some headaches!

-Bryanna