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11

Brains Development / SERIAL INPUT AND BRAINS

« on: January 21, 2008, 12:21:52 PM »

Still new to all this.
The second hand cnc machine I have has push buttons for jogging. I would like to use these in Mach3. Am I right in thinking I have three main options?
1) Buy a parallel port card which can be configured for approx a dozen more inputs.
2) Buy an expensive modbus interface with everything done for me.
3) Make my own rs232 interface, communicating through the Serial Monitor.

Option three would be my preferred option as I would easily be able to programme an AVR to monitor switches and send and receive data. This would turn out very cheap for me and would be available for more sophistication on both inputs and outputs as I get more used to milling and time becomes available.
Is there an rs232 buffer in Mach3 that is accessible from Brains, and if so, where would I find information on it?

TIA


Dave

12

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / skull and crossbones G code

« on: November 26, 2007, 01:02:43 PM »

Hi, another newbie, both CNC and Mach3

I bought a secondhand cnc machine and modified it to work from the lpt port instead of the original obsolete controller. My main interest is drilling my pcbs and milling smd masks, but that is incidental.

I began with the cross.tap file, but in its original version the z axis was not operating correctly. The positive action to lift the tool was fine, but then it would not lower into the work after the first cut. Somehow or other it seemed as if the F word was supposed to do this but nothing happened.
All the rapid movements after the beginning were in the following format.
M5
G0 Z1.0000
G0 X5.7892 Y5.0536
f5000.000M3
f5000.000G1 X5.8909 Y5.0706

I replaced each occurence with
M5
G0 Z1.0000
G0 X5.7892 Y5.0536
M3
G0 Z-.1000
G1 X5.8909 Y5.0706

then everything worked, with the rest of the pattern being cut. Where have I made an error in setup or whatever with the original code?


Dave