Messages

1301

Galil / Re: Retrofitting big router

« on: May 11, 2011, 08:37:05 PM »

1.  4143 will do fine.  The 4040 will be overkill, but they are nice!
2.  If you have never tuned a servo PID loop, then I would suggest you buy the Galil Tools software.
3.  I like Ethernet.  1 wire to the Mach computer instead of many.  The Galil can sit in the control cabinet and make your retro-fitting life a lot easier.

BTW, you will need a Galil axis to control your spindle.  So take your total servos and add one axis for the spindle to come up with the total number of axes you need on the Galil.

Steve

1302

Contec / Re: Which Contec cards work with the plugin and which don't

« on: March 30, 2011, 11:00:25 AM »

No, it is for I/O only. 

1303

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

« on: March 01, 2011, 01:24:07 AM »

For people who wish to use (or keep using) the printer port, it will be around as long as Win7 32bit is.  What's that?, 5 to 8 years?  So the basics can still be had.  It's not going away anytime soon.  It's just you can have the basics and Win 7 64bit.

Steve

1304

Galil / Re: Mach3 with a DMC-2162 (Aero)

« on: February 24, 2011, 11:14:07 AM »

Backlash is not handled for external motion controllers.  Only the printer port.  Contact Galil for a firmware upgrade that will handle backlash and screw compensation.  (They may charge for it, as it is an option when purchasing a controller from them.) 

Steve

1305

Galil / Re: limits not being disabled

« on: February 19, 2011, 04:20:07 PM »

Yes, you will get an error 22 if both limits are active at the same time.  We do not use the LD command, as it is specific to the Accelera controllers only. 

What you could do it use the Notify commands from the RefAll button script to send your disable LD commands to the controller when the home operation starts and the re-enable LD commands when the home operation stops. 

Change the script to something like this:

Notify( 3000 ) ' disable limits for the X, Y and Z axes.
DoButton( 24 )
DoButton( 23 )
DoButton( 22 )
DoButton( 25 )
Notify( 3001 ) ' enable limits for the X, Y and Z axes.

DoOEMButton(133)
DoOEMButton(134)
DoOEMButton(135)

Then in the plugin config Notify tab, add some Galil commands to ID 3000 and 3001

3000: LD 3,3,3
3001: LD 0,0,0

But...  you will still have problems jogging off a limit switch if you hit one during normal operation.  So you may want to add a button to your screen (using screen4) and do a similar disable limits Notify call so that you can move off the switch.

Steve

1306

Galil / Re: limits not being disabled

« on: February 18, 2011, 06:29:33 PM »

BTW, thanks for posting your GalilDebug.txt file.  It really helps us answer questions. 

Steve

1307

Galil / Re: limits not being disabled

« on: February 18, 2011, 06:26:58 PM »

You have your + and - limits swapped.  When a limit is triggered, you can only move the axis AWAY from the switch.  Otherwise, you will get error 22. 

In your case, when the axis hit the limit, the homing routines reverse the motion.  But the the Galil thinks that the reversed motion is toward the switch!

Just re-wire to swap the limits.

Steve

1308

Galil / Re: Galil registry in Windows 7

« on: February 17, 2011, 12:19:35 AM »

For you guys with Win7 64bit, I have been working on getting this to work.  I re-wrote the code to work with either SmartTerm or GalilTools.  

I have not tested SmartTerm and Win7 64bit.  In theory, it should work as long as you are not driving a bus based controller.  Meaning Ethernet controllers should work.  But like I said...  I have not tested it.  

Here is the link for a very experimental version of the Galil plugin that you can try if you want to.  I have not tested this with Win 7 or Win 7 64 bit.  I simply don't have a computer with either OS on it.  

http://www.smcomp.com/~smurph/galil/Galil.zip

This version of the plugin does not require any Galil software on your computer to operate a Galil Ethernet controller.  You only need the Galil software for the terminal program or bus based controllers.  You do not need to register the controller in SmartTerm (if you are using it) but SmartTerm will require you to do so if you wish to use SmartTerm with the controller.  The down side is that you need set the IP address as DC described above.

Also keep in mind that if you are using a crossover Ethernet cable to the Galil that the 21x3 series controllers are 10Mbit.  So you may need to explicitly tell your computer's Ethernet adapter to use 10Mbit.  It seems that switches are better at negotiating the correct speed than the Ethernet controllers in today's machines are.  The symptoms are being able to connect to the controller but losing connection intermittently.

Steve

1309

Galil / Re: Mach3 with a DMC-2162 (Aero)

« on: February 16, 2011, 07:36:45 PM »

I bet there is still a VFD config issue.  What is the model number of the VFD?  I'll see what I can dig up.

Steve

1310

Galil / Re: Need help with basic MPG set-up and 1750 card

« on: February 16, 2011, 01:30:37 PM »

Jim,

Enable debug in the plugin config dialog and do some MPG moves.  Then send me the resulting GalilDebug.txt file.  My email address is in the plugin documentation.

Steve