Messages

1421

Galil / Re: DMC 1750 registration issues

« on: August 01, 2010, 10:12:25 PM »

If you get the serial number, then it is communicating at least a little bit and I would say that the card is not toast.  Toasted Galils do nothing at all.  Ask me how I know...    Try posting on the Galil support forum.  Those old PnP cards are tricky.  In fact, the later cards had a "fix" that disabled PnP altogether.  But I suspect that there is a conflict somewhere.  ISA on W2K+ is not an easy gig. 

Steve

1422

Galil / Re: Mesa card plugin

« on: August 01, 2010, 10:02:29 PM »

No analog inputs.    There is an analog board that Mesa sells, but there is nothing in the SoftDMC firmware to support them.  I'm sure Peter could do up some special firmware.  Or, all of the source is there in VDHL, so a person could roll their own if they wanted to.  The sky is the limit with the Mesa FPGA stuff.  It's just that knowledge of programming FPGA firmware is needed.  But one could throw in a cheap modbus device and accomplish the same thing. 

The deal is that you will not get closed loop servo control at a better price.  Even if you have to do other things with other devices, it is still the best thing going.

Steve

1423

Galil / Re: MachStdMill and Galil plug-in

« on: July 31, 2010, 09:09:34 PM »

Works perfectly.

Steve

1424

Galil / Re: DMC 1750 registration issues

« on: July 31, 2010, 09:08:56 PM »

What revision is the card? 

1425

Galil / Re: Mesa card plugin

« on: July 31, 2010, 09:07:37 PM »

The SoftDMC firmware does not support steppers, so this is a servo only deal.  Besides, there are plenty of great options for steppers already out there.

An analog VFD spindle would use an axis.

There is no such thing as inexpensive Galil controllers on eBay.  Those days are long gone.  People saw them selling and started jacking the price up.  Now there are auctions that start the bidding for a DMC-1040 ISA (useless to us) at $250.00 !!!  And one guy wants ~2600.00 for a 2 axis DMC-2100 controller!!!  

5i20, 5i23, and 7i43 via USB.  These are the cards I have.  And it one point, I had tested them all.  The 5i22 is in the works as soon as there is a SoftDMC for it from Mesa.  It may already have one by now.  I guess I need to talk to Peter to find out.

I know that it runs on XP, as that is what I developed it on.  But it should work on any 32bit system that Mach runs on.

The encoders will read back to Mach.  It's functionally equivalent to the Galil plugin.  I don't know about the dspmc, as I have never run one.

Steve

1426

Galil / Re: Mesa card plugin

« on: July 30, 2010, 11:11:54 PM »

Yeah.  Pretty insane, isn't it?    I must say, they are pretty neat little devices.  Well thought out.  Peter (@ mesa) has some more real cool stuff coming in the not too distant future as well.

The outputs will handle UP TO 48v DC at 1A.  You supply the voltage.  So if you are supplying 24v, then that is what they will use. 

Steve

1427

Galil / Re: Is Ridgid Tap possable with Galil?

« on: July 30, 2010, 08:38:04 PM »

Oh, the rigid tapping has to work with a spindle that has an encoder.  Do not attempt with just a VFD spindle.  Shards of carbon steel will be flying.  The spindle is electronically geared to the Z movement, so the setup needs to be tight.  But I would think that of any rigid tapping environment.

1428

Galil / Re: Mesa card plugin

« on: July 30, 2010, 08:34:05 PM »

The Mesa 5i20 PCI card works well.  It will handle 3 daughter boards.  Use a 7i33TA PWM -> Analog board per 4 axes.  And a 7i37TA for 8 outputs and 16 inputs.  If you only need 4 axes, then you can add another 7i37TA for more I/O.

The 7i43 also works using the USB interface. It will only handle 2 daughter boards so it's a 4 axis only type of deal.

The main problem with the plugin at the moment is that it's a pain to install.  You have to shoe horn a driver or two on.  So a proper "setup" program needs to be done.  I have one that works on my machine, but it's a developer machine.  Installing it on a box stock OS always leads to an adventure.    But once installed, the plugin will drive motors quite well.  Rigid tapping and everything, in theory... 

And another thing...  This is a servo only deal.  No stepper interface.  So you HAVE to know how to set up the PID values.

Steve

1429

Galil / Re: Is Ridgid Tap possable with Galil?

« on: July 30, 2010, 02:19:02 AM »

I put the code in there to do it, but it is NOT tested.  Try it at your own risk.  Maybe with something soft to start with. 

Steve

1430

Galil / Re: galil and backlash compensation

« on: July 30, 2010, 02:14:43 AM »

The Galil plugin just follows what Mach says.  If Mach is correcting for backlash, then the Galil plugin would not hinder it.  Test is by setting backlash to some insane value.

Steve