Ok so my last questions about probing went unanswered maybe I will rephrase and pray someone can help. I have my probe connected and on the diagnostics page, the probe led is lit until it the styli is touched. Upon touching the probe led goes out and an led in the pins section lights up. Is this correct?  

Never done any probing  so cant really say but if you need it to work the opposite way just change the active state of the probe input in Ports and Pins.

Hood

Ok so my last questions about probing went unanswered maybe I will rephrase and pray someone can help. I have my probe connected and on the diagnostics page, the probe led is lit until it the styli is touched. Upon touching the probe led goes out and an led in the pins section lights up. Is this correct? 

You need to have the probe LED come on when the probe is active - i.e. - when it touches metal.  So, flip the ActiveLow state in Config->Ports&Pins

Regards,
Ray L.

Thank you for the response. Yesterday I was having some wiring issues with the probe & unchecking the active switch only killed the probe entirely. No lights on the diagnostic screen lit if you touched the probe. However I did fix that wiring yesterday just never retried the active setting.
Now after unchecking the active switch, the probes internal led and the led on the diagnostics page marked"probe" and the led underRaw Port Input Pins all light up when the probed is touched/triggered ( this makes sense to me as being correct though not sure). When testing with a meter this probe has continuity until the styli is rocked or moved for what ever that might be worth. Mind you I have not attempted inserting the probe into the spindle, all testing is done with the probe on a table or in my hand. Glad I read about others misfortunes first! Thanks to all of you. The probing plug in doesnt seem to work for me yet as it gets stuck with "seq" message that never completes. So on to trying the wizards.
I open/run the digitizing wizard by Art. I create an air probe test with a 2" travel in x, y, and z with a .25 step over. (I intentionally dont trigger the probe/toolsetter manually during the first 2 tests)
Test 1. first run of the code provided an initial z down of the 2" and then started the x moves, then 1 step y all x etc. Ran the entire cycle with no faults and no points indicated since no touch had ever occurred.
Test 2. Checked the active switch and ran cycle again, this time z went down the 2" stopped and triggered a stop with this message "Probe Ignore,activated at call for probe" Each successive press of the cycle start produced this result (1 x move then stoppage). Unchecked the active switch again.
Test 3 ran cycle again (this time I intend on touching the probe during moves) Initial Z down starts as it is going down I press and hold the probe, it still travels all the way down to -2 which should be the top of the table not part and would have crushed the probe and part. Starts x movement again I trigger the probe numerous times over the cycle. At no time does the movement stop or lift the z or back off of any axis. It does however seem to put a point on the screen each time I trigger the probe (that is good isnt it?). Not sure how to use those yet as there is plenty to learn.
My thoughts are that the probe when touched would have backed off in one of the axis' and either tried to reverse until the switch was lifted and made a point on the screen indicating a touch. This doesnt seem to be the case. I also pictured the probing to be a continuous up and down of the z, any ideas as to where my problems are? I am referring to machine problems as my mental state is being helped on another online support group .  

Idiots (ME) who insist on using non specified metal cases when they build their hobby cnc pro chopper board cause many grounding issues almost everytime I change something! 3 different times while learning how to build and use a/this/my first cnc system that same problem has shut me down. Simple test for the next person, Turn off your controller, initiate g31 or probing code, do dro's move? Mine did not until I turned my controller off. I knew right away what the problem was! 3 times is a charm or you strike out. Dont worry as this solution has only raised new and more challenging questions. Thanks to all and do you know how to view/use the tap file? So you can see it?

and do you know how to view/use the tap file? So you can see it?

You can open it in Mach by loading, you can edit by clicking edit and it should open in notepad, or if you dont have Mach open then just use notepad to view it.

Hood

Hood thanks. I did see a gcode there. Can I see it as a solid? Can I open that with BobCad and see or modify it?

no afraid not, G code is just a set of coordinates with certain commands that the CNC control (Mach) understands. Things such as G1, G2, G3 etc etc.
You can open it in Mach and view and rotate  the toolpath but only way you can alter is by editing  the G Code.

Hood

Hi Fastest1 - just thought I'd chime in to try to help you not crunch your probe - I know it hurts!. To get familiar with it I'd suggest you probe sideways (in x or y) rather than downwards (in z) using a small block of wood as the trip object. Heavy enough that it will not move for a good trip but light enough that it will be pushed out of the way by a bad (or none) trip. Set your Z so the probe just hits the top of the side of your block.

Don't worry about the wizards at the moment. Until you get happy with it all, you only need to program a G31 X10 or whatever in the MDI and then pick up the actual trip points using the gcode var monitor (2000 for X and 2001 for Y)

Cheers

Ian

Actually I probed at least 15000 points over the course of yesterday and last night. Nothing of any significance, penny, son's lego piece, my kershaw knife. Got quite familiar with it. Terminology for travel was confusing at first. 1 thing I notice with this machine (dont know about any others as this is my first) is all of my problems have come from some kind of chassis ground issue. This always happens when I bring a new item home!I read many things that I never would have if everything worked right off. The probes chassis ground brought machine ground to my controller. It doesnt like that! Oddly enough there are never any symptoms, no lights, limits etc, just wont work. Total accident I turned the controller off and pressed cycle start. Many hours of reading, posting and hoping 1 of you would respond. If you look up my posts on Mach/Hobby Cnc/ Sherline etc. hardly anybody ever responds because they dont have the grounding issue, and I always think it is a set up or software issue. If you see me posting in the future, say "check the ground"?