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Bridgeport conversion help
« on: November 07, 2009, 03:27:17 PM »
  Hello.I am trying to update a Bridgeport Series one with a Boss5 controller.I am no electronics whiz.I am just curious if I can use the Bridgeport SMD drivers with Mach3.I see the drives receive ttl inputs through two pins on each board(Step & Direction?).I want to eventually update to a servo system,if I like the way this works.So,I don't want to put too much into the stepper system if I don't have to.Any ideas out there.I am thinking of just getting a break out board for isolation and seeing if the pulses from Mach will control the SMD's.

Offline Hood

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Re: Bridgeport conversion help
« Reply #1 on: November 07, 2009, 03:35:56 PM »
Guy called Hillbilly sells a board that interfaces to the BOSS stuff, do a search here and you should find it.
Hood

Offline Chip

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Re: Bridgeport conversion help
« Reply #2 on: November 07, 2009, 05:05:50 PM »
Hi Nick

Theirs a 6 pin connector Blue wires on the back of the second cpu board, Use the 6 wires and a common GND.and set Mach to Max CL mode.

Chip
« Last Edit: November 07, 2009, 05:07:27 PM by Chip »
Re: Bridgeport conversion help
« Reply #3 on: November 08, 2009, 05:49:42 AM »
  So,each driver has 2 inputs,according to the schematic I got with the machine. One is #19 and the other is #13. #13 also has a H beside it on the schematic,and #19 has a L. Do the step and direction pulses have to go to a certain input? Is there a difference in the signals? Or do I just hook them up with a 50% chance of being correct? Then if things are wrong,just reverse my step and direction signals at #13 and #19? What I don't understand is does each wire conduct a step or direction pulse,or is it one in the same. I see a chart in the manual that shows the inputs and outputs through the driver,but don't quite grasp the relevance. I may be trying to understand a little deeper than I need to to make chips,but this whole project is as much about fascination with cnc as it is practical. Thanks for the help so far.
Nick

Offline Chip

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Re: Bridgeport conversion help
« Reply #4 on: November 08, 2009, 10:11:19 AM »
Hi, Nick

Each axis is controlled by what I call rollover or Max CL mode in Mach3,  Sent you a PM message.

Chip
Re: Bridgeport conversion help
« Reply #5 on: May 24, 2010, 02:54:23 AM »
Nick,

I hope you can help me and I very much thank you in advance for your assistance.

I saw in your post that you are using Darek Ashburn's BOB board to communicate a PC with a Bridgeport CNC.

I also have one of Darek's BOB boards and a Bridgeport Series II with BOSS 6.  I have been trying to get the two to work together, but no luck. 
I am not sure but it is possible I have misunderstood how to wire Darek's board to the BOSS unit.

Nowhere in the documentation does it specifically state whether the BOB should be wired to the connectors on the XDI card or directly to the wiring harness bypassing the XDI card.

I assumed that the BOB card was to be wired directly to the ZDI card bypassing the factory console. 
Therefore I made a wiring harness with plugs which plug straight into the ZDI card at the K5, K6, and K8 sockets.  Thereby inputting the Mach3 signals directly into the ZDI.

Maybe this is entirely wrong.  Possibly the BOB should be wired directly to the cable harness and not to the ZDI card at all, thereby bypassing the ZDI card.

Please see the attached Pic to see what I did and possibly what I should have done??

http://www.lowryindustries.com/Did I wire this right.htm

Much appreciated,

Charles.
Re: Bridgeport conversion help
« Reply #6 on: May 25, 2010, 10:31:26 PM »
  Charles,
  I understood the diagram to eliminate the board on the Boss system and wire into the harnesses described in the instructions.
  I can't tell you any more than that because I ran into a killer deal on a set of Gecko 201's and eliminated the entire Boss system. I'm glad I did. Much simpler wiring and I haven't had any unexplained accuracy issues. I think I have less than 25 wires running in a junction box with drives,power supply,Smooth Stepper(I am running a laptop with no issues),SmoothStepper direct B/O board(Why doesn't this come as one board?).I used all the original wiring from the Bridgeport steppers and limit swithches.
  I do know that Derek was willing to answer any questions I had within a day or two.
 
Re: Bridgeport conversion help
« Reply #7 on: May 26, 2010, 01:27:30 AM »
Thank you for your reply.

Hopefully I will get just as lucky!