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minimum spec for pc with galil
« on: November 28, 2009, 09:21:18 AM »
Hi, I'm in the planning stage of building a 3 axis router with brushless servos which I plan to run with mach

I was thinking it might be a good idea to take the strain off mach by using a hardware motion board, so I bought quite cheaply an advantech mini industrial pc with a galil 1750 card already installed (and a few galil servo drives included too..) It all appears really clean, like new (the drives are new in their boxes, so it may well all be unused.)

I see from the forum that the mach drivers for galil seem to work well now, which is great (well done everyone who puts their time into this stuff!), so I think I will end up using the card, but the pc is only 233mhz. It's a socket7 board, and it has jumpers to change the core/bus voltages and clock speed, so I think I could get away with swapping the cpu for at most a 550mhz pentium (the fastest cpu supported on a standard socket7 it appears.)

I know 1ghz is the recommended minimum for mach3, but since it won't be actually running the drives directly, is it possible to get away with a slower machine? It won't be running any CAM software, it'll just be in the machine.

It's no big deal if I can't use it, it's just a nice compact chassis to fit into a machine, with filtered fans etc. If I don't use it, I'd need to find a faster motherboard with an ISA slot for the galil (chucked plenty of those out over the years!)

thanks

Offline Jeff_Birt

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Re: minimum spec for pc with galil
« Reply #1 on: November 28, 2009, 11:55:05 PM »
Don't make your life harder by trying to use an old clunky PC. Even without the parallel port driver working Mach still has to access large Gcode files, talk to the galil card, and of course Windows needs to do its own thing. You can pick up a used 1.5gHz PC for next to nothing, even a new low end machine can be had for a couple hundred bucks.
Happy machining , Jeff Birt
 
Re: minimum spec for pc with galil
« Reply #2 on: November 29, 2009, 03:18:40 AM »
Hi  Steve,
I would give it a try as is. You can install win2k on that machine, eliminate all the unused processes and make a screen set which does not have a tool path display on the pages you use most. The tool path display is a resource hog. Ray L. was running on a 533 MHZ IIRC and was doing OK.
Of course it all depends on if you like the challenge. If you want to make chips, just pick up a cheap PC as Jeff suggested and be done with it.
I have a pile of old computers in the shop and I could look to see if any of them have an ISA slot if you are interested.

Mike
We never have the time or money to do it right the first time, but we somehow manage to do it twice and then spend the money to get it right.

Offline kcrouch

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Re: minimum spec for pc with galil
« Reply #3 on: November 30, 2009, 08:57:42 AM »
Steve,
Your Galil 1750 has an ISA bus connector. The newer PC's probably don't have one of those anymore. That connector style should be the main reason for choosing a computer for this board. I have several machines using 1750 boards running on 500 mhz systems with no trouble running Mach3. Not sure about your 233mhz though, but it is simple and cheap to make yours faster.
Please report back with your results.
Kenny
Having way too much fun! Something must surely be wrong.
Re: minimum spec for pc with galil
« Reply #4 on: November 30, 2009, 09:39:11 AM »
thanks for the replies.

since kenny says he has had success running mach and a galil on a 500mhz processor, i might give it a try- i saw some slot7 550mhz cpus on ebay for under $10, so worth a try. I've found a few modern motherboards with isa slots that are in production, they're generally made for industrial automation applications, so seem to be about double the price of a normal mobo, but in the end it probably makes sense to go for the faster option. However, I'll try the 550mhz option and report back.

by the way kenny, how do you find the 1750 as a machine control? I bought it on a whim really, I was slightly nervous about entrusting 2.5kw servos moving a 100lb spindle to just the pulses on a printer port... (no disrespect to mach3, it's more the pc hardware/breakout board I'm wary of), so I thought putting a tried and tested unit between the pc and the motor drives might be prudent...

« Last Edit: November 30, 2009, 09:47:38 AM by steve_p »

Offline kcrouch

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Re: minimum spec for pc with galil
« Reply #5 on: November 30, 2009, 10:32:10 AM »
Steve,
I have built hundreds of systems using the 1700 series of controls. They are very reliable. I still have about 16 boards on the shelf in my garage shop. I also have many of the newer boards for testing of the Galil plug-in for Mach3. Reliability is always the main concern here. The plug-in is still being worked on. There is a need to better control the spindle axis. as well as lathe threading and plasma torch height control. I am working away on those. Steve Murphree is working on the updating on all plugins and Mach3 itself. Hope to hear about your successful experiences soon.
Kenny
Having way too much fun! Something must surely be wrong.
Re: minimum spec for pc with galil
« Reply #6 on: December 10, 2009, 08:04:16 PM »
im running an old 400mhx amd fine with a 1750 and mach
but i also purchased a 2.8 gig motherboard from china genuine intel with isa slot. including 1 gig ram and processor for $99 posted to uk. works great after a week finding the right motherboard drivers! which i have if you get one. just search intel isa on ebay, worldwide.
im buying 4 more off the guy as i have 5 1750 cards etc here bought for peanuts on ebay too.
if its not broken yet, fit more gadgets!