I recently had been having some major issues with MAXnc10cl that never would work right with Mach3 software. So I just completed my own controller design that will fit in the same box, using all my own code and drivers. I did use the exact same pinouts, although I set mine up to run step and direction instead of quadrature like Max was doing.
If anyone knows the answer to these questions below please let me know so I can tighten up a few loose ends on the processor coding:
1. Pin 10 INPUT, MOVE ENABLE (LOW=NORMAL OPERATION, HIGH=STOP, SEE NOTE)
Would this be set up as a normal low from the controller, with a high meaning the controller has requested Mach3 to stop? Since I wont be using MAXNC mode r drivers anylonger, where do I program this enable in Mach3?
2. Pin 13 INPUT, G61 SWITCH SENSOR
What is G61 Exact Stop Mode and what does Mach do with it? I never used it so maybe it isn't needed.
3. Pin 16 OUTPUT, DISABLE POWER TO MOTORS (LOW=NORMAL, HIGH=DISABLE)
Pin 17 OUTPUT, RESET CONTROLLER (LOW=RESET, HIGH=NORMAL)
Since I will no longer use the MAXNC CL mode, I will likely use a mach3mill setup. How do these outputs get programmed, and where do I look to set them up to send the info to the controller? When do you want to ever reset the controller, and when to stop motors? It seems pressing reset does the same thing as stop motors. Reseting the controller means losing encoder variable counts, so I am not sure when this would ever need to happen.
4. When using M8, how do most people use this feature? I would like to set up a mist on a timed basis, not always on, so I'd like to program the M8 to run on/off at set times. I assume it can only be used inside the gcode as entered, but it would really be nice to have mach3 set up with a timer and duty/freq for mist/flood.
The controller runs as is with none of the above features, but I wanted to put in everything that might be useful. I am counting both step pulses to each axis and comparing to the encoders. In the event of an encoder shortage, what is the best method to use to stop Mach3 instantly? I was going to have the processor send a pulse to pin 12 as an estop.
Thanks for any suggestions.