this may be in the wrong forum but...

Hello i have a Gerber S/750 Vinyl cutter and pen plotter, and It shows only GSP and S/750 on it. now my questions are the following. Is it possible to use this plotter on a newer computer. Does it require a dongle. Can i reconfigure my own cable to allow connection to a newer computer. And what Free software can i use to operate this cutter plotter. Also will i need to replace the electronics to be able to use it on a newer computer? it has a 8. pin round plug connection that i believe goes directly into a computer. I have a powermac 5400/180 that came with it but no proprietary keyboard for that computer which is why i want to use a newer computer. I am also short on cash which is why i would like to use free software and free solutions if possible.

Some information on the gs750 here. http://www.gspinc.com/downloads/PDF/fastfacts/literature/GS750Plus_Users_Manual.pdf

Tweakie.

The picture of the plotter in that manual is quite similar to the one i have. But the one in the picture has buttons on it for aligning and skewing the blade... min has no buttons on it whatsoever aside from the power switch. also the picture of that plotter doesnt have any writing on it mine says "GSP" on the left side and "S/750" on the right side.

Understood, the pin identifications for the serial wiring to the computer will be the same for all these models (hopefully) so that should be one problem solved.

Tweakie.

Well the GS750 the one that that manual is for has a 25 pin D sub connector the one i have has a 8 pin mini din connector

Have you tried contacting Gerber for the information ?

Tweakie.

No but i am confiding in someone from the plotter doctor to help me out with this. the problem is i need to get this thing working asap as cheap as possible. for i have some bussiness that would like to get vinyl cut when i get it working one is numbers for various fleet vehicles one is numbers for a bussing company and their name for sides of busses...

So i figured out another way to get this plotter to work and im in the process of designing the conversion. I ordered 4 of the following stepper drivers for 6 wire unipolar steppers http://store.qkits.com/moreinfo.cfm/QK179
and i plan on using EMC2 on a linux ubuntu box as it lets you set the individual pinout on a DB-25 cable for communications. it also runs the plotter/cutter/whatever live. I was wondering if anyone knew any good starting settings for EMC2 configurations or if i should set things up relatively slow for the first little while whilst i configure and calibrate the cutter. Thanks in Advance David.
P.S. the other solution i had was to buy a seperate controller for the existing electronics in the plotter which would have cost me about $1300

David,

You can, of course, set the individual pin out's for the DB25 within Mach3. In addition I think you will find that the Theta control (tangential steering) is handled better by Mach3 but I have never done an exact comparison with EMC2.

Please let us know how you get on with EMC2 and which CAD programs you use to create the tool-paths for your vinyl signage.

Good fortune with your project.

Tweakie.

Thanks Tweakie. is Mach3 free r wuld i have to purchase it? I alos just fund out the DB25 cable i got nly has 11 wires connected aside frm the bare grund cable. do i really need all 25 pins cnnected thrugh t make this work well?