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Offline BR549

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Re: MPG
« Reply #20 on: January 27, 2016, 05:24:47 PM »
Are you seeing teh Encoders count up and down on the diagnostics page ???

(;-) TP
Re: MPG
« Reply #21 on: January 28, 2016, 03:36:42 AM »
Of course I don't mind, thanks for your help.
I've just put the license file into Mach3 directory, hope that's how it's done, or do I have to reinstall the software?
I've switched to velocity only mode, I was changing modes previously to see if any of them would make the MPG work. I must say I did this more or less blindly, not really knowing what which mode means.
No DRO changes on diagnostic tab either.
I really don't know nearly enough about Mach, as the router just sits on the bench most of the time, getting my attention maybe a couple of days a year, and when I do try to do anything about it, I of course bump into some problem immediately, like this one... Will try to make more time in the future, now I'm not a pirate anymore;)

Offline Hood

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Re: MPG
« Reply #22 on: January 28, 2016, 03:45:27 AM »
All looks fine in Mach as far as I can see so it would seem that the likely culprit is the breakout board.
One thing that may be possible is to scope the output side of the breakout on the pins you have the MPG connected to and see if it is passing the signal.
The other option would be to hack into the parallel port cable and connect the A and B and Gnd directly, you could also take a 5v and Gnd from a USB lead, that way it will be relatively safe. That is the way I used to do it on the Bridgeport, MPG connected directly to the port and powered via a hacked USB cable.

Hood
Re: MPG
« Reply #23 on: January 28, 2016, 04:26:21 AM »
Thanks Hood.
I took Vcc and GND from the BOB, and it's getting them directly from the PC's power supply, so I don't think switching this to the USB would change anything, or am I wrong?
I did not check the BOB outputs yet, I don't have the oscilloscope here, but I might put a LED or something to see if there's a signal. And I think I have some sort of LPT "sniffer" installed, so I could use that, too, to see if LPT is getting signals or not.
What I don't understand, however, is, shouldn't the change be visible on the DROs in the first place? I mean, if Mach doesn't register the MPG input and doesn't react accordingly, change coordinates, I guess it most probaly doesn't send anything to BOB either?
Or am I miissing something here, wouldn't be the first time;)

One more thing, I remember seeing somewhere that the pins had to be specified as inputs specifically, but I couldn't fint anythig alike in the Mach, maybe that was in some other version. Just a thought, in case I failed to setup something trivial...

Miso

Offline Hood

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Re: MPG
« Reply #24 on: January 28, 2016, 04:42:14 AM »
If the BOB is not outputting the signals then Mach will not show any response at all, so we need to find out first if the BOB is passing the signals, if it is then the next most likely source of the problem is the port itself as you seem to have Mach set up correctly.

Regarding having to set the pins as Inputs, that is only with the second port, you can specify whether you want pins 2-9 as Inputs or just keep them as standard, ie outputs.
With Port 1 you can not configure them that way, there are 5 fixed inputs on port 1 and 12 outputs
Re: MPG
« Reply #25 on: January 28, 2016, 06:13:10 AM »
I have checked the connections again, and found out I had the MPGs GND terminal connected to the wrong terminal on BOB, also marked as GND, but it's obvoiusly not connected to the PC GND. So I connected it to the PC GND terminal, and now there's 5V on the wheel.
I have connected the LED and the corresponding terminals on BOB (13 and 15) are getting the signal from the encoder when I turn it, but this doesn't affect the outputs ( I only have 3 drivers connected, no other outputs).
Jogging via keyboard and onscreen jogger works fine, so I assume Mach doesn't pass the encoder signal to the BOB for some reason.
I'll try to connect to the LPT port directly and let you know if that helped.

Offline Hood

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Re: MPG
« Reply #26 on: January 28, 2016, 06:19:05 AM »
You would need to connect the LEDs to the output side of the BOB, ie the parallel port cable side. If I am understanding all you are doing is showing the inputs to the BOB from the MPG are working.
You need to see if the BOB is passing that signal to the parallel port.
Hood
Re: MPG
« Reply #27 on: January 28, 2016, 06:56:27 AM »
I checked the signal on inputs 13 and 15. And I checked the motor output terminals, nothing changes there when I turn the wheel.
I'm really not an expert, how would I check if BOB passes the signal to the LPT?
If I understood correctly about the hacking into LPT directly, I should connect the whhee's outputs directly to pins 13 and 15 of teh LPT cable, and not to the corresponding terminals on BOB? In  other words, just eliminating the opto couplers from the equation? I'll try that, too.
If it's of any help, I'm attaching my BOB manual...
Thanks
Re: MPG
« Reply #28 on: January 28, 2016, 07:26:40 AM »

 I should connect the whhee's outputs directly to pins 13 and 15 of teh LPT cable, and not to the corresponding terminals on BOB? In  other words, just eliminating the opto couplers from the equation? 

Correct.

Offline Hood

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Re: MPG
« Reply #29 on: January 28, 2016, 07:28:43 AM »
Easiest way to see if the breakout is passing the signal would be put a LED between pin 13 and a Gnd pin and 15 and Gnd (you will get a Gnd on pin 25) on the connector that the port cable connects to.
You should not need the cable connected to the computer for this as long as the breakout is powered.
Hood