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Re: mach 4 plasma
« Reply #10 on: April 23, 2018, 12:27:13 AM »
Hi,
sorry if my comments offend...they are my own opinons only.

Quote
The norm with Mach4 is that you take the basic program and GUI and modify it for your use.
You know this to be the case because you had to program your machine to suit your needs. That is the common
(normal) story with Mach4, I did the same. Following your posts over that time I would guess you found it a challenge
at times but you stuck with it and got a result.

There will be others who will not/ cannot or refuse to invest that effort. For those people I would recomend either sticking
with Mach3 or one of the other software solutions, Mach4 is likely to make them very unhappy.

One of the recurring gripes by hobbyists about Mach4 is that the documentation lags the current state of the
software, often by quite a bit. You might ask 'why NFS would ignore what seems like a straight forward request
by users?'.

Over the same time that these complaints about Mach4 have been raised Mach has released G31.1, G31.2 etc, the all new
PMC facility,the all new (and light years ahead of Mach3) probing facility and as signaled by Bryanna a new Teach module
coming. It is not that NFS are not doing stuff, its just that they are doing development rather than documentation.

My contention is that NFS are working on those items which are most likely to attract the customers they need to survive.
I don't believe for a moment that NFS intends to slight hobbyist users but they need to concentrate on those matters
which result in useful sales. No matter which way you look at it the sale of one Industrial licence to an OEM is worth
seven times what I paid as a Hobbyist.

While it might be that I as a hobbyist I get less service from NFS I nonetheless commend them and the strategy of
securing OEM sales, I benefit as a spin off of those new developments. Even hosting this website is supported by sales...
in absence of sales the forum goes and that would be a shame.

Craig
'I enjoy sex at 73.....I live at 71 so its not too far to walk.'
Re: mach 4 plasma
« Reply #11 on: April 23, 2018, 09:53:05 AM »
Hey all,

I haven't chimed in before because I don't have a definitive release date on the new Mach4 Plasma screen. Our team is working on making it the best we can before we release it to the public. If we were to deploy it before it was fully functional, we would never hear the end of it. That being said, I understand there are users who are eager to use the new screen and I am just as excited to share it with the world.

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Sales to OEM manufacturers is the business life blood of NFS. Mach4Hobby at $200 with a perpetual licence just wont bring in the income necessary to run a business. Thus Mach4 is primarily for industry
but we as hobbyists can participate but our wishes are likely ignored in favour of industrial users.

I wanted to clarify something here. Our development and support teams do not think of hobby users as "less than" and, personally, the majority of my work day to day is focused on hobby users. It is true that industrial customers are responsible for more of our sales by dollar amount, but many of the features that are developed for those customers are eventually made available to hobby users--and at no additional cost. I don't respond to much on this forum because I don't want to interrupt the productive discourse that happens here, but I wanted everyone to know that you are heard and appreciated.
Newfangled Solutions Helpdesk: http://support.machsupport.com
YouTube Support Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/MachSupportOfficial
Re: mach 4 plasma
« Reply #12 on: July 16, 2019, 12:14:14 AM »
I need help with the plasma screen....i just want to use the touch off feature, i have a floating head. Nothing on sheetcam works for mach 4 and floating head.......i dont have the money for a new board, proma etc. What are my options ?
Re: mach 4 plasma
« Reply #13 on: July 31, 2019, 10:20:48 PM »
hello! i have completely set up my new mach4_plasma profile with the exact same info as the info in my first regular mach 4 profile (the one i had operating my plasma table before the release of the plasma screen set).
i upload some gcode files i made on sheetcam using the "mach 3 plasma " post processor which i have used on my mach 4 original profile (before mach 4 plasma set release)  without any problem.........but now on this mach 4 plasma profile when i run the gcode it initiates the touch off successfully but after it probs it doesn't proceed to run the gcode, it stops and it reads out "macro alarm: 3 merror_timed_out" and wont continue after that point and that happens every time......do you think its a macro script problem? what could be wrong. why wont this work!!!!! i just want it to toucvh off and thats it!!!

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Re: mach 4 plasma
« Reply #14 on: August 01, 2019, 10:08:46 AM »
The only time it will give the "macro alarm: 3 merror_timed_out" is if the THC on input into Mach4 is not seen as active within the time you have set for your Arc OK Delay.

If you do not have an Arc Ok signal you shouldn't be using THC. THC stands for Torch Height Control. If all you want is a touch off routine it does not sound like you are using any kind of THC.
;D If you could see the things I have in my head, you would be laughing too. ;D

My guard dog is not what you need to worry about!
Re: mach 4 plasma
« Reply #15 on: August 01, 2019, 11:02:50 AM »
You are correct sur!! I just want to do the touch off but have no thc due to low funds at the moment...what would you recomend i do with my settings?
Re: mach 4 plasma
« Reply #16 on: August 01, 2019, 11:27:16 AM »
I have it set to manual mode btw

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Re: mach 4 plasma
« Reply #17 on: August 01, 2019, 01:30:58 PM »
What you do with your settings depends on what you want the machine to do.

List out how you envision the machine working and we will go from there.
;D If you could see the things I have in my head, you would be laughing too. ;D

My guard dog is not what you need to worry about!
Re: mach 4 plasma
« Reply #18 on: August 01, 2019, 01:42:09 PM »
I would be happy if i could just have it touch off at every beggining of a cut.....its just that that macro alarm: 3 merror_timed_out
Re: mach 4 plasma
« Reply #19 on: August 01, 2019, 01:51:56 PM »
I run the file and it touches off and then i get that message and it doest go past the m03 line...it just stays there and doesnt continue