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Author Topic: Really basic "beginner advice" needed please !!!  (Read 6012 times)

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Re: Really basic "beginner advice" needed please !!!
« Reply #10 on: June 03, 2018, 09:03:15 AM »
Hi Craig
I don't consider that £500 for something that doesn't work is cheap, but i recognise that I'm probably as much the problem as the machine is (due to my lack of knowledge of the subject). That's why I thought I'd post the question on the forum. The answers so far have already given me an avenue to follow and I've written to the supplier and await a response. It may end in tears, but that's life.
Cheers, Stan
Re: Really basic "beginner advice" needed please !!!
« Reply #11 on: June 03, 2018, 09:52:08 AM »
Hi Stanley,
as Dave points out  500GBP is probably pretty good value, if it works. You will no doubt have read that many have faced exactly the same problem you are.
In many case they resolve the issues and get it to work.

Question: Would you still consider 500 reasonable if you retained the mechanical parts, maybe the power supply, the spindle and speed control but
bought a new (US or European) motion control board?

Craig
'I enjoy sex at 73.....I live at 71 so its not too far to walk.'
Re: Really basic "beginner advice" needed please !!!
« Reply #12 on: June 06, 2018, 02:57:50 PM »
Hi Craig
As you suggested, I'm getting nothing back from the seller.   I'm certainly not giving up, so are you able to give me any help with taking up your suggestion about the new motion control board. I'll understand if you can't help me as I really am just a "would be" hobbyist  with no prior experience in this field at all.
All the best, Stan.
Re: Really basic "beginner advice" needed please !!!
« Reply #13 on: June 06, 2018, 03:21:36 PM »
Hi,
there is almost a bewildering array of choices for a motion controller. To try to slim down the list I'm going to exclude anything Chinese on the
basis they don't support their customers. I'm also going to include only devices that have Mach3 AND Mach4 plugins, it means you could use either.

https://warp9td.com/ The ESS is the model of choice, ethernet connected for minimum latency Mach3 and Mach4 ready.
https://www.poscope.com/product/pokeys57cnc/ The 57CNC is the model of choice, complete, flexible and competitively priced.
https://www.cncdrive.com/ The UC300 is the model of choice, five ports worth of IO, note the Mach4 plugin is new and not as developed as others in this list, excellent record with Mach3
http://www.vitalsystem.com/portal/index.php The HiCon is the model of choice. The Mach4 plugin is the best developed of all in this list, also the most expensive especially with addons
https://www.pmdx.com/ The PMDX-422 is the model of coice but for Mach4 only.
https://en.cs-lab.eu/ Has a good reputation with Mach3 but patchy with Mach4, this company has gone off the boil when it comes to support, expensive.

All of these devices, with the exception as noted, are superb quality and backup. I personally use the ESS but would be happy with any of these units.

Craig

'I enjoy sex at 73.....I live at 71 so its not too far to walk.'
Re: Really basic "beginner advice" needed please !!!
« Reply #14 on: June 07, 2018, 02:57:02 AM »
Hi
in addition to those that I recommended in my previous post I should mention three other devices that you will hear talked about.
The UC100 from CNCDrive, the PMDX-411 from PMXD and the 57CNCdb25 by PoKeys.

They are all USB connected to your PC and have a motion controller embedded within the housing that contains a DB25 parallel port socket. You might
even consider them a 'USB to Parallel Adapter', they in fact have an FPGA chip embedded in them and are way to clever to be called an adaptor, but none-the-less
serve that purpose. Given that they have but one DB25 socket they have 'one ports worth' of IO, that is  13 outputs and 5 inputs.That is enough to run a simple
machine however if you want extras like a probe or a spindle index then you will run out of IO, inputs in particular. If you feel that you may want more than the absolute most
basic machine then you will need more IO and the devices I recommended previously are the correct choice.

Given their simplicity they are the cheapest style of motion controller out there...excluding the questionable products from you where. Just beware that there are Chinese knockoffs
on Amazon and Ebay. I recommend buying direct from the manufacturer or their nominated distributor, don't be tempted by cheap prices....get the genuine article or you will be back
to where you are now.

Craig
'I enjoy sex at 73.....I live at 71 so its not too far to walk.'
Re: Really basic "beginner advice" needed please !!!
« Reply #15 on: October 01, 2018, 08:37:17 PM »
I received what apparently is the same "min-cnc'controller" as Stan (using a parallel port to control the cnc) for what they claimed is a CNC 3040 series machine, but I'm unable to to get my machine going using the supplied CNC 3040 series instructions or any other 3040 series instruction found online. . Mach3 is running good on my machine (driver test ran successfully). As soon as I start the driver all stepper motors are locked, stop button is in the off position.
Any thoughts?
Thanks.