Wonder if anybody might know what steps I'am missing? I recently picked up Q-cad/cam. I draw up simple test drawing's, enter the correct settings. Watch the cam profile run. Then I try to load it into Mach 3. nothing ever loads. Getting the Bad character used, Block = 0 error. I have tried everything. Tried the diff. post processors. no luck. I can take these same drawing's and drop them right into D2nc and Lazycam and they load very consistently into Mach 3. I really need that Q-cam program to load. Any tips or ideas would be so helpful. Been trying to figure this out for weeks now...I think at one point I did get it to load. But super stuck again. Doing this all on my main online computer, Win 7 64 bit. My Cnc machine is standalone. Xp 32 bit. As soon as I get past this I will send it to my machine. I have ran many small projects now on my cnc. So I have had success. But this cam stuff is really tricky. Peace out.

Hi,
please post the first 50 or so lines of the code that you are trying to load.

It sounds like the post processor is inserting statements that Machs Gcode interpreter does not recognize.

Craig

Would you be able to explain how I can get that G-code into a notepad file...I have notepad and have used it before. But not sure how to post G-code into it. In Q-cad/cam I can't even see the G-code. It loads different then D2nc and Lazycam. Still figuring all this out. I have had quite a bit of success and ran my cnc many times with D2nc and Lazycam...But since I got Q-cad/cam I was hoping it would work for me. I know I am just missing some simple step or setting. Thanks so much for the reply.

Hi,
I'm not familiar with the CAD/CAM package you are using.

I will relate what I have seen with Mastercam with which I am more familiar.

When you first generate a toolpath in Mastercam it saves it in a special file format, from memory, ***.mcam.
Even if you could open and read this file it would not mean much. It contains codes that are native to Mastercam.
This file needs to be processed by a post processor file. When that happens the ***.mcam code gets converted
into Gcode for your machine, ***.nc. Note that if you had two machines, one a Mach machine and the other a
Marzac say. You would use exactly the same ***mcam file to generate the Gcode for each machine, but you would
use a Mach3 post to get Mach3 compatible code or use a Marzac post to get Marzac compatible Gcode but both
rely on the same toolpath described by ***.mcam

The problem you are describing could be three different things.

It may be that the CAD/CAM package is producing its own native toolpath code, similar to ***.mcam described
above. It is not Gcode, and will not load into any Gcode machine. It will have to be post processed before it becomes
Gcode.

Can you be 100% sure that the raw output of Q-cad/cam is being post processed?

Another possibility it that the Gcode that is being generated by the post processor is being stored as a ***.nc file, or
a ***.gcd file or some other file extension that Machs Gcode interpreter does not understand despite the file containing
normal Gcode.

May I suggest using Notepad++ or a similar text editor to open the file and see if it has ordinary Gcode ASCII text within
it? It might be as simple as renaming the file to something that Mach recognizes or you can alter Mach to accept a file
with an unusual extension.

The last possibility is that the post processor is producing bad code. For instance in Mach compliant code a line number
starts with an 'N' followed by the line number, N155, for example. If the post processor omits the leading 'N' then
Mach will baulk.

It is for this reason that I asked you to post a sample of the code.

You are going to have to try 'Open With:' until you find a means of reading/editing or copying the Gcode within the file.

Craig

Wonder if anybody might know what steps I'am missing? I recently picked up Q-cad/cam. I draw up simple test drawing's, enter the correct settings. Watch the cam profile run. Then I try to load it into Mach 3. nothing ever loads. Getting the Bad character used, Block = 0 error. I have tried everything. Tried the diff. post processors. no luck. I can take these same drawing's and drop them right into D2nc and Lazycam and they load very consistently into Mach 3. I really need that Q-cam program to load. Any tips or ideas would be so helpful. Been trying to figure this out for weeks now...I think at one point I did get it to load. But super stuck again. Doing this all on my main online computer, Win 7 64 bit. My Cnc machine is standalone. Xp 32 bit. As soon as I get past this I will send it to my machine. I have ran many small projects now on my cnc. So I have had success. But this cam stuff is really tricky. Peace out.

YOU need to do a "CAM Legacy Export" and choose "GCODE" as the export format.
MACH3 only reads GCODE.

I really appreciate all the reply's. I read them all. I have been super impressed with q-cad/cam but I realize I need to get a cam program that will help me out. Going to get the Cambam software. Been studying it for days, and I think it will really get me where I need to be with my projects. Still going to use my Q-cad program, I really like it. At first...I was using Lazycam. Spent so many hours reading and studying it. I even bought the Wizards. But kind of tricky to learn, Then I bought D2NC, So impressed with this software. It allowed me to have more consistent progress. But still can't do all that I need. Then I bought q-cad/cam...Love the cad and cam but I can't get the cam to load properly. Hoping that Cambam will get me going. Really looks super detailed...been reading everything about it.  Funny, In the beginning I thought I could just draw something and my cnc machine would carve it. Each step along the way has taken me lots of hours. studying, reading, testing.  Bound and determined to become a really good cnc guy.   Thanks so much for any tips...Also huge thanks to Artsoft for steering me in the right direction. Every time I use Mach 3, It amazes me.   Peace out!