I see the mach 4 plasma screen is now out    what controller supports the THC function it also has a voltage read how does that work what controller supports that a voltage input.. 

how good does THC inputs using the up down in  pc work. not running in real time   like ess tmc3 and vitalsystem hicon mini now out in mach 4

Hi,
my understanding of the Mach4 THC feature is that an external device measure the arc voltage and provide to Mach
ISIG_THC_UP and ISIG_THC_DOWN signals. Mach then handles the up/down motion by command to the motion controller.

Note that it is a script based solution and is not realtime as you would expect a THC capable external motion controller like
the Hicon Integra or the ESS. Thus the refresh rate at which you could expect Mach to command the motion controller
will be in the low millisecond range. If the up/down requirements are not excessive or very fast then this solution
will be adequate. If however the up/down requirements are aggressive or are required very quickly then the script
based solution will probably disappoint.

Craig

that what I figured.. I built several plasma tables using the hicon integra.  the main question is what controller supports the voltage input they added to the screen. what controller even supports the plasma screen. and it features .  my guess no one yet.
I do a lot of plasma and thc needs fast response. in real time. thers no need for a slow thc  you cut at 230 ipm the thc needs to keep up.
this was a big problem with mach 3 . and windows . so units like the nuron and the mini came out . to take thc out of the pc control.
and be more intergrated and control the z motor directly. 
 

THC only needs to be as fast as the Z motor can accelerate.    The "script based" solution will probably handle > 90% of any THC application in the hobby world. 

Steve

Also, there are 3 different operation modes.

Manual, simple up and down buttons on the screen.

Digital, which takes an up or down signal from a TCH unit (like the proma).

Analog, which reads the actual voltage from a register. This can be used with any device that can tell Mach4 what the current actual voltage is using a register. So if your motion device has an analog input you can use to get the actual voltage from the plasma unit and can pass that value to a register you're good. Some use a simple PLC for this (like the click from Automation Direct).

The screen doesn't care what device you use. And the THC module doesn't even care if you use our default screen. Everything is controlled through registers. You can run THC using any screen. The values don't have the been shown in the screen anywhere. You can just enter values directly into the registers if you want. Design your own screen and if you want to display the register value, just link the screen element to that register. It's very flexible and as Steve said, should work for most.