Hi,
Craig I wanted to ask you if from mach3 to mach4 it is necessary to change the electronics?
That depends to a certain extent on what you have now. Just before I swapped to Mach4 I bought an Ethernet SmoothStepper (ESS). An ESS will work
equally well with either Mach3 or Mach4, so I did not have to change anything.
If you are using Mach's parallel port in Mach3, then its more likely you would have to change some of the electronics. Mach4 does have a parallel port
plugin called Darwin, a $25.00 license fee applies. Darwin was written by Art Fennerty, the same guy whom wrote Mach3's parallel port. Darwin has the same
limitations as Mach3's parallel port, namely 32 bit only, destktops only, Windows 7 or XP only. Art has made it plain that Darwin will NEVER have realtime supports like
lathe threading, Darwin was and is a simple and cheap way for someone to run a Mach4 machine but has restricted supports like lathe threading, THC, backlash comp etc.
Mach4 was always intended to have an external motion controller like an ESS. To get the true advantage of Mach4 then you really need an ESS or similar external motion
board, there are about six manufacturers of Mach4 boards, so there are choices.
There is no 'upgrade path' from Mach3 to Mach4.....if you want Mach4Hobby then you pay $200....that you have Mach3 already changes nothing. Makes sense really,
Mach4 is a completely new product, not just a re-write or re-work of Mach3 but new from the ground up.
One of the things that people have found and don't like about Mach4 is that it looks and resembles Mach3...but its not......and people hate that what they used to do in Mach3 does not
work in Mach4. There is to my knowledge nothing that Mach3 can do that Mach4 cannot, but Mach4 has a different approach and style that throws people. There are quite a few features
of Mach4 that Mach3 will never do....
https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=42891.msg278176#msg278176Craig