. .
Page 1 of 10 123 ... LastLast
  1. #1
    I don't know if people of this forum are interested at all about the CNC Drive UC300ETH, but anyway, this motion controller had previously only worked (officially) with the UCCNC software, plugin was not released for Mach3 until today...

    Now this plugin is officially released by CNC Drive and the UC300ETH, just like every other motion controller they have, can finally be used also with Mach3. If anybody is interested in it, it can download it from their page:

    CNCdrive - motion controls

    I have been testing this for a while now, and it works great with both Mach3 and UCCNC. The motion controller can be used in a LAN through a LAN switch and router gateway or through direct Ethernet connection, if that is what is preferred by the user. With this driver you can have your CNC in a LAN, with your PC located in a different room or building if wish to do so.

    Previously I used the UC300USB, and by upgrading to UC300ETH my speed, with the same CNC hardware and every other electronics, is increased from maximum 5000mm/min to 8000mm/min on X and 10,000mm/min on Y, acceleration increased from 400 to 700. Very nice.

  2. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to A_Camera For This Useful Post:


  3. #2
    Hi Camera, thanks for the update/share.

    What's the difference in the uc300eth vs the uc400eth?

    Now there is officially a plugin, will you be staying with mach 3 or going back to the UCCNC control software?
    .Me

  4. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Roberts View Post
    Hi Camera, thanks for the update/share.

    What's the difference in the uc300eth vs the uc400eth?

    Now there is officially a plugin, will you be staying with mach 3 or going back to the UCCNC control software?
    The UC300ETH will accept 24v inputs and can output an analog signal of 0-10v for spindle control. The UC400ETH can only accept 5V inputs and lacks the 0-10v output. There may be other differences. I just built a machine using the UC400ETH and I'm very happy with its speed and reliability but the UC300ETH would have been just as fast and reliable I assume but it would have been simpler to build with. As it was, with the UC400ETH I had to add a 0-10v DAC for converting the PWM signal to the input my VFD required, and also a voltage converter to drop my 24V supply down to 5V for my sensor power/input. The UC400ETH is powered by 24V. It would have been nice if it accepted 24V inputs. I should have planned a little better I guess.

  5. The Following User Says Thank You to 1Jumper10 For This Useful Post:


  6. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Roberts View Post
    Hi Camera, thanks for the update/share.

    What's the difference in the uc300eth vs the uc400eth?
    Hi Lee,
    The biggest differences are in the number of inputs/outputs. The UC400ETH has 2 standard parallel ports (LPT type) while the UC300ETH has 2 LPT type and 3 DB25 with mostly inputs and additionally even 2 analog inputs and 2 outputs, so it is pretty well equipped and has more in/outputs than I'll ever need. The UC400ETH does not have any analog I/O at all, which isn't really important for me at the moment since I control my spindle via Modbus and RS485ETH.

    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Roberts View Post
    Now there is officially a plugin, will you be staying with mach 3 or going back to the UCCNC control software?
    Most probably I will move everything to UCCNC mecause it is in many ways better. Unfortunately, the move is not that simple because I have to rewrite my macros since Mach uses VB and UCCNC uses C#. Also, UCCNC does not have radius compensation (yet) and that is something I frequently used, so I have to regenerate everything without if I move to UCCNC.

    The Mach3 plugin means that I am not in a hurry now, but with the UCCNC and the UC300ETH I get higher speeds and better results than with Mach, so there is indeed an advantage in leaving Mach3. UCCNC has also some functions which does not exist in Mach3, and in general I like it more than I like Mach.
    Last edited by A_Camera; 11-11-2016 at 02:48 PM.

  7. The Following User Says Thank You to A_Camera For This Useful Post:


  8. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by A_Camera View Post
    Hi Lee,
    The biggest differences are in the number of inputs/outputs. The UC400ETH has 2 standard parallel ports (LPT type) while the UC300ETH has 2 LPT type and 3 DB25 with mostly inputs and additionally even 2 analog inputs and 2 outputs, so it is pretty well equipped and has more in/outputs than I'll ever need. The UC400ETH does not have any analog I/O at all, which isn't really important for me at the moment since I control my spindle via Modbus and RS485ETH.

    Most probably I will move everything to UCCNC mecause it is in many ways better. Unfortunately, the move is not that simple because I have to rewrite my macros since Mach uses VB and UCCNC uses C#. Also, UCCNC does not have radius compensation (yet) and that is something I frequently used, so I have to regenerate everything without if I move to UCCNC.

    The Mach3 plugin means that I am not in a hurry now, but with the UCCNC and the UC300ETH I get higher speeds and better results than with Mach, so there is indeed an advantage in leaving Mach3. UCCNC has also some functions which does not exist in Mach3, and in general I like it more than I like Mach.
    Hi guys, thanks for the info.

    They both look like a good buy given the price, so was the 400 designed as a cut down version or something ? ('m going off the notion that "300" comes before "400" and so the 400 is the newer product) is that right?

    I like the idea of "LAN" based control for things, but I don't know, something equally doesn't feel right about the control being remote...stuff to think about it guess.

    As you say the plugin gives you the best of both for now then, ok keep us posted on your/the progress, I follow you via the youtube ;-).

    Quote Originally Posted by 1Jumper10 View Post
    I just built a machine using the UC400ETH and I'm very happy with its speed and reliability but the UC300ETH would have been just as fast and reliable I assume but it would have been simpler to build with.
    Do you have a youtube channel Jumper?
    Last edited by Lee Roberts; 11-11-2016 at 03:55 PM.
    .Me

  9. #6
    Lee -

    Not really a channel. This is the first and only video I've posted:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0biZJSnepU

    It is of the router I built in one of the first test runs.

    Regarding the UC400 being a cut down version of the UC300, although the product numbering would lead you to believe otherwise, I think your're right. I bought the 400 because I wanted the best UCCNC controller and I thought that the 400 was the top of the line based on its product number and thats all the further I looked into it. I think the UC300ETH is better. It wasnt that much of an inconvenience to make the 400 work, just a couple extra components. And it is very fast! My servo's can handle a 500Khz data stream and the UC400 can stream at 400KHz very nicely. The ethernet connection can give you a lot of flexibility if you want to configure your network to work that way. I did not. I bought a dedicated computer to drive the router and simply used the ethernet cable just like one would use a USB cable.

    Another thing I like about the UC400ETH is that you dont need another board like a smooth stepper etc. I used a breakout board like this: https://www.winford.com/products/brkg25.php Except mine has different connector that adapted to the UC400. Less than $25.

  10. #7
    Lee, the UC300ETH is the brother of UC300USB, which I upgraded from. Those two are identical except for the USB/ETH piggyback interface.

  11. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by 1Jumper10 View Post
    The UC300ETH will accept 24v inputs and can output an analog signal of 0-10v for spindle control. The UC400ETH can only accept 5V inputs and lacks the 0-10v output. There may be other differences. I just built a machine using the UC400ETH and I'm very happy with its speed and reliability but the UC300ETH would have been just as fast and reliable I assume but it would have been simpler to build with. As it was, with the UC400ETH I had to add a 0-10v DAC for converting the PWM signal to the input my VFD required, and also a voltage converter to drop my 24V supply down to 5V for my sensor power/input. The UC400ETH is powered by 24V. It would have been nice if it accepted 24V inputs. I should have planned a little better I guess.
    That is partially incorrect. The UC300, just like the UC400, only accepts 5V input levels and can only be fed by 5VDC. The UC300 has 12V outputs, as well as 0-10V, but the voltages are generated through a step up circuit. None of the UCxxx motion controllers are a replacement for a BOB, and none of them have optical isolators, so a BOB is necessary. To be able to connect 24V to the inputs you need to connect a BOB which can take 24V, otherwise you'd fry the inputs of the UC300ETH or UC300USB.

  12. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to A_Camera For This Useful Post:


  13. #9
    Ok. I directly connected Clearpath Servos which are opto isolated. So I did not need a breakout board. But, as you say others might. Concerning the UC300 inputs, i was mistaken. Thank you for the correction.

    Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

  14. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by 1Jumper10 View Post
    Lee -

    Not really a channel. This is the first and only video I've posted:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0biZJSnepU

    It is of the router I built in one of the first test runs.
    Nice machine.

    Quote Originally Posted by 1Jumper10 View Post
    Regarding the UC400 being a cut down version of the UC300, although the product numbering would lead you to believe otherwise, I think your're right.
    It is not a cut-down UC300 at all, it is a completely different model. Yes, the numbering should have been different and according to me it should be called UC200ETH, but never the less, it is totally different design.

    Quote Originally Posted by 1Jumper10 View Post
    I bought the 400 because I wanted the best UCCNC controller and I thought that the 400 was the top of the line based on its product number and thats all the further I looked into it. I think the UC300ETH is better. It wasnt that much of an inconvenience to make the 400 work, just a couple extra components. And it is very fast! My servo's can handle a 500Khz data stream and the UC400 can stream at 400KHz very nicely. The ethernet connection can give you a lot of flexibility if you want to configure your network to work that way. I did not. I bought a dedicated computer to drive the router and simply used the ethernet cable just like one would use a USB cable.
    I was going to buy the UC400ETH because it had the Mach3 plugin available, but was contected by Balazs and he asked me to reconsider, not only because they were working on the UC300ETH plugin already, but also because they offered a UCCNC license with the UC300ETH during that period, so I went for the UC300ETH.

    Quote Originally Posted by 1Jumper10 View Post
    Another thing I like about the UC400ETH is that you dont need another board like a smooth stepper etc. I used a breakout board like this: https://www.winford.com/products/brkg25.php Except mine has different connector that adapted to the UC400. Less than $25.
    That breakout board is just a bunch of screw terminals, not optically isolated. I'd not use that with any of the CNC Drive products. There is even a warning about this in their manuals.

Page 1 of 10 123 ... LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. CNCdrive.com Cheap Servo drives
    By BillTodd in forum Marketplace Discussion
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 13-06-2017, 11:38 AM
  2. Anyone using CNCdrive products?
    By gatesy in forum Machine Discussion
    Replies: 20
    Last Post: 27-12-2015, 11:13 AM
  3. Huanyang VFD control plugin for Mach3, USB RS-485
    By JayPunchbuggy in forum Spindles & Drive Motors
    Replies: 19
    Last Post: 15-05-2013, 08:00 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •