Home made (easy ? ) MPG

[Buba b]

So its stupid question time :confused: ,ive got plenty of time to think with all the snow and all !. How hard would it be to connect a 100 Pulse Per Revolution Manual Pulse Generator to a game pad ? replacing one of the sticks (cant be that easy or someone would have done it !).
http://www.rhonmac-cnc.co.uk/rotary_...data_sheet.htm
Or has anyone seen a circuit diagram for a MPG !.
The game pad has got all the buttons i would ever want and the plugin sorted (assuming that it would work with the MPG) so it looks easy!.
Ive been looking at MPG s and just cant cough up the £120+ for one and think the £55 kits on evilbay just look expensive form the USA. Ive been using the Xbox controller for some time but it just dosnt have the fine control at the push of a button that i want.
I want a big hand wheel !.
Now before anyone says buy a shuttle pro at approx £75 , im thinking of making a hand pad that will with stand the day to day use , which i dont think the shuttle would ie: dropped , things dropped on it and even heavier things dropped on it. I need it to be more robust than a game pad.
Cant believe that no one in the UK hasnt come up with a kit , i just hate sending all my cash to the dam USA all the time.
Time for me to sit back and wait for the abuse to roll in
L8r all

[Wobblybootie]

I would be interested in seeing the comments and potential ideas myself, not having the knowledge or skills to build something from scratch, Hmmm, now pondering if such a beast could be persuaded to work with EMC???

[ecat]

Don't know if this is of any use but here is a DIY jog wheel, 64 steps per rev. May have some useful info..

http://www.instructables.com/id/Spin...of-a-VCR-Head/

[Buba b]

Ive been looking and this site is so far the best ive come up with , http://www.9w2bsr.com/2008_02_01_archive.html , it also has a mpg wheel based on a optical mouse wheel like the one from the instructables site. If the mouse wheel could be replace with a mgp wheel it could be useable. On the link there is a very intresting pendant with all the functions your ever need , its a shame he didnt connect a hand wheel thou. The one thing i want is a real mpg hand wheel that at a touch of a button can go from differant jog speeds , having used these at work i know how handy they are and better than using game pad sticks to jog with. From what ive seen once you want the hand wheel the price of pendants seams too go up very quickly!.
L8r all

[ecat]

The one thing i want is a real mpg hand wheel that at a touch of a button can go from differant jog speeds , having used these at work i know how handy they are and better than using game pad sticks to jog with.
L8r all

If you take a look at the circuit from the instructables project the guy uses a lm393 comparator to clean up the signal from the diy encoder disk, output pins 1 and 7 connect directly to the mouse chip. For variable jog speed you could place a micro-controller between the lm393 and the mouse chip, add a couple of buttons and a little software and the 'jog speed' could be anything between the maximum encoder resolution and zero :)

Not too tricky and certainly not expensive!

[Buba b]

Ive had a look at the circuit from the instructables and it looks possiable ! being a complete noob with electronics means im not to sure about redesigning / changing the schematic. Im most worried about this comment " add a couple of buttons and a little software and the 'jog speed' " LoL with this being the worst bit "a little software " . This is why a game pad looked so good but im now working my way through Eagle CAD as ive always wanted to have ago at PCB making . Maybe il have ago at the pendant in my link as i got all the schematics and Hex file from the site , shame it didnt have a componet list to make it easy.

[M250cnc]

Buba you can wire an MPG directly to Mach if you have two spare inputs.

I have seen this on the Mach forum and it looks pretty impressive and not that expensive.

http://www.machsupport.com/forum/ind...c,14270.0.html

Phil

[Buba b]

Ive seen the SuttleRU and it looked a good priced MPG , its now on evilbay for £129 + £10 post !!! , again i cant / dont want to cough up for that. Same as the kits you see on evilbay for £60 / good and £32 post / bad ( how much dose the MGP weigh ! are they posting a brick with the dam thing !) just the USA ripping us off.
Ive looked into making the pendant in my post which is working out at about £20 components plus the £25 for the hardware to program the PIC chip , no hand wheel but il work on that. There are alot of good pendants around in the £100 to £150 bracket im more about making a cheap homemade pendant .
Im having a read up on conecting a MPG , must be possiable on my G540.
L8r all