Hey folks,
This post could go in the wanted section but I said I'd look for a bit of info first and repost in the Wanted if needs be.
Okay, a buddy of mine offered me a BP series 1 Mk1 interact on trial to see if I can get it running and make chips.
I have a product I'm thinking of developing which has a number of parts, about 12 of which would be made on a milling machine. All the parts are 2.5D so I don't need to interface with cad/cam, the canned cycles in the interact would suffice with a bit of playing around with it. The problem is that the controller is a Heidenhain TNC 145 which as far as I can tell doesn't have any internal storage barring the current program.
From searching I've found that it will interface with a ME 101/102 tape reader for storage.
Has anyone used one of these in the past or has anyone come up with an alternative storage method for a 145 controller? Regarding these tape readers can you store a number of programs on the one tape or do you just use a separate tape for each program?
The only alternative I can see is to write a number of programs one after the other on the "current program" and jump to the appropriate start line but I believe these controllers have a 1000 line limit which won't get me far.
The product may or may not work out so I don't want to go down the route of spending big bucks on a Mach conversion if the 145 canned cycles and existing hardware will do.
If anyone has any experience of these units orhas one kicking around, then I'd be grateful for any info or help on this one.
Rgds,
Noel.