DDSCV1.1 3 and 4 axis offline motion controller

[Boyan Silyavski]

It's poor workman that blames his tools.!! . . . . There are many 1000's of people using these products with no trouble and even more using Mach3 very succesfully.
So maybe you might want to look at what your doing wrong if things are not working as expected.?

My cabinet is steel. Line cables are 3 wire with ground connected. Every bit inside is connected to its own regulated power supply, no sharing. All PSU are shielded and grounded. With line filter before them to separate from servos or VFD eventual RFI /removed now as no help/. Signal and PSUs cables are Twisted, Shielded, Grounded. . Hell, even my Ethernet cable was CAT7 . How many people use cat7 cable to boards? My LPT cable to board and inside cabinet was shielded too.
My garage PC on other side is good for graphic design, i have all versions of Windows and even some you maybe have not heard of / custom builds made for fast processing / and i am around PCs from 1995 and repaired PCs and laptops for quite some years for other people.
In short - All here is prepared for connecting a HF plasma torch to machine so i highly doubt its my fault .


I dont trash. I say things how they are. Some boards were working fine, some half, some even not half. None 100%. When i pay 100 or 500 to sb, mentally i expect 100% but in real life i am happy with 90%. things to work. But 50%? Thanks but no. By the way 2 Pockey boards and 2 relay boards are on the way back right now to them. Had high hopes for them being made in EU, but no.

So i don't have your experience, that's why i am testing all on market which intrigues me. Next are some other controllers. And nope, i will not pay 800euro for CSMIO when i could buy a dedicated controller for that price

If i am doing something wrong, hows that the chinese board works now well and the other ones did not? In the same enclosure and same PSU. Its not shielded and by the way i had packed my previous board like a sandwich with aluminum foil at one moment just to check if that could be the problem.


And the time spend with boards were because of their crappy manuals also i must say. Pokeys for example. take a look at their Mach3 forum section. How many times the same bloody question Spindle and Probe. Not a word in the manual. I had to ask them also. Its like swimming against the current with some people.

So, no. Offline controllers may be at the moment a bit short of what could do, but when that shortcomings are ironed, i bet in the DIY world no one will buy anything else . And this controller we are speaking here for less than Mach3 / 4 licence is a no brainer . The red is not for you Dean but for the people who will read that post

[John S]

And the time spend with boards were because of their crappy manuals also i must say. Pokeys for example. take a look at their Mach3 forum section. How many times the same bloody question Spindle and Probe. Not a word in the manual. I had to ask them also. Its like swimming against the current with some people.

This is the bit I feel for.
On another forum it was pointed out to me that PlanetCNC andd UCCNC can now do threading and rigid tapping so last night I wasted another hour to take a look, here is a copy of the post.

*******************************

It seems that PlanetCNC and UCCNC now support fully synchronised threading as well as rigid tapping.

Martin.

.

Thank you for those links Martin, I wasn't aware that either could do threading on lathe.

However having spent nearly an hour perusing both websites and down loading both hardware and software manuals for both I'm non plussed at what they can do. This is starting to get familiar ??

Planet CNC first.

The board says it can take spindle encoder in but in the 35 page manual of which 7 pages are spent telling you how to wire all the different types of limits switch [ which aren't actually needed for the machine to run] but no explanation of how to wire the encoder in and not even is it just index pulse or multi line. I suspect it's index pulse only which is not a lot of good for accurate work

UCCNC next

Again hardly any information other than a video of threading with a felt tipped pan. The hardware manual is 21 pages long 19 of which tell you how to connect it up to the ethernet port, [ is it THAT hard ? and if it is WHY ? ]

Then the last two pages tell you what the terminals are in flowing terms like output 1, 2,3 etc for Port 1, poert 2 is identical but no a clue where to connect to ?

So please excuse me if I don't throw 215 Euros for the UCCNC board and software plus breakout board and another 263 Euro for the Planet offering.

I don't think the shelf can stand any more white elephants.

Seriously lads it's this total lack of support that is killing this. They know if or how good it works but it's a closely guarded secret.

***********************************************

The reference to the shelf and white elepants is the fact that the shelf above the bench where I do all the CNC work is literally full of controllers, breakout boards etc etc that either don't work, are no longer supported etc, etc to the tune of somewhere between £1500 and £2000 and I for one have now decided after the Mach 4 fiasco above that enough is enough.

[JAZZCNC]

Jazz, nothing you say applies to lathe.
Lathe in Mach 3 or 4 just doesn't work.
Dan Malch has managed to get it working in M4 but he's lost 3 months of his life. Is that worth it ?

Well wasn't really talking about Lathe John as it's not my thing as you know. Also I'm not defending Mach3.
You know because we've spoke several times on phone ranting about Mach4 and 3 that I'm also looking at these controllers. Mostly to eliminate the PC. Mach3 does good job for what I need for routers/mills. It's also massively flexible in what it can be made to control for one off custom jobs.

Like you I've also got box full of boards that have been tested and judged Crap. But this is same for any hardware, there's good and bad eggs so you need to crack few open n smell em.!!

My point to you Boyan was others are using them without issues so maybe given your having trouble with several it might be something your doing or Not doing that's causing your troubles. Or something around you.?
The fact you have fitted this controller and appears to be working ok out the box doesn't mean it won't show other issues or is masking the issue which will appear at later date.? . . . Like 8hrs into 10hr job so to me it's still too early to call. Thou agree it's good start.

However there are many potential pot holes it could fall down on like Canned cycles etc, long cycle times etc.
Lack of memory is also another issue. Even the higher spec controller is memory limited. 32Mb or even 64mb isn't enough for Large 3D programs and will require DNC to drip feed the code. For some 32Mb may seem plenty but I can tell you some the people I help have 3d files in the Gb's. Pauses or temp locks while dripping code, even if position is not lost, is problem on 3D surface because it leaves mark which wreck the job or at best cause extra work hand finishing.
Dripping from USB isn't always reliable and RS232 just defeats the point of stand alone Controller. All these things have to be tested and influence the final outcome.!! . . . . Unfortunately again we are back to Cracking open the Good or Bad Egg.? . . . Could smell sweet or Stink like John's week old under crackers. .

Soon I'll have the 4 axis 1000Mdc to play with and I'll report how it stinks.? And NO I'm not stiffing John's under crackers to compare . .

[Boyan Silyavski]

Dean,

I absolutely agree with you. Sometimes i have/had the tendency to over excite from happiness how i am cheating destiny but now i am taking great care this not to happen when i am evaluating sth objectively.

So there was a moment with the Pokeys, when i thought, hmm, cheap, multi functional and well tested for a month. This must be it. But the first job when i had to do 500 pieces, i found that every 8-10th piece it makes a mistake and f%%ks the work. Which errors cost me in money exactly what this little board cost me.
So to say a controller works properly, time is needed to do all scenarios. premature conclusions as you say are not good.


Why did you choose the 1000 board for the test? I am looking at many boards now and just making a spreadsheet , because i am a little baffled what are the differences. I read some manuals and at the moment am between the 1000 board you choose and the 235 or the 990 / another manufacturer.


Meanwhile i am officially searching for the manufacturer of the DDCSV .if sb knows sth., PM me.Web and emails from manual does not work. Also searching for latest software. If sb knows from where to download it, please a link. I tried some chines sites, but links not working.


If i continue to be happy with the board, next step is find the supplier, buy in quantity and start selling in EU,offering support, with possible rewriting or just adding details to manual, and one good day even correcting, customising and upgrading the firmware to suit better our needs. I already have some ideas.

I would like to do also with one of the more expensive boards. I am already discussing with manufacturers some details. These recent problems with various boards, lead me to believe i could offer in EU market 1 cheap, one middle priced and one lathe controller, support for them, and as i said, with the earnings, even customise them for the better. I know nothing for lathe, but will start at the moment with the other 2.


I would like to share that now i have a very funny feeling when i go to workshop, touch the mouse and move it, waiting for the screen to wake up. Then i realize that -no, no more PC. And I just push the start button on the enclosure and go out without looking back.

Luckily i have about 500 pieces from wood to cut from now on, so it will be quite a serious test. Also have to design some large 3d job and see what will happen. Does the 3d job make the largest file or what?

[Boyan Silyavski]

Lack of memory is also another issue. Even the higher spec controller is memory limited. 32Mb or even 64mb isn't enough for Large 3D programs and will require DNC to drip feed the code. For some 32Mb may seem plenty but I can tell you some the people I help have 3d files in the Gb's. Pauses or temp locks while dripping code, even if position is not lost, is problem on 3D surface because it leaves mark which wreck the job or at best cause extra work hand finishing.
Dripping from USB isn't always reliable and RS232 just defeats the point of stand alone Controller. All these things have to be tested and influence the final outcome.!! . . . . Unfortunately again we are back to Cracking open the Good or Bad Egg.? . . . Could smell sweet or Stink like John's week old under crackers. .

I start to feel after reading a coupler of control manuals that its important what speed USB pen drive or card is fitted there, hence they sell the controller with certain USB card .

What you make of that / that's the 1000 series controller/:

l Be able to process up to 1000 blocks of program per second, which makes the high-speed & mini-line cutting available.
l Equipped with U-disk port through which CNC systems provide the following functions: store and recover systems’ software and machining data, perform DNC machining by executing a program in U-disks.


U disc must be USB disc/ In Chinglish/

[JAZZCNC]

I start to feel after reading a coupler of control manuals that its important what speed USB pen drive or card is fitted there, hence they sell the controller with certain USB card .

What you make of that / that's the 1000 series controller/:

l Be able to process up to 1000 blocks of program per second, which makes the high-speed & mini-line cutting available.
l Equipped with U-disk port through which CNC systems provide the following functions: store and recover systems’ software and machining data, perform DNC machining by executing a program in U-disks.


U disc must be USB disc/ In Chinglish/

Boyan I never assume anything.! . . . More important I take what is written with pinch of salt, esp if written by the Chinese.! Which is why I have box full of cards etc.

When I get hold of the controller and fitted to working machine I'll give report back.

To answer your question from before the reason for the 1000 series was because I asked for controller best suited to Router and this was recommended.

[Boyan Silyavski]

Hi folks,

Today i managed to make a short video of very interesting combination. DIY CNC +ESTL CAM trochoidal path + HSMAdvisor + DDSCV1.1 motion controller .



Mind me that it's first the time ever i use trochoidal toolpath, am testing the vacuum fixture and the board at the same time. So i was a bit afraid and limited the plunge rate, so i could react, cause i had the camera at my left hand. Thats why at the moment of entering the program i was trying to make sure i do not make a mistake.

All was perfectly calculated by HSMAdviser and executed by ETSL Cam. Thumbs up to the makers of these 2 programs. Look at that nice chips. So CAM +motion control here together cost less than 200 euro. At the moment ESTL cam starts showing properly the toolpaths as a list - as any normal program, I will be extremely happy to say:" Why pay more for Vectric?" . Even so its an excellent program. If only for the V carving and the Trochoidal toolpaths.

So i am more than happy. Freud 2 flute 19mm bit, 11mm depth pocket, then full depth 19mm profile . Both at 16000mm/min feed 5.8% or 27.8% degrees HSM width of cut





I was really excited to see the machine move and cut so smoothly at 16000mm/min, i dont know if you will get to feel it from the video, but it was super smooth. Mass of gantry is around 200kg!

OK. here is the video. I show how the board copes with probing also. Lower the volume and enjoy, when you feel bored from watching the pocketing, at min 7:15 start the slotting at full depth:

[John S]

That looks very good Boyan.Must admit I have been looking at some of the videos from ESTL Cam.