Mach3 Screensets

[Neale]

Pretty certain I have run into this on my Bridgeport conversion, IIRC if you jog the table while in the M6 loop it will fault with ePid error.

Any idea how i find the "well documented" info :)

Dave - take a look at this for starters. It has a couple of pointers to some general info on Mach3 internal architecture and at the bottom of the post a pointer to a pdf with a bit more specific info on the CSMIO problem. What it doesn't have is a "fix" as really there isn't a proper fix as such. However, I have found that .028 works fine (at least, I have had no problems with it on my machine) although it has a few other bugs which were fixed in later releases. I have a feeling that these were more lathe-related, though, so not something that worries me too much. I have seen another post that suggests version .022 as well.

Maybe I overstated it a bit when I said "well-documented". The problem is well-documented in the sense that plenty of people have complained about it. In general, it shows up if you do any movement between an M6start and m6end. That rules out tool-height setting during a tool change, which is a bit of a bugger. The "solution" or work-around seems less well known but it does seem to work.

[Davek0974]

Thanks,

tool-height setting during a tool change, which is a bit of a bugger..

THAT was the issue - was going to try that on the mill as it worked great on my mini-mill but that only had a UC100 controller on it. In the end i gave up and locked-out all the auto-set buttons on the screen-set for safety.

It seems my idea will be ok as having the M6 macro move the Z axis works fine so having it also move the knee should be ok too.

[Davek0974]

Thanks for that link, very interesting reading.

As it seems to do with auto tool length and as i am not using that, it also seems to back up my hopes that my new ideas will actually function well for me.

[Neale]

I'm not sure if it's to do with TLO directly, or some of the stuff that gets done at the same time. I don't use TLO as I have the usual ER20 collet on my spindle, so no repeatable tool settings. I have modified some of the tool height setting macros that are often mentioned to work with my setup and controller (so it uses the CSMIO M31-type probing, for example) and I have the usual tool height, initial tool height for multi-tool operations, and second-tool setting macros. These all work fine with the m6 macros now, including various combinations of G28 and manual jogging while tool-changing. Seems pretty solid once I upgraded to the older Mach3!

I'm also pretty confident that the probing and movement stuff works fine in X and Y as well, as I threw together some macros for X and Y probing while setting up the machine and they seemed OK. Not sure that I ever used them during an M6 sequence, though - that seems pretty unlikely. But at least they do work when needed, with the older Mach3 version.

Still tempted every time someone mentions UC300ETH, though - seems to do pretty well everything the CSMIO/IP-M does, and in a supported package. If you buy an expensive BOB to go with it, anyway...

[Davek0974]

Still tempted every time someone mentions UC300ETH, though - seems to do pretty well everything the CSMIO/IP-M does, and in a supported package. If you buy an expensive BOB to go with it, anyway...

That looks ok, I'm a bit confused about the LPT part - if its ethernet, how can it be LPT??
Anyways, the price difference will drop when you add in the cost of all the connectors/adaptors to get from the header sockets to real-world cable connectors etc. Still looks a good board though.

[Ger21]

UC300ETH + UB1 + UCCNC license = $380 US.

Closer feature wise to the IP-S than the IP-M.
And the macros always work.

That looks ok, I'm a bit confused about the LPT part - if its ethernet, how can it be LPT??

The LPT is just the way the pins are configured. They match a parallel port pinout, so that just about any breakout board will plug right into it.

[Davek0974]

Its a 5LPT board with ethernet connection? So you would use 5 BOB's too get full functionality??

Just guessing, couldn't see a UB1 win the site ;)


Edit,
typing at same time ;)

Makes sense now, I still prefer the CSMIO if not just for its "completeness" and rugged build.

[Ger21]

"Full Functionality" would depend on the users needs. And there are 1 port, 2 port, and 3 port breakout boards. The UB1 uses 3 of the ports.
http://www.cncroom.com/interface-cards/uc300eth-ub1

You don't need the 5LPT board with the UB1, so you save a few bucks there.

Makes sense now, I still prefer the CSMIO if not just for its "completeness" and rugged build.

But it relies on flawed software, which is the main issue.

[Neale]

if its ethernet, how can it be LPT??

It talks ethernet to the PC, but instead of direct outputs like the CSMIO range, it has a set of 5 "parallel port" style output connectors. In fact, they are standard PC board headers and each needs to be connected (simply) to a terminal strip (or cheap BOB as the connectors carry the same signals as a parallel port) to give access to the connections or (much better) to a custom BOB which provides opto-isolation plus the potential for 24V signalling. There is a fancy BOB specifically designed to go with it that provides opto-isolated access to all its IO ports. Not sure if it can also handle differential signalling for connection to stepper drivers. The combination isn't cheap - the BOB costs as much as the controller board, I think, but the combination plus UCCNC is competitive with the IP-M if you also add in Mach3.

(edit - Gerry was quicker off the mark! UB1 - that's the board I was thinking of)