DDSCV1.1 3 and 4 axis offline motion controller

[magicniner]

I don't think that Brian really knows what his customers needs are.

It's a classic case of buying a company that could make you a fortune and killing support for your best product before you have anything new, that isn't broken, to sell.

He could make a really good start with a fully functional 4-axis product in exchange for a license fee rather than his current Subscription Vapourware Beta Testing Scheme :D

Brian has lost my custom, I bought Mach3 but won't be buying Mach4.

The price for a commercial Mach4 license plus a good motion controller gets close enough to a commercial grade stand-alone controller from China that the only thing keeping New Fangled Solutions going is the ignorance of their potential customers to the options available!

- Nick

[Ger21]

the only thing keeping New Fangled Solutions going is the ignorance of their potential customers to the options available!

Yes, Imo, most people using (or attempting to use) Mach4 are not Mach3 users, but people that know Mach3 was used by everyone, and think that Mach4 must be better.

[m_c]

The price for a commercial Mach4 license plus a good motion controller gets close enough to a commercial grade stand-alone controller from China that the only thing keeping New Fangled Solutions going is the ignorance of their potential customers to the options available!

But what support do you get with the Chinese controller?
.
I can kind of understand the direction Brian has taken NFS/Mach4.
Mach3 was ultimately developed by a hobbyist, for hobbyists, but it grew far bigger than anybody imagined, and was used for things Art has even admitted, he never even thought it would.
Brian on the other hand knows the potential of the industrial market, and he is providing that market what they want. A highly customisable solution with full support. In doing so I think it's fair to say he hasn't given the hobbyist market as much support as he could have.
Mach 4 is a better product than Mach 3, however it doesn't have anywhere near the same community or vendor support, and there are lots of other options available now that simply weren't when Mach 3 was the defacto hobbyist option.
Certainly now that KMotionCNC has a screen editor, I don't see me switching to Mach 4, but I'll still keep running my little probing machine on Mach 3, just for the Probe-It probing plugin.

[Ger21]

but I'll still keep running my little probing machine on Mach 3, just for the Probe-It probing plugin.

I believe that the author of the Probe It is porting it to UCCNC.

[m_c]

I believe that the author of the Probe It is porting it to UCCNC.

Not much use to me though, as my probing machine runs a KFlop+KStep with linear scales to close the loop, to get as much accuracy as possible. :-/
.
Ger, do you happen to know the Macro/program refresh rate for the UCNC software?
I know Mach3 is 10Hz, Mach 4 is fair bit quicker but depends on system load, and KFlop depends entirely on how you program it but can potentially be 90uS.

[Ger21]

UCCNC has 48 macroloops, which are similar to mach3's macropump. These apparently run independently, and can be any speed you want. There's an example in the manual for running at 20Hz. Apparently, the faster they run, the higher the CPU loading?
They don't mention the screen refresh, but it's independent of the macros, and appears to be much faster than mach3, as the DRO's are much smoother. The toolpath display is different, so hard to compare. But the entire interface seems much faster.

[m_c]

UCCNC has 48 macroloops, which are similar to mach3's macropump. These apparently run independently, and can be any speed you want. There's an example in the manual for running at 20Hz. Apparently, the faster they run, the higher the CPU loading?
They don't mention the screen refresh, but it's independent of the macros, and appears to be much faster than mach3, as the DRO's are much smoother. The toolpath display is different, so hard to compare. But the entire interface seems much faster.

Thanks for that Gerry. I did have a quick look through the UCNC manual, but couldn't find anything, and a quick search of the forum mentioned a macro manual which I couldn't find a download link to. It was how quick macros could update inputs/outputs I was interested in. As long as the screen can tell me what I need to know at a reasonable speed, I'm not that interested in just how quickly it updates.
.
I've not got any plans to use any of their controllers, but I still like to know what the limitations are for whenever any questions come up.

[Ger21]

According to Ron everyone left the workshop with a working lathe but only one person has posted since then about their machine and that was to say that due to issues with Mach 4 he couldn't get his machine running and so far it still isn't running.

Not one person posted a video? and Ron will not show a finished thread?

A friend of mine has one of those lathes, but hasn't had time to use it. Last time I talked to him, he said there were still issues with the speed control due to either the Pokeys or the speed control board they are using, from CNC4PC I think?

[John S]

But what support do you get with the Chinese controller?
.

.

A very good question and a very valid one.
This depends on controller.
If we are talking about the DSCV cheap controller then none, all the vendors want to do is take your money and pass the buck.
What will happen in time though is there will become a users self help forum or forums where people can share problems. This happens now over the internet with any product. I have just had problems with my central heating boiler and all the help came from outside of the manufacturer.

The more expensive ones like the 990 series is a lot better.
For a start these are not new. they have been used in China for the domestic market for 8 plus years so by now the rough edges should be missing ?

If you pay more and buy from Adtech or GSK then you can expect good support but that's why you pay more.

For most psrt it's not support but understanding the controller.
In my case on a couple of things I wasn't sure off, and the book was wrong but the edited copy is on the internet already, I went down to a CNC place local to me and got one of their guys to explain what was what.

He runs 3 machines, a Fanuc 21, a Haas and a DMG but even though they have three proprietary controllers they all work the same.

TBH I can see the support issues with these stand alones being far less than having to link a PC to a controller to an external controller and probably throw a conversion board into the mix.

The lathes at the CNC workshop has a PC of unknown vintage, Mach 4, Pokeys 57CNC controller and a box from arturo Duncan to connect it all up so when it doesn't work who do you go to ?
Dell / HP ?, Mach 4?, Pokeys?, or Arturo ?

All of whom just want to pass the buck.

Most people want to use a machine, not play with it and they want plug and play. As soon as two components get thrown into the ring it's not plug and play.

I bought a K-Flop a while ago as having been told it can do lathe which it can IF you are able to program in C++

So it stands on the shelf with the rest of the very expensive components that promise the earth but never deliver.

[Boyan Silyavski]

I thought its absolutely obvious - DDCSV is a cheap controller meant for 3+1 and is absolutely fabulous for a 3 axis machine due to the fact that it works at all for 150 euro. Especially good for a cheap machine. I thought also i am conversing with grown men that need not explaining that if i have spend 7000-8000 euro on my machine on parts only, i can afford to buy 1000euro controller that can home correctly.

The reason playing with Pokeys and all these controllers was to test for myself the cheaper options, so i choose a controller for future cheap machines.

But while you are laughing many people will retrofit it on 3 or 4 axis mills and this will seriously undermine the market for EU made and USA made stuff for DIY. Will see who laughs after 2 years.

Plus now that i have found the good expensive controllers for 500 euro from manufacturer, per piece, not wholesale price, it will be interesting to see how CSMIO will sell after an year or 2 their controllers for 900 euro, even if the offer all the support in the world.

When i go at ebay i hit "lowest price+lowest shipping first" , don't you . The other day was checking 3d printers. On every Prusa sold there are 500 sold from China, from each of the 20 manufacturers. Just a fact. I am not saying anything.