Thread: Mach3 Screensets
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26-11-2017 #21
Not from my experience. It usually has to do with how the plugins work with macros. For instance, most chinese controllers do not support Mach3's GetVAR()function, which is usually used to find the trip point.
Most plugins don't really on any specific DRO's.
DRO conflicts between wizards and screens is a different issue, imo.Gerry
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UCCNC 2022 Screenset
Mach3 2010 Screenset
JointCAM - CAM for Woodworking Joints
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26-11-2017 #22
You probably are right, regardless I think it's safe to say beneath the surface, it was probably not top of the issue list with Mach 3.
Avoiding the rubbish customer service from AluminiumWarehouse since July '13.
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26-11-2017 #23
I came across a thread somewhere that had a lot of finger-pointing on the CSMIO/Mach3 compatibility issue. The gist of it seemed to be that because the Mach3 APIs were not particularly well documented, CS Labs worked it out as they went along and ended up using Mach3 functionality that they were not supposed to/should not have used. But it worked. Until Artsoft changed that bit of the code, which is why "updating" to an earlier Mach3 version fixes those particular issues. At the moment, at least, I don't seem to suffer from any of the problems that were presumably fixed in the later Mach3 releases.
I agree that you have to be careful about user DROs, as some screensets use these to transfer values to associated macros. My own very trivial mod to the standard 1024 screenset does exactly that, and I spent quite a long while checking to make sure that it didn't interfere with anything else.
I'm happy with what I have at the moment and it all works fine (apart from lack of support for proper two-motor homing) but I'm not sure that I would go the same way again. I keep looking at the UC300ETH, even though with a decent BOB it would work out to be a similar price to the IP/M. At least it has active support in place!
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02-01-2018 #24
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03-01-2018 #25
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.
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The Following User Says Thank You to Neale For This Useful Post:
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03-01-2018 #26
Thanks,
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.Last edited by Davek0974; 03-01-2018 at 01:38 PM.
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03-01-2018 #27
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.
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03-01-2018 #28
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...Last edited by Neale; 03-01-2018 at 03:41 PM.
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03-01-2018 #29
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.
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03-01-2018 #30
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??Gerry
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UCCNC 2022 Screenset
Mach3 2010 Screenset
JointCAM - CAM for Woodworking Joints
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