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Gerald_D
Registered
Username: Gerald_d
Post Number: 1335
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Friday, May 04, 2007 - 09:52 pm: | 
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Mach3 sends and receives all its signals via the parallel port where there is a connector with 25 pins - learn to use the terms ports and pins.
In more complex systems, a second port may be added, meaning a second printer cable and a second break out board (BOB). But, for starters, let us accept we only have one BOB and one (parallel) port with 25 pins.
So, we must connect the push-button across two of those pins and then we must tell Mach3:
a. Which two pins have been used, and
b. What to do if it receives a signal on those pins
a. Let's first pick some pins:
Mach3 allows you to use pin numbers 10, 11, 12, 13 & 15 as inputs. The pushbutton goes from one of these pins to ground. When you push the button, the connected pin gets grounded - goes to zero volt. Where is the ground pin of that port? Well, there is a bit of confusion about this, but mostly all the pins 18 to 25 are ground. However, don't worry about the confusion, because this is where the BOB builders help us out - the BOB's have connections clearly marked as Ground (GND). On our MechMate we have put a pushbutton from pin 12 to ground for the "Feedhold" or "Pause" function. On the PMDX-122, the 2 wires from the pushbutton go to connector block J5
(The pin numbers on the board layout might make more sense now  )
c. Now we must tell Mach3 what to do when pin 12 is connected to ground - ie. when an input is received on pin 12. We will use a two facilities in Mach3: "OEM Triggers" and "System Hotkeys" I don't know exactly what the names mean (check the Mach3 site for that), but I do know how to get them to work. What follows are from Mach3 V1.84 that is still the current "lock-down" version.
1. Config > Ports & Pins |tab: Input Signals
Scroll down till you see which function you want to achieve with the push-button (or limit switch, or probe, etc) that has been connected between pin 12 and ground. In this case we do not see a Pause or FeedHold, so we pick OEM Trigger #1 on the left
Click "Enable" for a green tick
Enter port number1
Enter pin number 12
Press OK to close screen
2. Config > System Hotkeys:
Enter the number 1001 next to OEM Trigger #1
(to find the appropriate "Hotkey number" for a particular keyboard funtion is a bit of a schlep - a separate thread by itself. Just believe me for now that Pause/Feedhold = 1001, CycleStart/Resume=1000. I used this list for reference.)
Press OK to close that screen.
And now your pushbutton should make the "Feedhold" work!
One of the frustrating things with Mach is the speed of the software development, and the documentation which lags behind. As an example, on the screen the button is marked Feed Hold, in that last listed document there is a Pause, which to me appears to do exactly the same thing. If you ask at the Mach forum if they are the same, you might get a couple of conflicting, confusing replies. In all of this Mach stuff I am really very much in the dark, the best I can do is to tell you what works for me - I am learning along with the rest of you. |
Robert Masson
Registered
Username: Robert_m
Post Number: 6
Registered: 04-2007
| | Posted on Saturday, May 05, 2007 - 02:12 am: |
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Thanks Gerald for the well explained steps.
I’m not there yet as you know, but this will be worth gold when time comes.
It will helps me and I’m sure some other too.
Robert M |
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70. Control Systems