Topics Help Profile Register   Last 1 | 3 | 7 Days Search Tree View

Forum 70. Control Systems * PMDX parallel port "break out" card for the MechMate

< Previous Next >

You will need 1 of these PMDX-122 parallel port "break out" cards from PMDX

Thread Last Poster Posts Pages Last Post Hiccup with charge pump - since modified Gerald_D 9  1  01-18-07  07:25 am   Closed: New threads not accepted on this page

Author Message   Gerald_D Registered Username: Gerald_d Post Number: 337 Registered: 11-2005 Posted on Saturday, October 28, 2006 - 12:42 pm:        You will need 1 of these PMDX-122 parallel port "break out" cards from PMDX. Similar cards also available from Campbell Designs and others, but my experience is with the PMDX-122. (Two of us from South Africa have paid money to Campbell and not received anything) If you are using a ready-packaged control box, you do not need this card. If you are heading for more inputs and outputs that just the very basics, then you need 2 of these cards.   Gerald_D Registered Username: Gerald_d Post Number: 408 Registered: 11-2005 Posted on Thursday, November 09, 2006 - 09:28 am:        Our board is jumpered as per this diagram - nothing connected to J6Fault:   fabrica Registered Username: Daya Post Number: 189 Registered: 10-2006 Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 07:56 am:        Thanks Gerald, I feel that the info provided would be sufficient for the moment. I will contact you again if the necessity arises. Somehow I need to make sure that I get this baby moving today. My patience is running out.   Gerald_D Registered Username: Gerald_d Post Number: 724 Registered: 11-2005 Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 09:15 am:        Careful Fabrica, these things run on smoke. If the smoke escapes, they stop running. Be careful to keep all the smoke inside..... (Fabrica's experience continued here)   reza forushani Registered Username: Reza Post Number: 3 Registered: 01-2007 Posted on Wednesday, February 07, 2007 - 05:59 pm:        What do you guys think of the motherboard board/breakout board and power supply board from PMDX?   Gerald_D Registered Username: Gerald_d Post Number: 828 Registered: 11-2005 Posted on Wednesday, February 07, 2007 - 06:50 pm:        Reza, I think this question is a duplicate of the one answered here? This is good place to discuss it if you need more info - let us know.   Kim Mortensen Registered Username: Inwonder Post Number: 71 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Friday, March 02, 2007 - 04:44 pm:        I just checked in at PMDX and found this little baby, this is nice, I'm thinking of getting this for my machine instead of the 122 board. No more getting those wires wrong... :-D http://www.pmdx.com/PMDX-131/index.html   Gerald_D Registered Username: Gerald_d Post Number: 1081 Registered: 11-2005 Posted on Friday, March 02, 2007 - 07:42 pm:        See a little discussion in Reza's thread. link   Kim Mortensen Registered Username: Inwonder Post Number: 72 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Friday, March 02, 2007 - 08:00 pm:        Yes I see he says it does not have a charge pump, but if you check the description on PMDX homepage, then it clearly says it has the charge punp...   bugmenot dillbert Registered Username: Soulvoid Post Number: 2 Registered: 02-2007 Posted on Tuesday, March 06, 2007 - 12:42 am:        Any thoughs on the cnc4pc.com breakout cards such a C1G?   Gerald_D Registered Username: Gerald_d Post Number: 1114 Registered: 11-2005 Posted on Tuesday, March 06, 2007 - 07:08 am:        When I first needed a breakout with charge pump they didn't seem to do it on one board. I got the impression that they had a lot of little boards and pieces that needed to be strung together. Things have probably changed since then. They still seem light on documentation - eg. can you tell how much power that C1G needs? (mA).   christipher saint denis Registered Username: Dzlqw4 Post Number: 1 Registered: 08-2006 Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 04:49 am:        On close examination of my new PMDX-122 I discover that my printer cable does not fit into the PMDW-122 printer cable slot. I now realize PMDX-122 requires a standard IEEE-1284 Centronics style printer cable. PMDX sells a "26 pin ribbon cable which allows a remote DB-25 to be use". When I order the break out card I did not realize my printer cable was a DB-25 cable. Should I now order the $5 "PMDX-DB25Ribbon" accessory or will an db-25 to male centronic 36 adaptor work. Thanks for your time.   Mike Richards Registered Username: Richards Post Number: 89 Registered: 05-2006 Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 06:24 am:        Christopher, One end of a 'standard' parallel printer cable has a 25-pin male connector on the PC end and a centronics connector on the printer end. You would have to verify that the proper pins are connected on each end of the cable if you buy something else. The $5 PMDX cable did not work for me. Unfortunately, I don't remember whether it was the polarity of the connectors or something else. After a few months of having it just sitting on the shelf, I tossed it out. Right now, I have two PMDX-122 boards that I drive using 'standard' parallel printer cables.   Gerald_D Registered Username: Gerald_d Post Number: 1178 Registered: 11-2005 Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 07:31 am:        Christipher, I find it very strange that your normal (parallel) printer cable did not fit the slot.... - Do you have a "parallel" printer cable? (A USB cable will not work. A modern laptop PC without a parallel port will not work either) - Have you tried to turn the connector upside down? Until you have a clear answer on the above, it will not help you to buy another cable from PMDX. I am guessing that I did not make it clear enough that the PC you use for MechMate must be the "old-fashioned" type with the big parallel printer connection and fat cable. Modern laptops no longer have this connection, but most desktop PC's still have them or can be fitted with them.   Gerald_D Registered Username: Gerald_d Post Number: 1181 Registered: 11-2005 Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 08:05 am:        You have prompted me to start this thread.   christipher saint denis Registered Username: Dzlqw4 Post Number: 2 Registered: 08-2006 Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 06:15 pm:        Thanks for the info. The cable I had on hand was one that came with my taig cnc. It has male DB-25 to female DB-25. I will go grab a 'standard' printer cable.   Gerald_D Registered Username: Gerald_d Post Number: 1182 Registered: 11-2005 Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 07:29 pm:        Glad to hear that your problem is simpler than I thought. Anyway, it was a good reason to start a thread on computer port requirements. Thanks   Gerald_D Registered Username: Gerald_d Post Number: 1351 Registered: 11-2005 Posted on Monday, May 14, 2007 - 04:53 pm:        The PMDX-122 requires a nominal 9V AC input, but small transformers measure a lot higher when there is little or no load connected to them I asked Steve Stallings of PMDX a year ago: I have just learnt that a nominal 9V transformer in the 2VA range has an off load voltage of about 1.35 times higher than when fully loaded. I was going to ask for a better transformer this morning, after measuring 11.4V at the output terminals, and 11.2V when connected to a "naked" (nothing connected) PMDX-122. The sales guy hauled out a couple of supplier's data sheets and showed me that this behaviour is typical for transformers in this range. Can I carry on using this transformer? His reply: Yes, that is normal for small transformers and we try to take it into account when specifying units for the PMDX-122. After the PMDX-122 has been running for 10 minutes or more, feel the heatsink. To assure a significant load, try to turn on the relay. If you can touch the heatsink and count to 10, then it is not too hot and the transformer is OK even though the voltage is high. If it runs too hot, no damage to the PMDX-12 will occur but the overtemp shutdown of the regulator would cause the control signals to do strange things. Then: Thanks Steve, I will use a popular local transformer that is nominal 230V/9.5V rated 2VA Regards, Gerald He replied: The nominal 8 - 10 VAC supply should work OK. We had allowed lower voltage supplies earlier and most worked, but a few were weak, so we said 9 VAC. Greater just creates a bit more heat in the regulator. We didn't want people using nominal 12 VAC, so that left 9 VAC as the only commonly available value. Well, we passed the touch-the-heatsink-for-count-of-ten test and a year later we are still fine.