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  #1  
Old Sun 09 August 2009, 13:13
paul60
Just call me: woodguy
 
st george
Barbados
Control Board Help Please

I am a shopbot prt owner based in Barbados. I am attempting to assemble my own control board (g code).
I first contacted Mike Richards for some help on this project. He was extremely helpful and we exchanged a number of emails on how to go about this and what parts I would need. I appreciate Mike's time and help alot as he did not reply to me with a one line reply they were all full detailed replies.
He recommend that I read the posts on mechmate. I found this helpful as I can view photos of the control boards and the schematic.
From time to time I would like to be able to post questions on things that I am not sure about, I would enjoy any feed back from anyone who has assembled his or her control board.
thanks paul
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  #2  
Old Sun 09 August 2009, 16:05
servant74
Just call me: Jack
 
Nashville (Tennessee)
United States of America
Paul, first... Welcome.
I suggest start by reading, reading, and reading some more the various forums.
Then as you can, post LOTS of pictures ... It helps keep people interested in helping, not that we would not try to help without them.
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  #3  
Old Sun 09 August 2009, 20:47
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
Hi Paul. You need a good grasp of the following threads:

Basic schematic of a typical CNC control box

PMDX parallel port break out card for the MechMate

MechMate DIY Control box full spec screened spindle 3phase

As Heath said, give us good photos of what you have done, and we will help you from there.
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  #4  
Old Sun 09 August 2009, 23:41
Richards
Just call me: Mike
 
South Jordan, UT
United States of America
Paul,
You've found the Mechmate forum and you'll receive excellent help from Gerald and those of us whom Gerald has helped. The three threads that Gerald posted will give you a good start.

Gerald,
There may be quite a bit of interest coming from Shopbot users. Something is going on there. Several people have contacted me and told me that the affordable low-cost upgrades have been taken off the market and only full control boxes are being offered for those who need to upgrade. On another front, some of the high-end users have also contacted me because they cannot get the Alpha series machines to perform reliably. Several of us have exchanged ideas and literally come up empty. Nothing that we've tried to do, short of redesigning the controller, has cured the unexplained 'noise' problems.

Those who have followed my posts will have noticed that I strongly recommend using opto-isolators on all I/O lines. Electrical noise in an industrial environment can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars to diagnose. Opto-isolators cost less than $1 each. The only solution that has worked with the Alpha series machines has been to add opto-isolation to the circuits. One Shopbotter found a bunch of Opto-22 G4 modules (which I highly recommend) and some G4 'motherboards' which allow easy wiring of the modules.

The bottom line is that Shopbot seems to be trying to solve electrical noise problems with software (debouncing routines, time delays, repeated sampling of inputs, etc.). Those methods are part of the software that those of us who design process control computers always use to fine tune a controller AFTER we've eliminated every possible problem by re-designing the hardware. It looks like Shopbot has taken the opposite approach.

Although I still use my Shopbot's PRT-Alpha controller every day, I am actively working on a design for a Mach3 based controller so that I'll be ready to make the switch to Mach3 the next time my Alpha controller fails. I'm afraid that I've reached the point that I don't have full confidence in the electrical products available from Shopbot nor do I have full confidence that they can provide a reliable solution in a timely manner.
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  #5  
Old Mon 10 August 2009, 05:29
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
I realised that ShopBot relies on goodwill, rather than engineering, to build their business. It's a pity, because good engineering is not expensive. But maybe they want all the calls from their clients for support so that they can show their goodwill and advance the cause of building social groups?
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  #6  
Old Mon 10 August 2009, 07:53
domino11
Just call me: Heath
 
Cornwall, Ontario
Canada
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerald D View Post
As Heath said, give us good photos of what you have done, and we will help you from there.
Gerald,
That might have been Jack.
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  #7  
Old Mon 10 August 2009, 08:23
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
Yes, the other Heath, Jack! Sorry, it is a holiday here today (national Woman's Day) and I'm slow.
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  #8  
Old Wed 07 October 2009, 14:29
paul60
Just call me: woodguy
 
st george
Barbados
Update on controller

Finished most of wiring on my controller just need some tidying up.
enclosed pics. also enclosed pic of pmdx-122 board. just need to know if the jp1 is set correctly.
checked out 12volts power supply thats works, run fans and supply power
to the pmdx.
checked gecko power supply that works.
next step is to try to config Mach3 might have some questions on that.
thanks paul
Attached Images
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File Type: jpg 0099.jpg (62.5 KB, 420 views)
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  #9  
Old Wed 07 October 2009, 22:52
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
JP1 is correct for G203V drives
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