Complete newby needing help.
14 Oct 2012 13:11 #25301
by BigJohnT
Replied by BigJohnT on topic Re:Complete newby needing help.
And Good Morning to you Ken,
It does look like a parallel port cable in those photos. If you have Gecko drives then there is hope for an easy setup. I think some photos of yours showing the connectors and innards would be good.
John
It does look like a parallel port cable in those photos. If you have Gecko drives then there is hope for an easy setup. I think some photos of yours showing the connectors and innards would be good.
John
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14 Oct 2012 13:16 #25302
by customcutter
Replied by customcutter on topic Re:Complete newby needing help.
OK. Getting ready for church. I'll try to upload some pics this afternoon.
All I know about the cable is it is a 9 pin, I believe RS 232. How do I identify if they are Gecko drives? Want me to pull one and take pics? Remove the black cover?
thanks,
Ken
All I know about the cable is it is a 9 pin, I believe RS 232. How do I identify if they are Gecko drives? Want me to pull one and take pics? Remove the black cover?
thanks,
Ken
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14 Oct 2012 18:11 - 14 Oct 2012 18:12 #25307
by customcutter
Replied by customcutter on topic Re:Complete newby needing help.
Test Supra images
Last edit: 14 Oct 2012 18:12 by customcutter. Reason: All 3 images the same
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14 Oct 2012 18:14 #25308
by customcutter
9 Pin RS 232 ports?
Replied by customcutter on topic Re:Complete newby needing help.
9 Pin RS 232 ports?
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14 Oct 2012 18:15 #25309
by customcutter
Gecko Drives(sp)???
Replied by customcutter on topic Re:Complete newby needing help.
Gecko Drives(sp)???
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14 Oct 2012 19:18 #25311
by PCW
Replied by PCW on topic Re:Complete newby needing help.
Looks like a parallel step/dir interface to the drives on that flat cable
coming from a serial interfaced smart controller. If you have the documentation of the flat cable pinout you could probably just remove the smart controller and drive the flat cable from a parallel port or parallel port breakout board.
coming from a serial interfaced smart controller. If you have the documentation of the flat cable pinout you could probably just remove the smart controller and drive the flat cable from a parallel port or parallel port breakout board.
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14 Oct 2012 19:45 #25312
by customcutter
Replied by customcutter on topic Re:Complete newby needing help.
PCW:
No such luck on the documentation. Possibly I can contact CNCmasters and get some information from them.
Any suggestions on driving from a parallel port or parallel port breakout board, if that's the direction I need to go in?
thanks,
Ken
No such luck on the documentation. Possibly I can contact CNCmasters and get some information from them.
Any suggestions on driving from a parallel port or parallel port breakout board, if that's the direction I need to go in?
thanks,
Ken
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14 Oct 2012 20:37 #25316
by BigJohnT
Replied by BigJohnT on topic Re:Complete newby needing help.
Those drives (black boxes) are most definitely Gecko drives. I assume from the zone post that 201 drives would be correct. If it has the option settings like shown here then you could just ditch all that serial crap if you get a 5i25 7i76 combo. The power supply could be reused.
www.geckodrive.com/geckodrive-step-motor-drives/g201x.html
As simple as the drive board mount looks you might just trace out the pin out for the flat cable and use a parallel port from that point to get them to move.
John
www.geckodrive.com/geckodrive-step-motor-drives/g201x.html
As simple as the drive board mount looks you might just trace out the pin out for the flat cable and use a parallel port from that point to get them to move.
John
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14 Oct 2012 22:18 - 15 Oct 2012 00:38 #25319
by customcutter
Replied by customcutter on topic Re:Complete newby needing help.
John:
Trying to do some research, so that I understand your post.
" Those drives (black boxes) are most definitely Gecko drives. I assume from the zone post that 201 drives would be correct. If it has the option settings like shown here then you could just ditch all that serial crap if you get a 5i25 7i76 combo. The power supply could be reused."
Are you saying ditch everything except the power supply?
"www.geckodrive.com/geckodrive-step-motor-drives/g201x.html"
Are you indicating that I should dump the 201's for 201x's?
"As simple as the drive board mount looks you might just trace out the pin out for the flat cable and use a parallel port from that point to get them to move."
I think you're telling me I could do this simply to "get them to move" as in a simple test, or could that be a "permanent" solution?
Sorry for my "dumb" questions, but I'm in the dark here.
Ken
PS: If I'm going to be ditching hardware to make linuxcnc work, I might be better off upgrading the computer so that Gibbscam is an option????
Trying to do some research, so that I understand your post.
" Those drives (black boxes) are most definitely Gecko drives. I assume from the zone post that 201 drives would be correct. If it has the option settings like shown here then you could just ditch all that serial crap if you get a 5i25 7i76 combo. The power supply could be reused."
Are you saying ditch everything except the power supply?
"www.geckodrive.com/geckodrive-step-motor-drives/g201x.html"
Are you indicating that I should dump the 201's for 201x's?
"As simple as the drive board mount looks you might just trace out the pin out for the flat cable and use a parallel port from that point to get them to move."
I think you're telling me I could do this simply to "get them to move" as in a simple test, or could that be a "permanent" solution?
Sorry for my "dumb" questions, but I'm in the dark here.
Ken
PS: If I'm going to be ditching hardware to make linuxcnc work, I might be better off upgrading the computer so that Gibbscam is an option????
Last edit: 15 Oct 2012 00:38 by customcutter. Reason: PS added
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15 Oct 2012 10:50 #25328
by BigJohnT
Replied by BigJohnT on topic Re:Complete newby needing help.
I just linked the 201 page so you could confirm that you have 201's by the option setting feature which I can't see from your photo. I didn't notice that was the 201x page... in any case you should be able to download the correct manual for your drives from Gecko.
Ditching everything except the 201's and the power supply is a viable option. The 201's can be driven from the parallel port but it is generally recommended to have a breakout board between the parallel port and the drives. The 201 drives are good hardware and are bullet resistant. If you decide you need a brake out board a much better solution is to use the 5i25 7i76 combo. This gives you a ton of I/O and encoder feedback from your spindle for rigid tapping for $200. How this works is the 5i25 plugs into your PCI slot on the computer and a cable goes to the 7i76. You connect 12-24vdc to the 7i76 I/O power. The 201's step and direction pins are wired to the 7i76. The power supply is wired to the power terminals on the 201's.
If the drive board provided opto isolation it could be worth keeping as a permanent solution. IMHO if it just provides a way to connect to the black box I would ditch it and just use the terminals on the 201's and hard wire the drives up.
The main thing is you have some good stepper drives no matter how you end up hooking them up.
John
Ditching everything except the 201's and the power supply is a viable option. The 201's can be driven from the parallel port but it is generally recommended to have a breakout board between the parallel port and the drives. The 201 drives are good hardware and are bullet resistant. If you decide you need a brake out board a much better solution is to use the 5i25 7i76 combo. This gives you a ton of I/O and encoder feedback from your spindle for rigid tapping for $200. How this works is the 5i25 plugs into your PCI slot on the computer and a cable goes to the 7i76. You connect 12-24vdc to the 7i76 I/O power. The 201's step and direction pins are wired to the 7i76. The power supply is wired to the power terminals on the 201's.
If the drive board provided opto isolation it could be worth keeping as a permanent solution. IMHO if it just provides a way to connect to the black box I would ditch it and just use the terminals on the 201's and hard wire the drives up.
The main thing is you have some good stepper drives no matter how you end up hooking them up.
John
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