Usable Laptop?

[Oldmanandhistoy]

Hi all,

I would like to use a laptop with a small cnc machine running Turbocnc and Xylotex drives.

Can anyone who is using a laptop with their cnc machine let me know what laptop they are using? Main reason I am asking is I don’t know which makes will supply the 5V from the printer port for the drives. Also am looking to buy a cheap second hand one.

Do old laptops have the 5V?

Any info will be very much appreciated.

Thanks,

John

[rancherbill]

I believe that virtually all laptops have the 5 v on the parallel interface.

The limiting factor for parallel interface in the amperage that they will carry. Given the wire size, contact, rating, blah blah, etc, the most you can expect is several hundred milliwatts.


I read their product PDFs and their linear power supply example. Yes they are calling for an extra power lead. They are using it for a reference. I am having a blonde moment, but, I don't see why they aren't getting it from the parallel cable.


Par Port | DB25 > DB25 | IDC25 > 26 pin HDR
PC case XYLOTEX


The 5V power on the parallel interface should be go all the way through to the Xylotex board. The only thing that I can think of is that there may be too much voltage drop. I would e-mail their support person for clairification or a workaround.






Hope this helps.

[Oldmanandhistoy]

Thanks rancherbill for your input much appreciated.

John

[Greolt]

I use a laptop and have measured the voltage at the LPT as 3.3v

The BOB I use and I presume most others buffers the outputs, so it takes care of that issue.

There are other however issues to consider when using Mach on a laptop. It runs through windoze.

TurboCNC runs Dos so I'm pretty sure those same issues do not apply to it.

I remember a while ago someone was selling an old style of touch pad computer, very basic by todays
standard, to specificaly run TurboCNC. So demands can not be too great.

[jerber]

I used a aprox. 4 year old laptop, a compaq evo n1015v.
The output at the LPT is 5v.

It runs Mach and turbocnc and even emc.

I believe most pentiumIII/IV and amd athlonXP/duron laptops have 5v.
The newer ones like the centrino most likely have 3v3.

One thing I find annoying is that the screen goes black after 30 min. of no user input (keyboard, mouse) and this causes missing steps.
This happens under DOS, Windows and Linux.

This is the main reason why I changed to a destop model.

[Oldmanandhistoy]

I have at present a p4 2.6gig laptop but cannot use it with my cnc because of low voltage or current (not sure which as I have not tested it). I also do not have a bob board that will buffer the in/out puts.

I would use a bob that would buffer the port but cannot find one in the UK. If anyone knows of one would appreciate a link.

Thanks you for your help,

John

[Greolt]

John I gather from some of your posts that you don't have your machine built yet.

If it is still a little way off you may be able to wait for the ncPod to become available.

It is the new offering from DeskCNC and produces the pulses externaly. No LPT needed. USB 2.0

Nowhere near the demand on the PC that Mach pulsing driver makes.

Art is writing a plugin for Mach to run it and when that is done it will become a very usefull device for us hobby types.

Less capable than a Grex but a fraction of the price also. $125 I've heard. Thats not much more than a good BOB.

[Oldmanandhistoy]

Originally Posted by Greolt John I gather from some of your posts that you don't have your machine built yet. If it is still a little way off you may be able to wait for the ncPod to become available. It is the new offering from DeskCNC and produces the pulses externaly. No LPT needed. USB 2.0 Nowhere near the demand on the PC that Mach pulsing driver makes. Art is writing a plugin for Mach to run it and when that is done it will become a very usefull device for us hobby types. Less capable than a Grex but a fraction of the price also. $125 I've heard. Thats not much more than a good BOB.

Hi and thanks for the info,

I have a cnc router self built (using a PC with this), but have also made a smaller machine for PCB milling and the like. I want a laptop to control it so it will take up less space.

John

[Halfnutz]

I have a Dell Latitude 1GHz PIII bought used off eBay for $300.00 and it runs Mach3 fine.

[Oldmanandhistoy]

Thanks Halfnutz, anyone else?

John

[Greolt]

Originally Posted by Oldmanandhistoy ....................I want a laptop to control it so it will take up less space.

John the point I tried to make was that the ncPod should work no problems with any notebook that has USB 2.0

Much less asked of the PC (notebooks are PCs) when it does not have to generate the precise timed pulses.

[rc-cellar]

Dell latitude, PentiumII-400Mhz, WinXP - $200 used.
running Mach2, BOB, Geckos for 2 years now... never a glitch