Unidentified controller

[wigle]

Hello everybody!

I’ve been lurking around these forums for a while now but today I need some help figuring this out.

I'm a PHD student, and I’m working on a rapid prototyping project. I’m on a budget of zero, which means that I have to borrow equipment until I can ask for funding.

I recently borrowed a sherline 5410 from a professor who had it gathering dust in a corner. The machine already has stepper motors and a matching controller. But he was not able to provide software or any information on the controller and it doesn’t appear to have any indentifying markings of any kind.

So I need some help identifying the controller so I can set it up. I am not sure what software to use with it yet, but I figure Mach3 would be a good place to start.

I’ve attached images of the controller in question.

I appreciate any leads or thoughts you might have.

Thanks

[wigle]

This controller is still a bit of a mystery, i did some more digging around and found a manufacturer and version number for the boards (there are 2 boards in the controller, pic attached), googling did not yield results.

I've also been able to get the X Y Z axis moving on Mach3 using the Max NC-10 wave drive setting.
However it has not been possible to get the A axis moving or any response from the spindle output.

I’m wondering if anyone here has come across a similar controller or knows anything about it.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[springlakecnc]

Instead of Mach3, I'm fairly sure cnc pro is available free in a Yahoo group, or somewhere. Its way easier to set up and get running. Mach3 does way more stuff, if your ready to pull out your hair trying to set it up. (CNCPRO by Yeager Automation) Your already having prob's, well its a huge problem when nothing moves, and you don't know if its the hardware or software. You can switch to Mach3 later, after you get things running. Good Luck

[wendtmk]

According to your picture, that's only a three axis board - typically X, Y and Z. If there's not another driver board, you're not going to get A axis control. If there is another driver board, it may have different specs than the one pictured, and you'll need to configure your pinouts to be able to control the A axis.

Mark

[wigle]

@springlakecnc: thanks, I’ve got most things running now, but i will look into the software you suggested.

@ Mark: there are two boards (one on top of the other), they are identical except the second one is only wired for the A axis and the spindle.

so far the problem has been kind of solved, the A axis cannot work in Mach3 because the MaxNc-10 mode only works for parallel port 1, which means that the A axis it would have to be connected to another controller that accepts step and direction instructions.

What I have managed to do is indentify the pin for the spindle (#6) and get the spindle working. Which is plenty for the time being, at a later date I will attempt to connect a single axis board to the A axis and use a more modern stepper motor.

Thank you both for your input.

[wendtmk]

Okay, looking a little closer at your enclosure box, I see it has two parallel ports on it. Since you have a second card, you'll need to have at least two parallel ports on your PC, and two parallel cables running from your PC to your controller box. Once you've got two parallel ports on your PC, you should be able to configure your A axis and spindle through the second parallel port in Mach.

Mark