is this a great forum or what

[jimsuhr]

I still have my servo motors and the rest of the old bandit control.
I looked at the one ebay auction with the camsoft pendit. There is another auction on ebay #3801855182. Can you guys look at the auction and tell me more about the componets. I am sorry to say that i am a man of limited resources and with a young family can ill afford to make a exspensive mistake. I realy wish i knew more about the controls part of cnc. as for programming if any of you guys need any wild 3d programs or speical cutters i would be more than glad to lend my 21 years of toolmaking exp.
many thanks to a great bunch
jim

[HuFlungDung]

Jim,

The auction for the Camsoft CncLite, pendant, and motion card contains most of what you need. It does not mention an I/O card and relay rack, but that would also be required and can be purchased from Camsoft.

You should contact Camsoft and ask if the CNC Lite licence could be tranferred to you if you win the auction, and whether you would get the 1 year support starting from when you first ask them a question

I have a sneaking suspicion that the reserve price on the auction is $2500, because that is what it was originally. It is still a good deal at that price, if you get to use the Camsoft licence. There is always the warranty risk when buying at auction, of course.

The other auction for the motion card only, is not so attractive. You would have to buy most everything listed in the other auction anyways. However, this 1730 Galil card requires a PC with an ISA slot, and a full 16" of clear space to fit the long card into a computer. This guy is selling the PC, but doesn't state what speed the PC is, so I would assume it is a slow one. Maybe you would want it, and maybe not. You have to buy the Galil interconnect module later. Whether you think you want the Camsoft pendant is up to you. It has a value near $1300, and has a pulse generator for jogging with. I think you need a 4 axis motion card for this, because you obviously need 3 axis for your motors, and one more for the pendant handwheel input.

I still think you might want to get new motors and drive amps for your machine. By the time you purchase and add encoders to your machine (assuming it currently uses resolver logic for positioning), you'll be quite a few dollars towards brand new stuff.

You did not say how modern your drive amps are? Maybe you have the old "audible whine" type PWM drives? They might be usable yet, but at worst, you could replace them for about $600 per axis.

I would perhaps recommend that you purchase assistance if you are wanting to get up and running quickly. It may cost you a few $$, but the frustration level will be much lower. It depends on your own skills, and time available. The biggest bonus would come if you decide to do additional Camsoft retrofits of other machines in your shop. Then, it becomes quite inexpensive.

[Al_The_Man]

Jim, The galil card in the ebay listing has the ability to control servo's or steppers, But I think the software is just for converting a G-code to the native commands of the Galil card in order to run a shape, As far as I know it does not include an operator interface, That you could confirm with the seller before you buy.
Also you may want to ask how much customization ability there is on this package, for example implementing machine control with M codes etc.
Al

[HillBilly]

Jim,

Here is the layout of the two systems.

We should hope the more expensive one is the best.

Maybe the less expensive option can get you making parts with less cash up front to help finance the more expensive option.

If you did change over later you could pass this system on to another machine in your shop also.

Heaven forbid if you take the less expensive route and find out it meets your needs just fine as some of us have.

We are talking a big price difference. The more expensive option is alot of money to put in a old machine. In most cases you could not easily sell the machine for what you have in the retrofit.

HillBilly