Communication Cable

[john_mccarron]

Hey folks. I'm sure that this question has been answered in the past, but I can't find it. Have any of you hooked up a regular Parellel port or Printer cable from your computer to send programs to the controller? Basically, I have the lite version of Cimco Edit and I'm looking to send the code I just wrote straight from my computer to the machine. I don't have a floppy drive on the machine that I'm using now, so I'm trying to send it straight from my laptop.

One thing that I have noticed in the Cimco setup: it only allows me to use Com1 or Com 2, but the back of the Haas (VF-3) has a connection for a Printer cable which is normally LPT 1. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
-John

[Al_The_Man]

Are you sure its not a 25 pin RS232 socket? Early PC serial ports were 25 pin D and the CNC side has sort of stuck to it.
http://www.cadem.com/dnc/dnc-details.../haas-mill.pdf
Al.

[GaryCorlew]

It will be rs232 you will also need a cable that is wired straight through. I got mine here: http://www.blackbox.com/Catalog/Deta...85,790&mid=451 also keep in mind the shorter the cable the faster you can transfer. I use it a lot especially for drip feeding. The machine and the computer will have to be setup the same in the parameters, I would start out at 9600 just to make sure it works then you can increase the speed after.

[gar]

070330-1850 EST USA

John:

I assume you have a HAAS machine. If the 25 pin connector on the HAAS is female, and mounted on the side of the control panel on the hinge side, then this is an RS232 serial connector. There should be two. Only one is used for program and data transfer. The second one is for connection to a rotary head.

Normally you do not do RS232 communication thru the parallel port on your computer. This would require special hardware and software.

Com 1 and Com 2 refer to serial ports on your computer, if they exist. LPT 1 and so on would refer to parallel ports. Cimco only has drivers in their software for serial ports. As I said you would have to do something special to use a parallel port. Apparently you have a laptop without a serial port, but do have a parallel port. Are you running under DOS or Windows? Almost certainly Windows because you referred to Cimco.

Can you buy or find an old computer with a serial port? Why do you want to use a laptop? What version of Windows are you using?

Probably you should avoid USB to RS232 adapters. Too many reports of failure to work.

.

[john_mccarron]

Originally Posted by gar 070330-1850 EST USA John: I assume you have a HAAS machine. If the 25 pin connector on the HAAS is female, and mounted on the side of the control panel on the hinge side, then this is an RS232 serial connector. There should be two. Only one is used for program and data transfer. The second one is for connection to a rotary head. Normally you do not do RS232 communication thru the parallel port on your computer. This would require special hardware and software. Com 1 and Com 2 refer to serial ports on your computer, if they exist. LPT 1 and so on would refer to parallel ports. Cimco only has drivers in their software for serial ports. As I said you would have to do something special to use a parallel port. Apparently you have a laptop without a serial port, but do have a parallel port. Are you running under DOS or Windows? Almost certainly Windows because you referred to Cimco. Can you buy or find an old computer with a serial port? Why do you want to use a laptop? What version of Windows are you using? Probably you should avoid USB to RS232 adapters. Too many reports of failure to work. .

Actually, my laptop does have serial ports in the back (at least I think that's what they are). We're talking about the 9 pin male connector right? Cuz that's what I've got. On the Haas machine I have what looks like a printer cable connection. It's not on the actual swivel part with the controls/screen. It's in the back where all of the other stuff hooks up like the 4th/5th axis etc.... I guess com1 and com2 refer to the 9 pin serial ports right? Any suggestions?

[gar]

070330-2048 EST USA

The location you describe on the rear electrical enclosure is correct for the HAAS RS232 connectors. Usually the upper connector is the program and data communication connector.

See my web site www.beta-a2.com and pages I232 Photos and E232 Photos and you will see our connection to the RS232 port on HAAS.

The 9 pin male on your computer is the serial port. COM1 and COM2 are names for serial ports probably originating with the first IBM PC.

If you have a voltmeter then you can do some troubleshooting of the RS232 channel. See the discussion on my E232 page,

,

[chmillman]

I'm certain the ports on the HAAS are RS232 (25 pin). You can get 9 Pin to 25 pin cables for connecting PC's with 9 pin com ports to other equipment like the HAAS that have 25 pin ports. Get a decent quality cable and keep it as short as possible. You need a Null Modem (straight-through) cable, not a crossover.

You can find some longer ones here:
http://www.dncsoftware.com/secure/cablestore.html
http://www.dncsoftware.com/quickquide/index.html

Or try your local electronics supplier.

--ch

[gar]

070331-1029 EST USA

John:

Cimco Edit will display the COM ports that Microsoft knows about at the time of boot (power on of the computer). But if I add ports (obviously the RS232 expansion board is already in the computer), activate the port, then Cimco may not know about the new port until power off and on.

That Cimco saw COM 1 and COM 2 probably means that these are the two ports you mentioned on the rear.

If you have a voltmeter connect one lead to the computer chassis, one of the studs on the RS232 connector will do. With nothing else connected to the RS232 connector connect the other voltmeter lead to pin 3 (TxD) of the 9 pin connector. At rest this should be somewhere between -5 and -12 V. Except on some laptops the RS232 hardware is de-energized at rest. So in this case the value would be near zero. When data is being transmitted this voltage will typically fluctuate in the range of +/- 1 V. Pin 2 (RxD) will be near zero V and will not fluctuate during transmission. This should allow you to identify COM1. You would need to have Cimco setup for software handshake with RTS/CTS disabled to run the above test.

.

[john_mccarron]

Thanks guys. So last night I was looking at a 25' AT Serial/Modem Cable. It's a nine pin female on one end and a 25 pin male on the other. Physically this cable will hook up correctly. Should this work?

[gar]

070401-1150 EST USA

john:

If the wiring is as I previously described, then it should work. Get a test light or ohmmeter and check continuity.

Or just connect the cable and see if it works.

Try sending from CNC to computer first.

.