MPG axis selection

[jowood27]

hello
im new to cnc..
im adding an MPG to my system and i believe i have figured out how to get it connected through the parrellel port and turned on in mach 3 under ports and pins, inputs,...(if im going down the wrong road in that respect please let me know) but have 2 questons...
1. in mach 3 under ports and pins, inputs there is options for mpg or encoder, which do i use??
2. i would like to have a rotery switch or push buttons to select which axis is being jogged.. does any one have a wireing diagram for that switch?

im electronicly dumb (ie not to swift with resisters, diodes ect) so simple explinations would be greatly appreciated..
thanks in advance for the help
john

[ger21]

1. MPG
2. Just wire it like a limit or home switch. 1 wire to the input pin and 1 wire to ground.

[jowood27]

if im understanding you correctly all that has to be switched then is the "a" and "b" wires of the MPG to change the axis say between the x and y.. switched in that the rotory switch would in one position connect them to one set of input pins on the parellel port and in the next position it would connect them to the next set of pins on the parellel port.... or am i making this to difficult??
thanks john

[ger21]

Actually, you're trying to make it easier than it is. The encoder wires don't switch the axis. I don't know how to wire the rotary switch, but I think you can do it that way. The downside is you need 1 input pin for each axis, and I think you might need some VB code for that to work. I was assuming you wanted to use a pushbutton to toggle between the different axis. This will only use 1 input. Alt-A toggles MPG 1 between axis now. So, you go to Ports and Pins, Inputs, and scroll down to OEM Triggers. Set up the pin you want to use (just 1). Then, under hotkey, on the right, hold down Alt and type A (Alt-A). You wire a pushbutton to that input, (and the other side to ground) and pushing the button will toggle between axis.

I probably have you more confused now, right?

[jowood27]

ok starting to get the idea...this sounds like we are both doing the same thing but im coming in through the garage and your coming in through the front door...LOL....

so to get your way to work i would only need 1 input pin for all three axis, is that correct? and one push button? (which i like even better) if this is true then... what type of pushbutton momentary on or one that when pushed stays "on"... so basicly each push of the button would cycle through each axis? and the OEM trigger and tells mach that i want the program to do something and that what i want it to do is what is what is in the hotkey.. which in this case is Alt-A which if typed on the key bord changs the MPG axis.. pushing the button would be just like pushing Alt-A ?? if im understanding you correctly then its time to start buying parts and building this... i appreicate your time on this,, somewhere someone in this forum said learing was bit of a painfull process untill the light comes on then it starts being fun...ill probably come up with some more questons a little later..
thanks
john

[ger21]

Yes, you have it. A momentary on switch. You might want to read the customization Wiki at www.machsupport.com Lots of good info there.

[jowood27]

gerry
thanks for all the good info, some more questions though... after playing with mach on my laptop which is not hooked up to the mill came up with this..... the push button for axis selection must be on a pin for example port 1 pin 15 and the MPG must be on say port 1 pin 13 correct?? in the mpg secton of ports and pins it has "a port #, a pin #, and, b port #, b pin # are the a and b pin numbers the same or different pins?
other question with out an actual signal comming through a parellel port (as in my laptop does not have one) there is no way to tell if im actually doing this correctly (the push button) because the OEM trigger is looking for an eather active hi or lo signal from that pin if there is no signal change then it wont do what is in the hot key colum., is that basicly correct??
thanks
john

[ger21]

The MPG uses 2 different pins. Yes, you need to actually have a switch on a parallel port to see it work.