RS232 Interface Question for Meldas M3

[smirob]

Hello,
I am in a bind. I bought a used Mighty Comet, with a Mitsubishi Meldas M3/L3 Control on it and have some questions about how to interface the RS232. I thought one of the guys told me it uses a NULL Modem cable, but I'm not sure of the proper settings. I have the manuals, however, they remind me of reading the OKUMA Lathe manuals I had to read thru 20 years ago, and they are not well written.

I'm hoping some of the better minds here can help me out and have me making some chips soon.

My questions are the following:
1) Null or Data cable?
2) Settings? i.e. Parity? Baud Rate? Stop Bits? Hardware/Software Control? ect.
3) I've read forums where you had to set the PC Terminal's settings differently than the CNC Control settings. True or False?

Anyone in Michigan who has one of these machines or controllers, I would love to visit the shop or pay to have someone come to mine for a little tutelage.

Thanks in advance,
Rob, Mi

PS-One final question, I have the original books that came with the machine, but they say M500 not M3. Any particular reason for that?

[Htech]

Send me all the information of your control, you can access this information from the maintenance screen. I will send you the the wiring info or any other info you need.
Htech,
X Mitsubishi Engineer.

[smirob]

Ok,
Thanks for the quick response. After a 14 hour experimentiation on my own, I'm getting better, so here's where I am now. I downloaded a program from DNC4U.com, per another post I read. Now, I'm able to send programs, so I'm good there.

However, I am really struggling to get the Work Offsets under control. For instance, I tried to run the programs that are already in the control, which are using G54. They want to go on the positive side of machine zero, and not to the work offsets (which are in the negative X and Y). I've tried positive numbers, and changing the offset from G54 to G55, but I'm getting the same problem. I'm banging my head on the sheet metal, trying to figure this out.
I move the handwheel to a position on the table enter the numbers under Work Offset G54, then try to run the program and it goes to machine zero, then acts like thats the work offset zero, and begins starting its X and Y coordinate from there.

Can you help me with this issue? I'd even like to talk to you on the phone, on my tab, if you don't mind.
Thanks again,
Rob, Mi

BTW-Not sure if it matters, but 2 User Parameters caught my eye, under the PLC-SW menu. Number 5 (manual abs) and Number 13 (TL Length Meas), both of these are disabled. I tried flipping them off and on, and I notice that the TLM on the Work Offset page goes to XYZ(all zeros). Not sure what it means, but just thought I would mention it.