Galil, Parker, Allen-Bradley, Gecko, Rutex

[Tywash]

I am a real newbie. I don't see much talk of these brands (Galil, Parker, Allen-Bradley) on the boards. Is it that they are prohibitively expensive or is it they are not what people would want on a mill or lathe? I am curious since I see all these smaller companies like Gecko or Rutex (more of a medium size company I guess) making boards and controls for good prices. Does anyone know if these brands (Galil, Parker, Allen-Bradley) work with all the popular software packages or are they proprietary? I read as much as I can just can't find these answers. Thanks.


Regards,
Chris

[Al_The_Man]

There has been quite a few posts in the past, for the Galil there is also the Camsoft forum, they write front-end software for the Galil. Parker MotionMax writes front end for the Acroloop cards.
They generally are not used by the hobbiest for reason of cost, They are, however true closed loop systems, but the software based control is popular because the controller is software based, like Mach etc.
Art at machsoft is currently writing some frontend s/w that uses the Galil, but it is under development AFAIK.
I use both Galil and Acroloop, but mostly for stand-alone systems.
Unfortunately the DOS version of AcroMill stopped when Parker took over Acroloop.
I have some DOS software that Galil used with their ISA legacy products that has a user interface, that is quite powerfull for simple operator interface controls.
Unfortunately they dropped it when the PCI cards came out.
Al.

[Tywash]

So, having one of these systems running a mill would be okay? Is motionmax comparable to camsoft?

[Al_The_Man]

Its the same type of product, I haven't had the opportunity to try the MotionMax yet, I would like to see a Lathe version though.
Al.

[Tywash]

So the industrial stuff is preferable if not affordable. Is there one that is better than another or is it just preference?

[Al_The_Man]

If you have an Acroloop card, I have the old DOS software if you want to take a run at that, AcroMill (CNC Mill) and AcroCut (Plasma and Gas Cutter).
Most of the manuals are still available on the site, I believe, I have most in PDF also.
Al.

[robert_colin]

I prefer using Gecko dives as they are well suported on several ists. I have pictures on my web page showing Gecko drives. www.campbelldesigns.com

[samco]

we have used parker/compumotor drives with no issues. (step and direction drives)

sam