How much is too long?

[monte55]

I have the 4 axis Xylotex driver working fine using a 6 ft parallel printer ext cable. I could use more room. Would there be a problem adding another 6 ft ext to that?

[ger21]

I'd get a single longer cable rather than adding an extension. Should work, but like most things, you really need to try it to find out.

[Torchhead]

Driving parallel port logic signals across more than 8 feet in noisy environments is a crap shoot. It's all up to the capability of the printer port in that particular computer. I have seen a 75 ft parallel cable through a ceiling drive a remote printer but then they would get strange characters or print jobs that started printing gibberish at times too. No big deal on a print job. Another story on a CNC machine.

At the least use one cable (each connector introduces some loss).

If you have problems consider a buffered breakout card closer to the PC and you can easily run a 15'DB25 from there.

Tom Caudle
www.CandCNC.com

[monte55]

Originally Posted by Torchhead Driving parallel port logic signals across more than 8 feet in noisy environments is a crap shoot. It's all up to the capability of the printer port in that particular computer. I have seen a 75 ft parallel cable through a ceiling drive a remote printer but then they would get strange characters or print jobs that started printing gibberish at times too. No big deal on a print job. Another story on a CNC machine. At the least use one cable (each connector introduces some loss). If you have problems consider a buffered breakout card closer to the PC and you can easily run a 15'DB25 from there. Tom Caudle www.CandCNC.com

I don't quite understand. My driver/power supply is mounted on the machine frame. Only two cable need to be connected...........the printer cable and the
!20 v to power supply. If I had a breakout board close to the computer and the driver still on the machine, how is that going to work? What do you mean by a buffered board?.........................Nick