[off topic] Communications Software

Yahoo Archive
1
One other thing, we use 2 "4-way" "ABCD" switches to allow COM1 and COM2 to
drive 8 different machines. Not as sophisticated as a true DNC setup but
the switches were $ 20 ( approx ).

Our shop floor operators simple rotate the knob to point to their machine
and then double click on an icon that takes them to a DOS prompt, type in
"PUNCH1 filename" and let it rip. ( or PUNCH2 for COM2 )

Todd Anderson
J. Rubin & Co.

-----Original Message-----
From: Todd Anderson [mailto:tanderson@...]
Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2000 3:17 PM
To: 'vantage@egroups.com'
Subject: RE: [Vantage] [off topic] Communications Software


Another really cheap solution is just you use a DOS bat file.

Such as "Punch.Bat" ---

mode com2,1200,e,7,1
copy N:\pro\%1 com2

You would goto a DOS prompt and type "Punch prog001.nc" and the bat file
would copy it from your "N" drive \pro directory to COM2 as 1200 baud, even
parity, 7 bits, 1 stop bit. ( change the parity etc to match the NC
controller requirements )

Granted, this only works for some machines ( about half of ours ) and you
may have to setup 3 or 4 bat files, one for each machine, if the parity is
different.

But what the heck - it's free and it might work.

Note: This will not handle long file names. For that we wrote a quickie VB
program that allows you to browse and find long file names which are then
copied to the C:\NCTEMP\ directory as "A.NC" and then a subroutine call to
"Punch A.NC" takes it the rest of the way.

Todd Anderson
J. Rubin & Co.

-----Original Message-----
From: Wayne Cox [mailto:wmc@...]
Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2000 2:43 PM
To: vantage@egroups.com
Subject: Re: [Vantage] [off topic] Communications Software


At 03:29 PM 10/11/2000 , you wrote:
>We have used ProComm Plus for Windows to download programs to our CNC
>controllers. The software we have is getting really old and I would like
to
>replace it. I don't need anything very fancy, just a away of downloading a
>program from a PC, using a serial port, to a CNC controller. Any
>suggestions?

Most our PCs used for that function are old DOS clunkers (even some 286s
left) so we use DOS CrossTalk. It's probably pretty similar to
ProComm. There's also good old Kermit, it's free and had scripting,
excellent terminal emulation and some other useful stuff for the purpose.

If you're looking for Windows software, QVT-Net is inexpensive share-ware
for serial and network communications (www.qpc.com) Western Numerical
Control has CimCom in both Dos and windows flavors. It's specially made
for CNC communications: http://www.westnc.com/cimcom.html
<http://www.westnc.com/cimcom.html>
< http://www.westnc.com/cimcom.html <http://www.westnc.com/cimcom.html> >

-Wayne


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We no longer allow attachments to files. To access/share Report Files,
please go to the following link: http://www.egroups.com/files/vantage/
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(Note: If this link does not work for you the first time you try it, go to
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will work the next time you try it.)
2
Sorry, this is a bit off the subject, but would appreciate some input.
We have used ProComm Plus for Windows to download programs to our CNC
controllers. The software we have is getting really old and I would like to
replace it. I don't need anything very fancy, just a away of downloading a
program from a PC, using a serial port, to a CNC controller. Any
suggestions?
Nancy
3
At 03:29 PM 10/11/2000 , you wrote:
>We have used ProComm Plus for Windows to download programs to our CNC
>controllers. The software we have is getting really old and I would like to
>replace it. I don't need anything very fancy, just a away of downloading a
>program from a PC, using a serial port, to a CNC controller. Any
>suggestions?

Most our PCs used for that function are old DOS clunkers (even some 286s
left) so we use DOS CrossTalk. It's probably pretty similar to
ProComm. There's also good old Kermit, it's free and had scripting,
excellent terminal emulation and some other useful stuff for the purpose.

If you're looking for Windows software, QVT-Net is inexpensive share-ware
for serial and network communications (www.qpc.com) Western Numerical
Control has CimCom in both Dos and windows flavors. It's specially made
for CNC communications: http://www.westnc.com/cimcom.html

-Wayne
4
For the majority of our CNC machining centers we use ethernet but most of
our Carbon Cutters and EDM machines communicate serially... for that we
use Predator and Tera Term Pro. (also has the best ssh client around imho)
http://winfiles.cnet.com/apps/nt/terminals.html

Regards, Lee

> Sorry, this is a bit off the subject, but would appreciate some input.
> We have used ProComm Plus for Windows to download programs to our CNC
> controllers. The software we have is getting really old and I
> would like to
> replace it. I don't need anything very fancy, just a away of
> downloading a
> program from a PC, using a serial port, to a CNC controller. Any
> suggestions?
> Nancy
>
5
At 03:29 PM 10/11/2000 , you wrote:
>>We have used ProComm Plus for Windows to download programs to our CNC
>>controllers. The software we have is getting really old and I would like
to
>>replace it. I don't need anything very fancy, just a away of downloading
a
>>program from a PC, using a serial port, to a CNC controller. Any
>>suggestions?

>Most our PCs used for that function are old DOS clunkers (even some 286s
>left) so we use DOS CrossTalk. It's probably pretty similar to
>ProComm. There's also good old Kermit, it's free and had scripting,
>excellent terminal emulation and some other useful stuff for the purpose.

>If you're looking for Windows software, QVT-Net is inexpensive share-ware
>for serial and network communications (www.qpc.com) Western Numerical
>Control has CimCom in both Dos and windows flavors. It's specially made
>for CNC communications: http://www.westnc.com/cimcom.html

> -Wayne

Another solution, but its not that cheap, is DNCNet. It eliminates the
pcs and replaces them with a terminal key pad (about 2" x 4" x 8" in size),
similar to the Vantage TT5's for data collection. These units are then
connected to a hub using twisted pair wire. Then the hub(s) is(are)
connected
to a Pentium base PC on the network. CNC programs are then uploaded and
downloaded using the DNCNet terminals at the machine. This is what we
replaced our old DOS Xtalk/pc system with and have been running it on 22 CNC
machines for about a year now.

Michael Podlin
6
Another really cheap solution is just you use a DOS bat file.

Such as "Punch.Bat" ---

mode com2,1200,e,7,1
copy N:\pro\%1 com2

You would goto a DOS prompt and type "Punch prog001.nc" and the bat file
would copy it from your "N" drive \pro directory to COM2 as 1200 baud, even
parity, 7 bits, 1 stop bit. ( change the parity etc to match the NC
controller requirements )

Granted, this only works for some machines ( about half of ours ) and you
may have to setup 3 or 4 bat files, one for each machine, if the parity is
different.

But what the heck - it's free and it might work.

Note: This will not handle long file names. For that we wrote a quickie VB
program that allows you to browse and find long file names which are then
copied to the C:\NCTEMP\ directory as "A.NC" and then a subroutine call to
"Punch A.NC" takes it the rest of the way.

Todd Anderson
J. Rubin & Co.

-----Original Message-----
From: Wayne Cox [mailto:wmc@...]
Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2000 2:43 PM
To: vantage@egroups.com
Subject: Re: [Vantage] [off topic] Communications Software


At 03:29 PM 10/11/2000 , you wrote:
>We have used ProComm Plus for Windows to download programs to our CNC
>controllers. The software we have is getting really old and I would like
to
>replace it. I don't need anything very fancy, just a away of downloading a
>program from a PC, using a serial port, to a CNC controller. Any
>suggestions?

Most our PCs used for that function are old DOS clunkers (even some 286s
left) so we use DOS CrossTalk. It's probably pretty similar to
ProComm. There's also good old Kermit, it's free and had scripting,
excellent terminal emulation and some other useful stuff for the purpose.

If you're looking for Windows software, QVT-Net is inexpensive share-ware
for serial and network communications (www.qpc.com) Western Numerical
Control has CimCom in both Dos and windows flavors. It's specially made
for CNC communications: http://www.westnc.com/cimcom.html
<http://www.westnc.com/cimcom.html>

-Wayne


We no longer allow attachments to files. To access/share Report Files,
please go to the following link: http://www.egroups.com/files/vantage/
<http://www.egroups.com/files/vantage/>
(Note: If this link does not work for you the first time you try it, go to
www.egroups.com, login and be sure to save your password, choose My Groups,
choose Vantage, then choose Files. If you save the password, the link above
will work the next time you try it.)