ANILAM CRUSADER M DNC COMUNICATION RS232 SETUP

Hello everyone,

First I have to say CNC Zone is one of the best sites to help you on CNC staff when you need it..
My story....I just brought a very rare Delta CNC Knee Milling machine with Anilam Crusader M Controller,4 Hp, Cat 40 spindle,
275 to 3600 variable speed,coolant ready ,air activated brake,3 axis CNC .
At first I was thinking maybe I will do a retrofit with Mach 3 or Linux....but after playing with the Controller for a while I just can t believe what you can accomplish ,
just to use the machine the way it is...we don t have to forget that this machine was build as a commercial CNC 3 axis unit
who can do what the other more expensive machines do ...but just don t have a tool changer...
Now here are pro and con...that OK ...
I have read almost everything on the web about Anilam Crusader M and I can say that there is not much info and sometimes the info is not explained well ...
so here we start...
The most important thing for using the full capability of this CNC mill and Controller is to communicate with the machine throughout Rs232 port
(printer LPT port on the back of the cabinet). This is important because of the need to use a CAM software whatever it is...
The CAM will help you do fast and ease programming....the DNC will help you put that program in the controller and run the part ...easy and fun...$$$$$$$
First to make sure that the controller is actually capable of RS232 communication on the LPT port behind the cabinet I used some wires as follow..jumper pin 2 to pin 3,
pin 6 to pin 20 .After doing that turn control on ,press manual, pull out E-stop,Program enter,1 Search, Aux 2740, press Start...After a while you should read ZERO.
If you read an error don t give up..check the wires if they are in good contact mine I got zero after couple of errors DRT Fail or so...in my case the wires did not make good contact...
and the pin NR are correct...
My controller was reading Zero..That meaning was my controller was OK...I told to my wife ...now I can have a coffee...
I used 25 Ft Cable (8wire) a 25 pin terminal and a 9 pin terminal (serial)for making my DNC Cable....
The connection for cable are as follow...
DB9 pin 2 DB25 pin 3, DB9 pin 3 DB25 pin 2
DB9 pin4 DB25 pin20 , DB9 pin5 DB25 pin7
DB9 pin6 DB25 pin 6
use Jumper 7&8 on DB9
I was making sure couple of times that those pins NR are correct...
For some reason my expensive new laptop did not want to communicate..I have tried different kind of transfer software with no results...
in my case I used an old Compaq laptop computer with PCIN transfer software (in DOS mode )found here..
Siemens PCIN - PLCS.net - Interactive Q & A
Transfer settings on the PCIN were ...
Com1 ,
baud 1200,
even,
2 stop bit,
7 data bit,x onx off
handshake.
Set up the directory and prepare the software for receiving...
On the Anilam Crusader M controller those parameters have to be the same as follow...
Now we gonna make a small program and run it with all necessary codes...
Machine on, pull out E-Stop, Program check, 1 Search,
Note ...there should be a program in the controller ...make some room in the front of program as follow.
Press Program Check,
1 Search,
Insert ,
Enter...I did this couple of times to make room for the codes I will put in later...
Press again 1 search.
Type AUX 2700 (sending to the computer),Enter
AUX 2758 (ANSI),Enter
AUX 2767 (7 bits),Enter
AUX 2784 (1200 baud rate),Enter
AUX 2791 (handshake),Enter
Press AUTO,1 search , START..
The controller at this time is running those codes and set up your machine for communication...
I used AUX 2700 for sending to the computer and AUX 2701 for receiving from computer...
I did couple of transfers back and forth with absolute success...
Now my Machine is ready to receive anything i give her ...
A very good hint which I did was to use conversational programming on the controller to make some programs ( arcs ...etc)
and send them to the computer to see what kind of code i get..
and from here on I could decide what kind of post to use to change the code which the controller will run it...
I hope my info was helpful...
Regards


.

Hello,

Thanks for the information you posted as I purchased a Lagun FTV 2 mill a couple months ago along with a Mazak lathe to start a machine shop and the mill has this same control. I also like the Crusader M control. I'm really amazed by how advanced it is for it's time. I have never done much work to machines as I was a machinist for 8 years prior to this and a cost estimator/project manager the last 3 (had to get away from that I love machining) So once again thanks I'll be trying to navigate my way thru this process. Regards.

Thanks for reading...Still today the machine is working....I am using it as a back up for a Fadal VMC.... and small simple jobs...mainly holes locations and rough milling...I am amazed how precise and strong it is ...even if is slow by today standard....The only noise spindle makes me to wear ear protection...no time to upgrade the spindle....The Crusader M still going strong.

Campet, can you give me the wire colors and pin out positions for the scales on your machine. I purchased an ftv-2 cnc with Anilam scales but the previous owner just cut the wires on everything and removed the crusader M unit that was attached to the machine. I'm trying to wire it with a dsub 9 connector for a more modern DRO.