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I don't know any shadow specific details, my knowledge only includes some fairly common RS232 serial communication issues.

The wiring is certainly unusual, but it does appear to be correct based...

Your cable looks rather unusual.

Usually pins 4 and 5 are active for hardware handshaking, and would be connected to their counterparts at the other end - either straight or crossed, depending...

Try changing the two settings above to some other char that you wouldn't normally have in a valid program e.g. { }

It looks like your datalink program thinks the data "(5.0,0.0,1.0,-1.5)" is a...

A serial A-B switch would work. If the computers are networked you may also want to consider an ethernet to RS-232 adapter.

As for DNC software there is lots available. This is mine:...

might possibly be because pins 4 & 5 at the CNC are not connected

Neil

My knowledge of preamble and postamble strings is limited to the few controllers that I have had first hand dealings with.

As you say, it can be a real pain and a lot of trial and error...

OK, I am not a network expert but since you asked I might be able to explain;)

RS232 and ethernet are fundamentally different. You cannot simply wire one into the other.

RS232 came along years...

OK, thanks this is my understanding now:

You have a Spectrum CNC serial port server connected to each machine
like this: http://www.multi-dnc.com/downloads/mdnc_configurations_04-01-05.pdf

You...

This is a fine proposal.

I have used a few of these ethernet-serial adapters: westermo, lantronix and digi all with good results. A few people are using wireless but unless you have big cable...

Sorry, I missed a word out there.

I meant "explain what your DNC box is"

i.e. what is it? ... a switch box?, a serial port server?, a BTR device, a piece of special hardware?...

The square is your computer's way of displaying a control character which is outside of the printable range (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII#ASCII_control_characters)

There are several...

Russell:

You should probably explain what your DNC box, otherwise I think people will be unable to be very helpful.

Hi Stevo,

Many people are using these converters with CNC communication. I have had mixed results and found the quality is variable as well as the driver software for them, but they are cheap and...

Hi beno,

It is unlikely to be a straight pin to pin cable. The PC will have a standard 9 pin configuration which is well documented, unfortunately the same is not true of most CNC machines.
...

I once got some help from a man at Bosch who repairs the Alpha. I think his name was Herbie but it was a few years ago - I don't know if he still works there.

Robert Bosch Ltd
Meridian Business...

What did the oscilloscope show on the TNC RS232 send pin?

That might tell you if the line is being held high or low. Floating / noise could indicate a broken wire.

I think the error refers to the DTR pin not being active. This pin is controlled by the coms software via the serial port driver.

If it is active with terminal but not when you're using bobcad...

http://www.iworkshop.co.uk/

J'ai récemment traduit l'interface graphique de ce programme en français. J'espère que vous trouverez utile.

Cordialement
Andrew Carter

To monitor serial port try this free from Microsoft / Sysinternals:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896644.aspx

Hi Mike.

I'm glad you have got it all going now.

Thanks for all your efforts, it has been extremely useful. I have been able to make several improvements in my software thanks to your...

Wow! That's a weird problem but hopefully fairly easy to identify.

You should establish if the lathe is failing to send the '3's or if the server is failing to store them.

Easiest way to find...

Sorry, I don't have a definite answer for you.

It might be a line noise issue, with certain characters getting corrupted and then discarded by the parity check.

It might be helpful to say if it...

Pro's:
It adds a serial port to your computer.
Quicker and easier to plug it in than a screwed d-sub connector.

Con's
USB port provides 5V max and not much power, serial comms may not work well...

Hi Mike,

USB to serial converters are readily available. Avoid the really cheap ones as their drivers can be a bit nasty. Go for a brand you trust.

Alternatively you may want to consider an...

This is just a hunch, but I wonder if there is maybe some electrical noise generated when the machine is cutting that isn't there when you transfer the full program and the machine is stopped.

Just out of curiosity:

What is the reason for moving to linux on the shopfloor PC when you have a system that you are currently happy with?

I was just thinking about this from a different angle...

If you are stuck with PC-DNC creating the file PROBE.TXT, you could write a windows batch file and schedule it to run every 5 minutes or...

If you don't already have DNC software, you can download iWorkshop CNC File Transfer from http://www.iworkshop.co.uk

On the CNC control there are a couple of parameters for baud rate:
LOAD BAUD...

Then clearly the problem must be that there is a difference between the file generated using your postprocessor and the program downloaded from the mill.

Look very carefully again for hidden...

hi gar,

I have experimented with some similar devices, but never the LS110 and never two devices connected in this manner.

What I tried was an extreme case, I enabled hardware handshaking and...