There's a local machine shop that I've become familiar with and they have an old Hurco CNC-MB-1 that they're not doing anything with. They tell me that no one in the shop knows anything about the machine's operation. The machine is all wired up to 440/480 and it has air supplied to it. The controller is an MB-1.

What I'd like to do for them is be able to tell them what can be done with the machine and if it's still usable. The controller has a micro-cassette drive on it but no one knows anything about what needs to be done with it to make it run programs. Can this machine be hooked up to an RS232 port for transferring data to/from a PC? What the heck is the tape drive used for and what tapes does it take? (the one that's in there is pretty hashed) Does this machine know how to interpret "standard" g-code or is it a Hurco specific language only? Where can I find user/operating manuals for this machine? (preferably free) I'm sure I'll have more questions as time progresses but that's what I've got for now.

Thanks in advance,
Justin