[derkiow]

I am using pac sci ma6410 drivers , could someone look at the connections and tell me if they correct for direct connection to the parallel port , the manual is at the following link,,,,,, Pacific Scientific | motion control | products | software | documentation | downloads | www.pacsci.com ...pages 34 to 38 .... thankyou derkiow

[derkiow]

Sorry if the above sound a bit abrupt was working on my drives too long , anyway the reason i ask is that my pci parallel port card is giving 5v on most of it's pins ,,is this right or is my card knackered. I am using mach 3 demo and windows xp home, i 've connected the wiring as per diagram in the installation manual any help would be greatly appreciated . I was trying not to use a breakout board look like i might have to now.... derkiow

[derkiow]

looked up on the internet the workings of parallel port now ,, i understand 5v at the pins is ok and not the sign of a knackered port .... just got to figure out active low , active hi , ugh my brian hurts....derkiow

[TarHeelTom]

On one hand, you do not HAVE have to have a breakout board. However, you are going to need to make all the connections that a breakout board gives you. If you're a bit confused about how to make all those connections, then it's probably quite a bit simpler just to use a good breakout board.

You don't say what kind of machine you're building or converting. But...

One of the bad features of computers is that while they waking up from sleep (you've just turned on the power) the state of the output ports is quite unpredictable. Enter the "charge pump". This is quite a misnomer, in my opinion. But also something very desirable for safety reasons.

Basically speaking, the cnc software asks the computer to ouput a 1000 hz or so signal on one of the output pins whenever the cnc software is ready to ask for motion. Most breakout boards have one input which looks for this 1000 hz (or higher) signal, and won't ask any of the motions to happen until this "charge pump" signal is present.

This prevents the machining device from running wild until you ask it to move. Quite a desirable feature.

So, take a serious look at buying (or building) a breakout board to go between your computer and your drives.

Tom

[derkiow]

Managed to do without breakout board basic system working fine with mach3 a bit of a pain, but got there in the end had to replace my parallel cable , not enough current to operate the opto isolators ,,,......limit switches and spindle controls next...derk

[James Newton]

Sorry if I'm a bit late with this info, but the following page may help:
techref.massmind.org/techref/io/parallel/signals.htm

It not only lists the signals but also how much the pin can drive or what it expects to see. If your opto couplers are on the hairy edge such that just replacing the cable makes them work, then I would worry that they may be unreliable.