Hi Folks,

I just was able to grab a Bridgeport J head with a Prototrak Plus on it, so I am pretty excited.

It's 2 axis control and it works perfectly. I have a digital Z but no power feed on the Z.

BUT, I don't really know where to start with the CNC portion.

I understand that I can (basically) hook up a PC and feed it G-code, but I can't seem to find any information on how to accomplish this that is less than 4 years old. I feel somewhat confident that there are better ways, than what I've seen so far.

I also can't seem to find a users manual for the Prototrak. There are plenty of dead/fake links out there to the manual and a lot of references to "should be on the SWI website" but, it isn't.

I'm hoping I can go the "hook up a PC to the (not an) RS232 port on the back" and treat it like a more modern controller. However if the real suggestion is "spend some $ and you can upgrade to something slightly more modern", I'm not wholly opposed to that.

I have a little experience with Mach3 and saw a suggestion (from a few years back) that some people had successfully adapted the Mach 3 to the Plus controller and made magic happen.

Any thoughts, guidance, help?
Thanks all!