[kawazuki]

Hi All,
I hope the collective minds here can hopefully solve this problem. Below is a picture of a Chinese MPG I bought - wasn't a lot in cost terms but even if its crappy it should work - Right?
The Chinese instructions are even worse than useless and i'm pretty sure the 'Technical Support' the company offers is someone reading their own instructions and not knowing
what the product does!

It says it is a ModbuS controller and will connect to Mach3 via a USB port connection. They recommend using MyDrivers to update the drive programme - useful if you have a mobile phone.
knob all use for this application! The unit powers on via the USB plug, function lights flash, move to different axis when selected and the pulse LED illuminates when the wheel is rotated
but as for connecting to Mach3 - Nada ! ! ! I tried to understand the Mach3 ModbuS instructions but ended up even more confused - and they are in English!

Anyone ever used one of these, or have the faintest clue on how to get them talking to Mach3 - I'd be very grateful.
Looking inside - because i'm curious - the USB connects to aRS232 plug having 4 wires that fix to board - these are lablled G, U+, U- & +5. The encoder handwheel has a similar
4 wire connection to the pcb, these are labelled B, A, G & +5. That may be some help - I don't know? It'd be a shame to bin it as its 'actually' quite well made !

[FosterBDAV66]

I haven't ordered one of these, yet. And, this is why. Before ordering, you need to know what kind of mpg connection your controller is designed for. Likely, there is no existing port for an mpg. That means that you have to open up the box and look for the mpg connection point. Maybe you'll get lucky and there will be a USB port that you can use. Then, you just have to make an opening for the cord. Just be sure to get a rubber grommet. It should be a tight fit all around. If no USB connector, it may require a pin type connector.

G is ground, +5 is the voltage. It's pretty straight forward.

Since the Chinese manufacturers are cheap, you can almost bet on the controller board having one connection or the other since they offer them with and without mpgs. Lower cost to use one board than many.

[kawazuki]

See, this is where you lost me . . . .

you need to know what kind of mpg connection your controller is designed for.

I have a PC, I have a PSU and I have a Gecko G540 using a Parallel connection - nothing else! I was expecting to connect the USB to the PC, make a setting connection within Mach to recognise the MPG and carry on. If the grnd. and +5v are as noted then i'm assuming the U+ and U- must be directional controls of the output pulses, as you have to scroll through Axis (X,Y,Z,A) to select movement whilst the pulse rate per notch output is varied from Continuous, 1x, 10x, 100x, Although how Mach determines what axis IT is supposed to control / move is anyone's guess! So I'm still confused and none the wiser!