I'll be using EMC, and would also like to try out Mach2 for my mill.
Using the parallel port for IO there is a shortage on inputs, so as far as I can see I must wire-or several switches to one input. What is the best way to do it.
My guess is to wire-or all +limits and -limits, then use separate home inputs.
My reasoning is that if one axis is sitting on its home switch, the program cannot sense that another axis is tripping it's home switch. I imagine this must be undesirable?
But the end limits are not supposed to be tripped during execution, and would need operator intervention anyway. Am I right?
I need inputs for Estop, A axis home (index), drive fault and ready (wire-ored) , ditto for VFD, probe and probably some I didn't figure in yet, so any common use with little compromise will be good. Do you have any experience to share?
Adding to the fun, I have 2 Z-axes: the knee and the spindle. That's another challenge, if I can let the controller handle both. It should, but I guess it does not know that they both affect the Z position, and handle that intelligently.
If EMC and Mach2 have different limitations, I can use a printer selector box to reshuffle the pins, but I would rather not unless needed.