[Larry Myers]

Hi All,

I have had my Sharp 2412/Fanu OiMate for a year now and I really think it’s a great machine. I am finally at the point where I am setting up a dedicated computer for it. In other words, I have been at my office computer on my CAD/CAM program, save g code in Notepad, save it to a flash card, walk to the 2412, load it, and finally run it.

I am installing a computer at the machine for use with my CAD/CAM for direct loading into the machine. Unfortunately the Fanuc manual is the worst ever written.

Can any of you walk me through or offer any advise in terms of my next step? I’ll be using a new desk top with XP-Pro (not Vista). I figure that if I continue to save my G-Code to Notepad (I like Notepad because I can do my final G-Code tweaking without too much trouble), it shouldn’t be too difficult to send it the Sharp 2412. I am just not sure how to do this. USB or RS232? Not sure what to do or how to send a file, or what cables to use.

Any help is very appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Larry

[edsgarage]

Hi Larry,
First, if you are using RS232 there are settings you need to set.
The baud rate on the machine must be set to the rate on the communication software.
Windows had hyperterminal (The pgm you use to communicate with the machine).
There are other DNC pgms as well.
You must set hyperterminal (or other DNC software) to the correct com port on your computer.
Set the com port in the system settings (windows) to the same baud rate also.
Hyper term will have settings for "handshaking" also.
You need to know what your machine requires if necessary. (RTS/DTS etc).
You will also need a "Null Modem cable".
Files are either transferred as files with an extension (ex: .txt, .cod .tap etc) or text.
From your post it sounds like that you are transferring text.

Good luck!

Ed

[Al_The_Man]

Unfortunately the Fanuc manual is the worst ever written.

Fanuc manuals, written convoluted? I find that hard to believe

Do you have the Fanuc maintenance manual?
It shows the screen to go to set up your RS232 parameters.
I would use a 3 wire cable with the handshake jumpered out, there are many previous diagrams here for this.
You want to set the EIA/ISO to ISO for ASCII files.
Set for software handshake.
If you can get a copy of Terminal that came with the old Win3.1, it is way better to use for this than Hyperterminal, which is a bit crippled.
Al.

[Larry Myers]

Thanks Guys,

That's a start! Back to you soon,

Larry