[Bolle_Ma]

I once again call upon the wise men in this forum.

Some time ago i bought a horizontal machining center. It has now been installed and is ready for use. It has a fanuc 6M controller, i asume it is a 6M-A sin`s i can`t see a B any where. Anyways when i bought it a behind the tape reader (atleast thats what i asume).

And here is the question how do i use it? I have tried a couple of things but haven`t got anything working. This might ofcause have something to do with the fact that i don`t know what i`m doing. Thats why i need some info on how to use it.

I have added some pictures of the setup. I use Edgecam to generate g-code and to send the code to the machine. I also use a parallel to usb adapter sins my computer dosn`t have a parralellport.

Thanks prehand for any answers.

[Al_The_Man]

I also use a parallel to usb adapter sins my computer dosn`t have a parralellport.

.

Hopefully you mean Serial/usb adaptor as it looks like your hooked into the serial RS232 port, this is not a BTR, do you have a 9 pin serial port on the PC?.
You may have to make up a 3 wire cable with the handshake jumpered out if using the USB adaptor.
Dan F. may offer a bit more insight on the set up for the 6.
Al.

[Bolle_Ma]

No it's not a serial port that is connected.
it has 25 pins and last time i checked that was a parralell thingy.

[Al_The_Man]

All early CNC, and even now some are fitted with 25pin RS232 serial connector.
The first PC's that came out had two 25 pin D connectors, one was parallel/female and the other serial/male.
Al.

[Bolle_Ma]

In that case you might be right.
Sins the connector coming out of the machine is female.

Should i then use a 25/9 pin adaptor.
I actually have a 9 pin serial on my computer.

[Dan Fritz]

Al_The_Man is right. The 25-pin female connector is RS-232 (not parallel).
Someone has made a serial cable that goes to the Fanuc serial port on the CSR connector (see photo). The CSR connector is a 20-pin Honda connector that has the Fanuc's serial I/O signals. You've just wired those signals to a 25-pin female plug on the outside of the CNC. This is NOT a BTR device. A BTR device would be wired to the 50-pin ribbon style plug on the main PCB. On your control, that connector probably has a grey 50-pin ribbon that goes to the tape reader board.

You do have a 6M-A. The 6M-B has a different board that the one you show with the CSR and CSQ connectors.

Many Fanuc 6M-A controls came with just a Facit 4070 parallel tape puncher port, which is wired to CSQ. On those controls, CSR is left empty. We post some instructions on how to convert these 6M-As to serial, and it looks like someone has already done this in your case. See our .DOC file at:

http://www.sub-soft.com/download/fanuc_6a.doc

That .DOC file has a diagram on the second page for a 9-to-25 cable. That's the cable you'll have to make to go between your PC's 9-pin plug and the 25-pin plug on your 6M-A. Also check to be sure that the jumpers and the IC on the board are positioned as shown in our instructions. If they are, you should be able to communicate with the control by just making the 9-to-25 cable.

You can still use a BTR device or BTR interface on this control. The only advantage would be that a BTR will let you run a program of unlimited size through the BTR interface in TAPE mode. The Serial connection will only let you download data to the Fanuc's bubble memory in EDIT mode. If your program is larger than your bubble memory board, you're out of luck with RS232. Let us know if you have to go BTR, because there are several good options.

Al_The_Man is right. The 25-pin female connector is RS-232 (not parallel).

[Bolle_Ma]

Hi Dan

Thank for the enlightening info. In my case i would probably need a BTR sins i need to be able to run quite advansed thigs. Pluss i don`t like to have that kind of limitations. you wouldn`t by any chase know of any more ore less plug and play kits?

[Dan Fritz]

We sell a kit that lets you run files of unlimited size directly off a PC. We use a special BTR cable, which goes between the 50-pin tape reader connector on the main board and the PARALLEL printer port on the back of your PC. Our software does the rest. The Fanuc thinks it's reading a paper tape, because our software is exactly simulating the signals from the Fanuc tape reader. The old paper tape reader remains disconnected.

To use our BTR kit, your PC will have to be located close to the CNC cabinet because the BTR cable can only be about 5 meters long (maximum). The PC must also have a 25-pin female plug set up as LPT1 or LPT2. We have BTR software for MS-DOS, Windows 95/98/ME and Windows NT/2000 or XP. Some Windows settings are required to disable the native parallel port on Windows NT/2000 or XP computers, but the settings are not difficult.

You can download the software and the manual from our website, but you will need that special BTR cable shipped to you somehow. Since you are in Norway, this may take a bit of time (and $$) to ship. If you have a technician locally who could make the cable, we will provide the cable specifications.

The software is called "MultiPort PC-DNC Editor" and it's available as a download by clicking on:

http://www.sub-soft.com/download/Edi...port_3.4.0.exe

The operator's manual is downloadable also. Click here for the .PDF file:

http://www.sub-soft.com/download/Edi...tor_manual.pdf

Please refer to Appendix "E" in the back of the manual for a detailed description of the BTR output function.

Our price for the software & cable BTR kit is $1195 US. We'll deduct a bit if you want to make your own cable, which would save you the shipping charges as well.

Let me know if you need more information.

[injunear]

We also sell a btr board that will allow you to send and receive programs via your rs232 port on your pc. Simple to fit and set up, all you need then is a comms program, preferably with rts/cts hardware handshaking, but not essential. Pcb is £250.

[kylef1978]

Dan i have a 6m-b and im having problems with transfering files to the cnc.i was able to send info to the pc but that stopped working as well. do you have parameter setting and/or jumper settings i can use? and do you have a wiring diagram for building my own btr cable? thanks

[gbowne1]

I had some problems when I would DNC to my Monarch with 6M when I had it running so back in '97 I would get my programs punched to tape by a friend with a PPR.

Greg

[ppaing126]

To Dan Fritz,
could you send me the wiring of the parallel cable?

[Al_The_Man]

To Dan Fritz,
could you send me the wiring of the parallel cable?

Try a PM to him, he has not been here since Feb last.
Al.

[jellyberry420]

does anyone in this thread have 6m PC parameters?

[Heavy_Metal]

Hi,

Is this what you need ?

CNC DNC Settings for Fanuc 6M and 6T

regards,
Heavy_Metal.

[Dan Fritz]

does anyone in this thread have 6m PC parameters?

We sell a kit that has a BTR cable and software to run the Fanuc 6 control in "drip-feed" DNC mode. The BTR cable connects to the "CAT" connector inside the Fanuc control (on the mother board). It has a 50-pin "ribbon" style connector. The cable would then go to a PC with a standard 25-pin parallel printer port, and our cables are 15 feet long.

Note: Our system only works with PCs that have a 25-pin female port on the back "LPT1", and it can not work with USB to parallel adapters. The PC must also be running Windows XP or OLDER. Newer operating systems don't support direct output to the parallel port.

Our kit is based upon the PC-DNC Editor, which you can see on our website at www.sub-soft.com\nctext.htm and it costs $1295.

Your alternative would be to install a BTR board made by ADR corporation, which costs about $1500. You would then also need some kind of software to send the file via RS232 to the ADR board. Our Editor will do that also, but that's the more costly way to go.


Dan Fritz

[jellyberry420]

unfortunately that's the regular parameters, i have all of those, it's the hidden "pc parameters" that i lost, not the parameter for baud rate...

it's all f'n greek, i'm doing this ALL on my own, i'm completely broke and i'm gonna be homeless becase i can't fix this thing, it's beginning to bother me a little

[Kehrling]

Hello everyone!
I want to take the chance to thank this forum first. It's great how all the threads on Fanuc 6M gave me a lead to search my machine through the last few weeks,. My name is Alex and I own a Stama Mc110 mill with a FANUC 6M control since a few months. I hope this is the right spot to ask my question(s) on punch/read BTR and RS232.

I'm using the machine quite often and I know how to program it. But as you can see in the pictures, it's quite annoying, since it has no real screen, only a one line display and a very small memory for programs.
I found that my machine has RS232 9Pin on the cabinet door. So I opened it and found this kind of wiring:

- The 9Pin on the cabinet door is connected to the silver box(can't determine the brand) you can see in the pictures. Can I assume it's a BTR?
- There is also a rainbow-coloured cable from the mainboard to the silver box. (This cable has this I-don't know-how-to-call PCB plug on the mainboard and a 25PIN male plug on the side to the silver box)
- There is another cable from the CSQ plug to the cabinet door and from the cabinet door to this silver box
- CSR plug is free

I use a Win7 notebook, DNC4u software and an USB/serial adapter for communication, that works just fine with my MAHO lathe.

I started by trying to send a program from the machine to the PC already. Open "Receive on my PC"---> Choose EDIT on the control-->type programm number 1234--->Punch.
The control shows me it's executing, but nothing is received from the computer it seems. I also tried to send from PC to the control, but no success.

After searching here in the forum, I already set parameters according to DanFritz's recommendation:
Parameter 024 : x x x x x x 0
Parameter 025 : 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 (was already set)
Parameter 026 : 0 x x x x x x

Dnc4u software is set like so: 4800baudrate, 7data bits, 1 stop bit, EVEN parity, Xon/Xoff,


Now, I have some savings I could spend on a new BTR, but as this is quite expensive, I would like to do some further research first.
From the former owner I was told, that he backed-up the parameters by hand once and since that time he didn't use the serial connection. I only found 160 parameters, that can be set. Is there missing something?

Any ideas?
Do have my PC set correctly, for communicaton with the silver box?
Do I need to set the Fanuc control in a special way so it communicates with this silver box?
Should I exchange or measure some cables?

Sorry for that many questions, but I put so much time in it now and I'm still very ambitious to find the problem.

Thank you in advance,
Regards from Germany,
Alex

Attachment 391242 Attachment 391246 Attachment 391244 Attachment 391248

[Dan Fritz]

You have one of the original Fanuc 6M controls that came without a CRT. This control dates back to 1980 or so, and was the first 6M model that was brought into the USA. General Numeric Corporation sold some of these to US machine tool builders, but most came into the country connected to Japanese made machines.

The box that you show in the photo is obviously a BTR device of some sort. it has a cable that goes to the ribbon connector on the main mother board, which is where the Fanuc paper tape reader was connected (you will probably find the grey Fanuc ribbon cable that's been disconnected). The BTR unit has another cable that goes to the blue plastic Honda connector on the outside of the cabinet, and that's for the PUNCH function.

From the looks of this, you should be able to connect a 9-pin serial cable between a PC and the 9-pin plug to the BTR unit, then send a file FROM the CNC memory to the PC by doing this: Select EDIT mode, key in the letter "O" followed by the program number you want to send, then press the PUNCH button. To read a program into memory, get your software on the PC ready to send the file, then select EDIT mode, key in an O-number that's not already used, then press the READ button.

Depending on the option configuration in the CNC parameters, you may have "ISO" (ASCII) code capability, or you may not. This control used the old EIA (Flexowriter) code as standard, and the ISO option was an option parameter setting. If you set your PC to send EIA code, the CNC should always take it. If you send ISO or ASCII code, the control will alarm out if it doesn't have that option parameter turned on.

You can use our PC-DNC Editor to test this. It's available on our website in demo form, so it cost you nothing to try it. Go to Suburban Machinery Software, Inc. and download the PC-DNC Editor. If you tell me how these parameters are set in the control, I can tell you how to set the Editor's serial port for baudrate, stop-bits, etc. Go to MDI mode, use the "left-right" buttons to run the address LED under the PRM position, set the 2-digit number to "24", then write down the bits you see in the 8-digit display. Do the same for parameter 25 and 26 as well. If you send me those 8-bit parameters, I can tell you how to set the Editor. My private email is [email protected]

Good luck with this project
Dan Fritz

[Al_The_Man]

I recall working on a G.N. version in the late '80's IIRC it had a 3rd party PLC/PMC instead of the now integrated versions.
Al.