[Torchhead]

"Due to be released July 1st or sooner."

Only about a week left for the NEW $199 THC

Right Tom ?

How well I know! I will make the announcement next week with the specs and photos. Last minute changes in the board layouts are going to push production back about a week.

TOMCAUDLE

[asuratman]

Just to make sure, that the new one will totally replace your current DTHC. All feature on DTHC will be covered on the new one.

[Torchhead]

Just to make sure, that the new one will totally replace your current DTHC. All feature on DTHC will be covered on the new one.

No, it will not replace the current DTHC. It has a subset of the features and there are some major differences.

The MP3000-DTHC is (also) a fully isolated, powered BOB that becomes the total interface between the PC and your system including all of the Step & Direction signals for 5 axis, isolated I/O, auxiliary relays, single parallel port operation with Port Expanding technology, Screen based user interface, Cut Profiles stored settings, adjustable DTHC parameters and several other advanced features. It is tightly integrated with the control software (MACH) and uses custom drivers (plug-ins) to achieve the advanced features.

The LCTHC is a product designed to fill a nitch for the hobby/DIY builder that can deal with finding the three added high speed inputs needed either through resourceful use of the existing parallel port (like using one input for all of the Homes, and Limits) or purchase of a BOB that supports more than 5 isolated inputs on port 1. It is designed based on our many years of THC experience and takes advantage of new more powerful embedded processor

1, The LCTHC only has an interface for the three THC signals (UP, DOWN, ARC OK) and one output to turn on the TORCH Relay on the THC Sensor card we ship with it. All functions are done/displayed via the front panel LCD readout and the rotary encoder input.

2. It does not talk to MACH to show any of it's parameters on the MACH screen. You cannot pass any parameters too/from the LCTHC to MACH. You can't have a file of Cut Profiles to select from, like the DTHC has. To save cost and complexity there is no serial interface to support the constant conversation we have between the DTHC and MACH.

3. It needs added electronics to use it in a CNC "solution". The target customer is one that either understands building at the board level or already has a system that is MACH based and needs a low cost way to move to a THC. It is for the builder that is looking to squeeze every penny out of cost and is comfortable with doing a "stick level" build. In other words, the blinding desire to save dollars is not the only criteria. Please don't call me up and expect me to engineer you a system, and tell you everything you need to buy, and expect to hear the LCTHC as part of the solution.

This is the first product we have introduced that has "limited" support. That means we will help you get it setup and running in the first 60 days via phone. After that you will have to use the on-line forums. We won't give you step by step instructions on how to connect it to other vendors CNC electronics since we don't know their products. We will answer all questions we know the answer to, but we won't go do research on using the LCTHC with other hardware. It will have a test mode that will confirm that it is working properly and have sample MACH profiles if you want to use a 2 parallel port solution. Once we know our electronics are working right, you will be referred to the vendor of your interface (BOB) provider.

The large majority of our business is in two segments: OEM sales to CNC table vendors and buyers looking for a plug-n-go solution. For those customers the MP3000-DTHC or our Complete Packages like the BladeRunner will continue to fill their needs.

The LCTHC will compare favorably with the other PORT 2 type solutions at a lower cost point. If you are willing to build at the board level and be your own engineer/technician/assembler and trade your time for money then the LCTHC makes sense.

By the time you add up all of the costs you will need to build a full system running a table, your overall savings will be about $175.00. Scrounge and scrimp on the other pieces (Port 1 BOB, motor drivers, output drivers, etc) and you can make it significantly more.

I realize it's somewhat confusing to a new system builder but it's a viable option for existing DIY tables already running MACH3 and that have either a working motion system with a BOB with enough inputs, OR are willing to added the dreaded 2nd parallel port and get the 3 added inputs that way.

I will have a comparison chart of features when we make the announcement.

In the past buyers compared our MP3000-DTHC cost with the simple THC only solutions and only found out AFTER they spent their money that there is more to it. The LCTHC levels the playing field and allows a buyer to compare apples to apples for a given level of features and integration.

My biggest concern on introducing the LCTHC was to properly position it in our product line and not buy myself lots more hours of support and phone time. (chair) Hopefully we can do the proper marketing and make information available that keeps the confusion level at a minimum.

Sorry for the long post. Sometimes brevity is inconsistent with sufficient information

As Always:

TOMCAUDLE
www.CandCNC.com

[Kipper]

You're overdue Tom! What about this Rohs BS < Nice acronyms eh will this be compliant? ......I just looked at the exemptions and found an interesting one on the list.... Number 5 on the list Electronic components.

Is your MP3000 compliant now?

I can supply a sticker to say it is

[Torchhead]

LCTHC is released:wee:

http://www.CandCNC.com/LCTHC.html

TOM caudle
www.CandCNC.com
Totally Modular CNC Electronics

[Kipper]

LCTHC is released:wee:

http://www.CandCNC.com/LCTHC.html

TOM caudle
www.CandCNC.com
Totally Modular CNC Electronics

That looks like the dogs danglies! Great price too.....Even with the G540

[Torchhead]

Did you have a look at the Comparison Chart and Decision List? I am trying real hard to properly position the product and not create even more confusion. I have already had two guys with orders in for MP3000-DTHC units call and want to change their order until I pointed out the difference in features and the lack of I/O for handling the other motion signals that the MP3000-THC has built in. If you have any suggestions for the Chart or List let me know!

The G540/LCTHC bundle is priced aggressively taking a page from Mariss's playbook: A little profit on a lot of sales works better than a lot of profit on one sale!

Gotta go. I am deep into the LCTHC Manual. I am determined to make this one the most concise one yet. I have designed in a lot of self testing in the module and with a simple meter and low voltage DC source (battery) you can do a 100% go-no go test on the unit. To be able to hold the low price of the LCTHC we have to keep support calls to a minimum.

TOM caudle
www.CandCNC.com

[Kipper]

Did you have a look at the Comparison Chart and Decision List? I am trying real hard to properly position the product and not create even more confusion. I have already had two guys with orders in for MP3000-DTHC units call and want to change their order until I pointed out the difference in features and the lack of I/O for handling the other motion signals that the MP3000-THC has built in. If you have any suggestions for the Chart or List let me know!

The G540/LCTHC bundle is priced aggressively taking a page from Mariss's playbook: A little profit on a lot of sales works better than a lot of profit on one sale!

Gotta go. I am deep into the LCTHC Manual. I am determined to make this one the most concise one yet. I have designed in a lot of self testing in the module and with a simple meter and low voltage DC source (battery) you can do a 100% go-no go test on the unit. To be able to hold the low price of the LCTHC we have to keep support calls to a minimum.

TOM caudle
www.CandCNC.com

I did look at the features....I bought the MP3000-DTHC a few weeks back....Just getting the manuals I need disseminated from the collection on the disc I "think" I need the extra features of the 3000 but know a manufacturer in Sheffield who is very interested in the LCTHC and the G540 package.

I can spellcheek the manual for you

[Bob Shaw]

Hi Tom,

Glad to see this is up & going. My friend is building his first CNC plasma table right now and I will be pointing him towards you for a THC and anything else that'll come in handy.

Cheers,

Wilson.

[Torchhead]

It all depends at what level the builder wants to operate. The LCTHC is just the THC piece of the build and lots of other "stuff" has to be gathered and integrated to make a table that will actually move and cut. First time builders find it a daunting task to identify everything they need, figure out what will work, and not work together then deal with multiple sources of support (and the inevitable finger pointing that happens). If your friend has an experienced mentor to guide him and avoid the costly mistakes then that takes a lot of the anguish out of the process.

I think one reason our controller packages with the DTHC built in are good sellers is that most guys nowadays want to build a CNC plasma table to USE it. The learning experience and hours of hand wiring and troubleshooting does not appeal to a lot of builders. Quite frankly they are building their own for one simple reason, to save money, not to learn a new trade (Electronics Assembler).

Have your friend contact me and make sure his other "pieces" are compatible.

TOM caudle
www.CandCNC.com

[tmbg]

I just got my LCTHC powered table up and running last night. I have to say that it was quite easy to integrate and get working. My setup is the LCTHC, G540 with the LCTHC interface board, Powermax 45, Mach3, and SheetCAM. I only had two minor stumbling points: I couldn't get an ARC OK signal until I re-read the manuals and realized that I needed the second 12v power supply to run the relay; and I couldn't enable THC in Mach3 until I re-read the manuals again and realized that it was because I hadn't yet installed my license file.

[Torchhead]

You actually need the 12V to get pull up voltage on the outputs of the LCTHC (open collector). Since the inputs of the g540 are opto isolated too then there has to be a voltage source added to power the connection. Some inputs (like to our UBOB) have an isolated source of drive power so you would not need the extra supply. Did you use our LCTHC XML for MACH (and did it work?). If you had to change any pin settings let me know so I can get it into a new XML profile.

TOM Caudle
www.CandCNC.com

[tmbg]

Yeah, I used your LCTHC XML, and it worked fine out of the box! I only had to monkey with the direction polarity settings to make the axes run the correct directions, but I guess that's specific to my table.

[Enrique Riojas]

Hi, im new to this forum, but not new to plasma cnc, i have built a $10 DTHC, it is very primitive but it gets the work done, doesnt have any comercial features, it is build around a picaxe 18m2 has a resolution of .5v i think, if you need anything let me now