Why replace the BOSS 5? WAS Re: Bridgeport vs. Gorton
Posted by
Rick Dulas
on 2000-08-26 11:29:35 UTC
Howdy! What an interesting question! [that's what they taught us to say
at Ph.D. school<G>] When I got the machine, the documentation mentioned
an RS232 port, but I couldn't find any info on what I needed to send to
the system to get it to move. After studying schematics and digging
around inside the control compartment, I decided that having mag amps
control the motor current flow was a little too neanderthal for me. It
is a very rugged system but most people I talked to suggested that the
drive transistors were the weak link in the chain. What better excuse to
gut and start over?
I figured that "rolling my own" control with 1990's electronics was
preferable to trying to keep the "magic smoke" inside 1970's components.
This machine is not a money making venture, so ruggedness is not a
"mission critical" attribute. And by doing it myself, I would know what
was going on inside the system. With the help of many knowledgeable
people and units like the Gecko drives, I think I will have a more solid
and tractable system than the BOSS 5.
The real answer is that this is a GREAT! learning experience for me. One
I wouldn't have had if I decided to "run as delivered".
John Grant wrote:
at Ph.D. school<G>] When I got the machine, the documentation mentioned
an RS232 port, but I couldn't find any info on what I needed to send to
the system to get it to move. After studying schematics and digging
around inside the control compartment, I decided that having mag amps
control the motor current flow was a little too neanderthal for me. It
is a very rugged system but most people I talked to suggested that the
drive transistors were the weak link in the chain. What better excuse to
gut and start over?
I figured that "rolling my own" control with 1990's electronics was
preferable to trying to keep the "magic smoke" inside 1970's components.
This machine is not a money making venture, so ruggedness is not a
"mission critical" attribute. And by doing it myself, I would know what
was going on inside the system. With the help of many knowledgeable
people and units like the Gecko drives, I think I will have a more solid
and tractable system than the BOSS 5.
The real answer is that this is a GREAT! learning experience for me. One
I wouldn't have had if I decided to "run as delivered".
John Grant wrote:
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> Why are you replacing the BOSS system?
>
> John Grant