Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] multiple parallel ports through one connector?

Carlos,
Thanks for the private update on Indexer.
I may as well comment on your quest here so others can contribute too.

You are not alone in thinking the 3 port connection is a little hassle. But,
really, if you try to "convert" 3 ports installed in their slots to yet
another type of connector, you still end up with the extra effort of
soldering the same amount of Pins, and some "tangle" or mid box behind the
computer.

Additionally, today a Parallel port is found pretty cheap. So I would just
buy them and use them. If you want to make a little cleaner Install, do what
I had done in the past. ALL of the necessary signals CAN be carried in a
single 25 wire printer cable for a 3 axis machine WITH the Jog as I recall
because you can combine all of the "Grounds".

On the computer end, Wack off the original molded plug of the printer cable,
draw up a wiring plan and "split" those wires out to 3 different Sets of
wires. Now if you do this really nice, you can pull some of the outer casing
off the end your working on to use over each of the 3 groups of wires. You
will need to make a connection to the "drain" wire and whichever wire you
choose for a ground and run it to each of the 3 ends. It would not hurt to
re-wrap a foil or I prefer hollow copper braid, around the wires in those 3
legs. Then put new DB25 connectors on each of the 3 ends, Finally heat
shrinking the main "split" location. The end that goes to your drivers is up
to your needs. I have typically left the OEM DB 25 on that end and mounted
the mating connector on the driver cabinet.

So, you end up with One very nice cable from PC to Driver Box. That's not so
bad. I had an Ah-ha box wired up here once..... That had a lot more
connections but then again the driver box was not on the machine.

As a possible plus side to the 3 port issue, I think I heard Art mention that
he is well aware of the 3 port complaints and will either do a priority PCI
card with connector or try to fit all in a single Parallel port. I guess the
communication internally can be re-directed with some changes to Indexer
itself.

I do not think this to happen very soon though, as I am sure he is going to
put the "wraps" on that G-code interface first. Keep us posted as to how that
interface works out.

Carlos Guillermo wrote:

> Hi All -
>
> Does anyone know if it is possible to take the PC's signals from
> three "parallel ports" and output them via one PCI card with a
> 50-pin SCSI or Centronics connector? Is such a thing available?
> I am trying to get IndexerLPT set up to talk to my controller box,
> and I'd like to find a cleaner way than using three separate
> parallel cables, and the associated breakout boards. Each port
> uses 14 pins plus ground. I know that 3 ports sounds excessive,
> but to drive 4 axes and use the joystick feature with the G-code
> frontend, I need 3 ports. The benefit is a lot of extra I/O.
>
> TIA,
>
> Carlos Guillermo
> VERVE Engineering & Design
>
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