Re: help for a newbie

Tim
Thanks. I have the Turbocnc loaded and I am planning on using it. I
Believe I will back up to the basics and do what you said. I believe
I can use the Fkeybit program to make the pin send the
pulse ..correct? I can then use my DVM to watch the voltage and see
what it does. I don't have the pins 18-25 grounded back to the power
supply ground, but to the ground on the floppy drive cable. I believe
I will cut that loose though. I believe between your information and
the information from caudlet I can figure this out.
I sincerly appreciate the information.
Thanks
Kelly

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., "Tim Goldstein" <timg@k...> wrote:
> Kelly,
>
> The only connection from the drive to the PC should be Step,
Direction, and
> +5v. Remove ANY other connections. You definitely do not want your
stepper
> power supply ground tied to your PC ground.
>
> I am not clear on what you are using to try and drive the stepper.
I would
> suggest downloading a copy of TurboCNC from www.DAKEng.com and
using it to
> verify your setup. You may want to use a different program
eventually, but I
> find TurboCNC to be very easy to install and setup so that you have
a
> reliable pulse source. If you have a way to just toggle the step and
> direction lines you can put a DVM between the parallel port pin and
the +5v
> line. On each transition it should swing from 0 to +5v. If not you
are then
> not sending the drive a pulse.
>
> Because the +5v line is the common it gets people confused. Just
remember
> that when the parallel port pin you are connected to is at +5v no
current
> will be flowing from the +5v line to the parallel port and the opto
will be
> off. When the parallel port pin goes to 0 v (ground) then current
will flow
> through the opto because you have a potential from the +5v to the
parallel
> port pin. Easy as pie and not black magic required.
>
> Tim
> [Denver, CO]
>
> ------Original Message-------
> Help!
> I am trying to set up my Gecko g201's on my parallel port , and I'm
> not having much luck, what am I missing? I am only playing with one
> drive for now as I would hate to fry all 3 by doing something
stupid,
> which I am fully capable of doing!
> I asked the question about a wall wart last week, and since then I
> have come across an old computer to run turbocnc and to pull my +
> 5vdc singal from.
>
> I have the all the windings in the correct terminals on the g201, I
> don't have anything in the disable terminal 7 at the moment, I am
> just trying to get the motor to move for now. Terminal 8 I have
> connected to pin 2 on the parallel port cable, terminal 9 to pin 3
on
> the parallel port cable, I used a floppy disk drive power connector
> to pull my 5 volts from to terminal 10. I took and tied pins 18-25
to
> the ground of this same power connector (that may be the problem) I
> have a 36k ohm 1/4 watt resistor across terminals 11 and 12. I was
> told to set the amperage for about 2.86 amps. When I turn on the
> power supply I can feel the motor lock up, but thats it. I did feel
t
> flinch as the computer booted up. It does have a good bit of holding
> torque. I tried to use the fkeybit, but that does not produce
> anything. I checked the voltage from the case to terminal 10 and
have
> about 5.27 volts, I have about .5 volts on terminals 8 and 9.
> I have 8 wire bipolar motors with the windings connected in a
series.
> I'm sure this is either something really easy that I have missed or
I
> need to be saving my money for another drive!
> Thanks for the help!
>
> Kelly Sprayberry