Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Question:Parallel interface with Gecko 201 drivers

Yes you can just cut off the centronics, trace down the wires to know which
pin they connect to and then connect direct to the Geckos. I have done it
before. Honestly it is not worth the time and the tiny wires in the cable do
not clamp onto the Gecko connectors very well. My suggestion and what I do
now is just buy DB25 breakout (junction) boards from Dan Mauch at
Camtronics. They are nothing fancy. You just use a DB25 to a DB25 cable,
connect the board and it gives you a nicely labeled and easy to access row
of screw terminals just like on the Gecko for all the pins in the parallel
port.

There is no ground connection between the Gecko and the computer if you use
G201 or G320 drives. If you use G210 or G340 you can configure the drive to
use a ground instead of +5. That is opposite of the recommendation, but it
is possible. If you ever do need to use a ground form the parallel port they
are all the same, so it does not matter which pin you use for ground (as
long as it is one of the ground pins).

For the +5 just connect a wire to an unused drive terminal and bring it down
to the drives. I just wire tie it to the parallel cable. You can get fancy
breakout boards that will let you "inject" it into the parallel cable and
pull it out the other end, but I have gone for simple and it works just
fine. If you have a laptop that you can not get the +5 internally than you
can get it from a PS2 port, game port, USB port. There is no +5 on the
parallel port.

Tim
[Denver, CO]

----- Original Message -----
> I got an old printer bi-directional cable. do you think i could just
> cut
> off the centronics end and wire the geckos from there ?would the
> cable be
> grounded internally to help with EMI?Or what?
> Or would i be better off just cutting the db25 end off and using it
> to wire a
> whole new set in twisted pairs with sheilded and grounded wire to
> the geckos? would that work??
> Does it matter which ground wire goes where in conjunction with the
> step/ dir signals from the PC?
> Where do I get the +5v for the Gecko's from the controller source?
> Does it come from the
> parallel port already and can be tapped into?? Or do I need to
> obtain it from another source and how?
> I was under the impression that the +5V going to the geckos had
> to come from the controller source(PC).
>
> Sorry for all of the questions, but I just want to be clear on what I
> need to do in order to get everything hooked up correctly
>
>
>
>
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