Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Print Servers for CNC

ccq@... wrote:

>The following URLs have a print server on them; That's a 10/100 ethernet port
>feeding three parallel ports. Would these be usable for CNC work? Would the
>software be able to access them properly? I would think they'd be speedy enough
>for smaller, slower machines, but.....
>
> http://www.pcbay.net/gen3parpor10.html
> http://www.amastore.com/gen3porparpr.html
>
>

This is very unlikely to work. I assume you want to send step and
direction signals
through a print server. First, you'd still need software to put the
commands INTO
the ethernet. You can't open a window on somebody's XYZCAM program and
tell it to use 128.127.126.100:P1 instead of parallel port 378. The CAM
programs
won't generally know how to do this.

Secondly, the print server requires each character sent to be
acknowledged by
the printer. The server sends a strobe signal on pin 1 and expects an
acknowledge
pulse on pin 10. The stepper drives won't give this acknowledgement.

But, if you could get past these problems, the print server would send
bursts
of characters out to the port as fast as it could. This would cause
very ragged
motion and lost steps for sure.

Jon