T-Tech 5000 PCB Milling machine

Being firstly an electronics kinda guy, and secondarily a machining person, for some years now I've been dreaming about a PCB milling machine, either building it from scratch or modifying something else.
My lack of progress has been stunning, but the desire lives (lived) on.

Well, yesterday I was at an auction where they were selling a T-Tech 5000 PCB milling machine. I somehow convinced myself that I

a. could afford it
b. actually had a need for it
c. would save me money in the long run making my own prototype boards


None of the above are of course true, but it's mine now.

I also got a real deal on blank PCB, a zillion cutters for free (close enough), and the computer that ran it all, with the T-Tech software (ISOPRO) .. ERASED.
OK, no problem, contact T-Tech .. yes, they'll sell me the software, for about a month's wages.

Well, I'm into this too deep already to spend much more money at all, and certainly not that kind of money.

They do have a sort of demo version, and I was able to hook that up and make sure that things move. I then looked harder at the computer to controller interface; standard RS232 serial. So, I installed a serial port monitor to look at the data travelling back and forth and HOPED for standard GCode.

No such luck. What was being sent was something that looked a LITTLE bit like HP plotter language, but only a little bit. Some was obviously decipherable, some of it gibberish.


As I see it, I have a few options, and I'm not at all sure where to go.


1. Just buy the _very_ nice looking T-Tech SW, plug in the dongle (hire a divorce lawyer) and get to work.

2. TRY to locate an old copy of the software. (I don't think I'd be violating any copyrights here, as the SW _only_ works with T-Tech machines, and the original purchaser of this machine DID have a copy; it comes free with the machine)

3. Buy a copy of DeskPCB (which I can just afford), then reverse engineer the protocol from PC to controller and write some sort of translation program from GCode to T-Tech.

4. Buy a copy of DeskPCB, build my 2.5 axis controller, run things off CNCPro.



Option 4 is certainly do-able, but it hurts to replicate that very nice controller that's already there. Also, the controller is able to control the spindle speed, which is apparently a useful thing to do (although it can be done manually) Finally, I'd have to send out to get some boards made up, a bit of a cruel irony.

Option 1 is where I'm headed, when I can afford it, as this software really is sorted out, and it all integrates very nicely. I'll just have to wait for a (long) bit.

Option 3 MIGHT be doable, is certainly cheapest, but would also be the slowest, and I've got boards I need (OK, want) fabbed TODAY. Plus, I would probably need a copy of the real software so as to spit out and capture all the various options, but if I had a copy of the software, I wouldn't need to do this at all.

Option 2 does not seem likely, as I can't seem to source this old stuff.



Anyway, if anyone has any thoughts, comments, opinions or help to offer, I'd love to hear from them.



Alan



--
Alan Rothenbush
Academic Computing Services
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, B.C., Canada


The Spartans do not ask the number of the enemy, only where they are.

Agix of Sparta


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