ncPod from OEM-Tech

[WTI]

http://www.machsupport.com/artsoft/plugin.htm


Looks like we finally have a NCpod manual. Oh happy day!

[stn2008]

i have changed the number of pulse in ncpod2.ini from 1548.14 to only 15 in all motors.
So that i can view the pulse in lower speed.
But, my ncpod doesnt produce any pulse out . Any body knows why? (i still fail to get ncpod start)
I 've tried all forms from main form to jogXbuilder, and i've tried all motor output, no output.
Yet, in the debug form, there is output of 10000.

NCPOD driver has been installed. The communication is connected.

thanks

[stn2008]

[NcPod] How to download the sequence of code into SD RAM

Suppose, we have the sequence of the code how the motors should run.
How to download it into the SD RAM?
Any example?

thanks

[Gerald D]

Stn2008, wish we could help you, but nobody here has run a NCpod yet.

[smreish]

I bought one - Just arrived the other day.
After I get the PMDX up and running. I plan on experimenting with the NCPod.

Dang it's small. It's almost "smaller" than a Gecko.....tiny.

Sean

Has anyone used the ncPod yet? It is $110 with shipping (beta at this time). It's got:

• USB 2.0 Com Interface
• 6 Axis Step/Direction Output
• 5 General Purpose Outputs
• 1 PWM Output for Spindle Speed Control
• 6 Home Inputs!
• 6 General Purpose Inputs
• Up to 75000 Steps/Second
• Individual MTA Connectors for each axis (+5v, Gnd, Step, Dir) and Output (Gnd, +5v)
• Small Size (2.75 x 3.00 inches).
• The ability to off-load g-code onto the card
• Works with Mach3 (plug-in)

Photos of unit:


.

Hookup Diagram:
http://www.cncteknix.com/ncpod/ncpod_diagram.pdf

Video of the unit in operation (note: it's 17mb in size):
www.cncteknix.com/video/motiontest.mpg

An announcement from Art of Mach3 about the unit:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mach1m.../message/67189

It seems to have fallen off the radar since early 2007.... Just wondering...

[smreish]

I own it. So does Gerald.
When I have more than a couple of free days to play in the shop, I am going to set it up on my current machine to see how it performs.
That picture is deceiving, it's about the size of a gecko drive......really small!

Since the price was so low, I ordered one also. I'd love to hear back on your testing.

[WTI]

We have one too, it works on the bench, but we have not installed it for a real world test yet. It is so small, it looks like it belongs next to the Geckos.

Originally Posted by dmoore

Since the price was so low, I ordered one also. I'd love to hear back on your testing.

I got some time this weekend to play with the ncPOD and here are some of my observations:

• It's beta and this means that a number of the functions don't work, such as: Torch Height Up/Down, Spindle Speed Control, the ability to use the parallel port for input/output at the same time as the ncPod
• Support is pretty much non-existent. What is out there is spread all over in different websites and even the manual links to documentation for a website that not longer exisits.
• I was able to "kind of" get it working once but after that, I never worked again.
• The manual (www.machsupport.com/PlugIns/NcPodUserManual.pdf) is really lacking. I couldn't even find an explaination of what the three status lights indicate.
• The push connectors (MTA) are less than ideal - they should have used the disconnectable terminal blocks like the GeckoDrives use.
• Depending on your computer, you may have to disable support for older, slower USB 1.1 devices to ensure the ncPod works
• No support for limit swtiches

This product appears to be targeted toward a lower-end market of more basic machines.

[router101]

I have a cnc shark which uses a NC pod.

I want to use it with mach3 and also basic control panel.

I run two different classes that use different software.

I see there is a usb driver for mach 3 called ncpod usb driver

I see there is a firmware installer (v2031) for mach 3.

Is it a matter of changing drivers to suit mach3 and basic control panel?

Or are there two firmware installers that are mutually exclusive?

Can I swap between firmware versions easily? If so how?

If I have two different pcs one with mach3 and drivers and the other with basic control ad drivers will that work?

Thanks Peter.

[Greolt]

Peter

I have some interest in your question,

However this being a site for Mechmate builders I think it would be more appropriate to ask over at the Mach3 site,

http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php

I will watch for your post there.

Greg