Help w/ Dynapath Delta 20 Controller

Hello all!

I am trying to get a CNC machine at my work up and running, and this site has already been a great help so far. The machine is pretty ancient, a CompuMill 4000 controlled by a Dynapath Delta 20 controller. Its isn't used that often but could be if I could get it going. I have read many posts on the controller, while reading the manual that came with the controller, and I still cant get this darn thing to work. So here is my problem.

I put together the 25-9 pin connection per a post on this site, and it seems to work great. I tested it by writing a dumb program on the controller and sending it to the pc and it worked! I have a part I need to machine, which requires many holes drilled in it. I have used G-Simple to model the blank and have added four drilled holes (much more are needed, but for simplicity I used 4). I have produced the g-code with G-simple, unformatted is as follows:

%
O1001
(G-Simple, Version 2.05)
(Created: Wed May 27 09:39:39 2009)
N4 G54 G90 G98 G20
N5 T2 M06 (.116" Drill)
N6 S1000 M03
N7 G43 H2 M08
(DRILL ID 5)
N9 G00 X4. Y1.
N10 S1000 M03
N11 G00 Z0.9843
N12 G83 R0.1 Z-0.25 Q0.174 F20.
N13 G80
(DRILL ID 4)
N15 G00 X3. Y1.
N16 S1000 M03
N17 G00 Z0.9843
N18 G83 R0.1 Z-0.25 Q0.174 F20.
N19 G80
(DRILL ID 3)
N21 G00 X2. Y1.
N22 S1000 M03
N23 G00 Z0.9843
N24 G83 R0.1 Z-0.25 Q0.174 F20.
N25 G80
(DRILL ID 2)
N27 G00 X1. Y1.
N28 S1000 M03
N29 G00 Z0.9843
N30 G83 R0.1 Z-0.25 Q0.174 F20.
N31 G80
N32 M09
N33 M30
%

I understand the procedure to transmit the data on both controller and pc ends, and have all of the settings matching:

baud - 4800
stop - 1
bits - 7
parody - even
xon/xoff

I have tried to transmit the code using NClite and CNCconnect, and in both cases the programs show no problems. Each shows 100% transmitted and there are no errors on these pc programs. As I load the g-code the controller cycles through LOADING - N## all the way until the last line of code. The problem I run into is that the controller always stops at the last line of code and displays LOADING - N##(last line) and stays there and never displays DONE.

I have gone through and changed so many settings to try and fix this problem that my brain is numb and I need help. Hopefully someone can help me out! Thank you for your time!

Josh

By chance doo you finish your prog with a line with nothing but the EOB charactor?

------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox

Try this:

M30
END
%

Use the END command at the end of the program when sending from the computer.

JB

You also need $ at the end of each line.

Seems like you have a lot of extra code. Why are you cancelling the canned cycle between each hole? This is how I would structure the program.
%
O1001
(G-Simple, Version 2.05)
(Created: Wed May 27 09:39:39 2009)
N4 G54 G90 G98 G20
N5 T2 M06 (.116" Drill)
N6 S1000 M03
N7 G43 H2 M08
(DRILL ID 5)
N9 G00 X4. Y1.
N11 G00 Z0.9843
N12 G83 R0.1 Z-0.25 Q0.174 F20.
(DRILL ID 4)
N15 X3. Y1.
(DRILL ID 3)
N21 X2. Y1.
(DRILL ID 2)
N27 X1. Y1.
N31 G80
N32 M09
N33 M30
%

And I would try an M02 at the end of the program. RJT

Also you cannot use comment lines. Every line needs a number in acending order. I dont remember where it is, but there is a EIA button on the control which will show you the G codes that you can use. I could not get very far with EIA, so I learned the conversational event code. I even have bob cad post out in the event format.

Im having the same problem with my delta 10,
I can post and sent programs with line numbers 100,110,120 etc. but when I try renumbering the lines of code to 100,101,102, etc. the control loads the program but at the end of the program it freezes up and wont say DONE like it does with a program using line #100,110,120, it say sometimes a parity error but I never change it from one load to another.
First I would try numbering the lines in 100 with increments of 10 and see if the control takes it . And I agree you need to have an END at the end of the code , my control seems to like it without a line number in front of it and the program name has no line number also. I would be curious to know why the line number is so important and why it has to be in 10's.

Thanks for the posts

Hey thanks for the input. At first I had assumed that it was the machine, connection, or programs that were producing the problem, but I agree with the lot of you. The devil is in the details, and the code needs some modification.

I also assumed that a freeware program could produce good enough code that I could just transfer bing bang boom, and thats a horrible assumption. I guess producs like Mastercam and Solidcam are so expensive for a reason. I have spent some time reading the controller manual and its funtions and reviewing some code to improve my coding. There does seem to be a lot of extra crap in the code and after looking into the manual I feel like I might utilize some macros for the repetitive actions.

Thanks for the input, ill be back around with further questions as needed.