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Opinions for fanuc 6Ta lathe - BTR or custom cable?

macds

macds

Hot Rolled
Joined
Jul 24, 2008
Location
Milverton, Ontario, Canada
Well, me being a cheap prick dont want to spend $1200 on btr for a machine a paid less that that for...

I want to be able to send programs from my cam software to the control, and punch parameters, etc back out if I can.

Unless I can find a reasonably priced btr (can I drip feed with one of these?), im likely just going to make my own serial cable to plug into the 20 pin honda connector on the pc\puncher card.
I dont think Ill be able to drip feed using my cable method, but ill at least be able to transfer programs.

Opinions?
 
Thats a good question honestly.
Im not a cnc lathe guy.
I bought this thing to teach myself.... I drip feed my mills for larger programs, yes, thats totally different.
I dont even know how large of a program I could put on the thing (memory capacity wise). Would 256K be unreasonable?

So you would recommend just making the cable, and not worrying about having to drip feed anything?
 
I don't know how small a 5T memory is, but I've never been able to exceed it (it's way smaller than 6T). Standard 6 is 56K. If you can exceed that with a lathe program you have some skill!

Make a 232 cable for $6 in parts and get to work. It should have a DB25 connector somewhere.
 
No rs232 connector on this machine. its got a tape reader, and a 20 pin honda on the front thats for output only from my reading.
It does have the pc\punch card though, so i plan on making up a serial cable that plugs into the correct honda plug on the card itself.

Looks like im making the cable :)

Thanks guys
 
With my 6t i can't drip feed but i use a little box that has a rs232 port that uses USB sticks i bought and transfer programs to the memory back and forth with DB25 connector port on the machine. Also i always delete a program after using it so i don't fill the memory up. What model year is your machine it doesn't have a parallel port db25 connector?
 
macds said:
No rs232 connector on this machine. its got a tape reader, and a 20 pin honda on the front thats for output only from my reading.
It does have the pc\punch card though, so i plan on making up a serial cable that plugs into the correct honda plug on the card itself.

Looks like im making the cable :)

Thanks guys
Click to expand...

You may not have a serial connection on the board at all. Do you have a 6T maintenance manual that shows a connector number that is a serial port and matching connector on the board? Early 6 controls only had parallel interfaces.

An old PC with a parallel port can drip feed to the tape reader connection. It takes some software though to feed the port as the protocol is different than a printer and a 25 pin to Fanuc tape reader ribbon cable. A shop that I used to do some work at had brewed up their own and used it to drip feed big programs to mills with 6MA controls back ~1981.
 
Vanc what is the 20 pin honda connector used for on the front of the machine? My has one on side beside the parallel port i through it was something to do with the tape reader.
 
Last edited:
My machine has a facit plug on the front but no db25 (there is a spot for it, but no cable or plug present).
The 6t service manual shows the dip pin settings (choose between tape or serial mode) for a particular pc\punch board (which I have) that if you connect the proper cable to the CSR port on the card, you can SUPPOSEDLY use as an rs232 port...
Im going from this diagram here for my cable layout


Fanuc 6_RS232

I have the available CSR port as mentioned in that dostek document, as well as the fanuc service manual.
Hopefully I dont nuke anything...

Wish i could remember where i found this....

facit.jpg

After going through my browsing history..... hehe.....

If found the source

http://www.kfasllc.com/rs232_6.htm
 
twr said:
..... Memex is only about 50 miles from me.
Click to expand...

The folks at Memex are really good people IME. Over the years, I have bought and installed several of their memory expansion/replacement boards. Every time they were super helpful making sure I got the right parts and info to safely install. Tulip Electronics are another good outfit in about the same area, and they are really good as well.
 
Thanks for asking, thats the motivation i need :)
Just got out to the shop after a couple of nights.... about to get at it. Soldering iron is heating up.
Should have an update in 1/2 hour or so
 
Well, im good at quoting soldering jobs at least...
Firing the old girl up... after a nice cold beverage. The suspense is killing me...
Should have a poll... does it go poof, does it work, or i do i carry on in frustration?
 
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