Not a question, just wanted to get this out there in case anyone else is searching for the information.
I recently picked up a Tree Journeyman 325 with a DynaPath Delta 20M control, but I found the firmware was out of date - I don't think it had been updated since the machine was shipped in 1989. It also had only 60K of RAM, out of a maximum of 120K. Not a big deal when I'm mostly drip-feeding it, but extra program storage and buffer space is never a bad thing. The biggest problem was that the old firmware version only supported drip feed at up to 4800 baud, and I knew the hardware was capable of 9600. I didn't want it getting data-starved while doing engraving and complex shapes, so I started looking into upgrading it.
DynaPath wanted $500 each for the firmware EPROMs and the RAM upgrade. I got lucky and found the latest version (PA5124), dated 1993, on a board someone was selling on eBay. Swapped out the EPROMs and added two 32K SRAM chips to empty sockets 1F and 3F and it booted right up, and reported 120K program storage available.
If anyone's interested I'll find the exact part number for the RAM chips. They're about $2.50 each at Digi-Key, and the modern parts draw 1/2 or 1/4 as much power as the originals, so the backup battery should last longer. Now I'm just curious what the empty sockets 1G and 3G are for.
If you do perform this upgrade, keep in mind that pulling the controller board out of the cage will disconnect it from the backup battery. I forgot about that and lost a few (thankfully simple) part programs that way.
I think my next project for the machine is going to be a little touch-screen DNC box that will take files over Wifi, and maybe add a hand wheel.
I recently picked up a Tree Journeyman 325 with a DynaPath Delta 20M control, but I found the firmware was out of date - I don't think it had been updated since the machine was shipped in 1989. It also had only 60K of RAM, out of a maximum of 120K. Not a big deal when I'm mostly drip-feeding it, but extra program storage and buffer space is never a bad thing. The biggest problem was that the old firmware version only supported drip feed at up to 4800 baud, and I knew the hardware was capable of 9600. I didn't want it getting data-starved while doing engraving and complex shapes, so I started looking into upgrading it.
DynaPath wanted $500 each for the firmware EPROMs and the RAM upgrade. I got lucky and found the latest version (PA5124), dated 1993, on a board someone was selling on eBay. Swapped out the EPROMs and added two 32K SRAM chips to empty sockets 1F and 3F and it booted right up, and reported 120K program storage available.
If anyone's interested I'll find the exact part number for the RAM chips. They're about $2.50 each at Digi-Key, and the modern parts draw 1/2 or 1/4 as much power as the originals, so the backup battery should last longer. Now I'm just curious what the empty sockets 1G and 3G are for.
If you do perform this upgrade, keep in mind that pulling the controller board out of the cage will disconnect it from the backup battery. I forgot about that and lost a few (thankfully simple) part programs that way.
I think my next project for the machine is going to be a little touch-screen DNC box that will take files over Wifi, and maybe add a hand wheel.