I haven't seen BASIC since high school. Wish i remembered more, it would come in handy. I'm trying to learn app development for Android and arduino/rasberry pi, but i'm just barely getting my feet wet at this point.
I would love to be able to drip feed or just load unload programs. Right now i have to program longhand. I use one with a CRT display and one with the old school single line, which is even more of a pain. I only use them for long run barfeed work and usually only really simple stuff that can be setup in a couple hours or less, so it isn't that big of a deal. Changeover is only every 2 to 5 weeks in each.
I used to use a laptop to program in the lathe dept, and a USB flash drive to RS232 box that is portable (fits in the palm of my hand) in the milling dept. Now i mostly use a serial terminal app on my tablet into an FTDI chip. I just need to do more digging into how to configure a similar chip or a shift register to go the extra step. That and figure out the pinout to connect it. The USB to RS232 portable unit i mentioned is actually what made me think it should be feasible to make a home made BTR. After all, the way it functions is nearly the same. USB memory into a buffer, then output from the buffer in a serial fashion. I need, USB into a buffer and out in parallel. I just know next to nothing about setting up parallel. I have an RS232 breakout box with DB25 connectors on each end. It has LED's to monitor activity on all 25 pins and jumpers to quickly alter the pin configuration from one side to the other. Is there any way i can use this to figure out anything on the 2000G or would this not be compatible? It will fit the 25 pin puncher port. I know BTR units normally connect to the 50 wire (i think) harness inside the cabinet. If i made a custom cable to attach to that, are there any steps to tell what wire does what? For that matter, is the 25 pin puncher port next to the tape reader output only or is it in and out?
There are a few functions i would like to incorporate into my tablet terminal app, like "wait for cnc/flow control/Xon/etc. which are in many if not most DNC programs for PC. I also have only managed to do this one way at a time (send or receive, but not drip feed). Drip feed would be useful, but not essential. I rarely need to do that, and only in milling, which is serial and easily accomplished already, just not by my tablet. I have the source code for what i am currently using in order to modify. It is also capable of changing the setup on the FTDI chip. I am hoping i can save a parallel configuration template of some kind, so that i only have to carry one cable and chip, load the template i need (serial or parallel with all parameters for either included) and interface with anything in the shop.
Also, I have Predator CNC editor and have seen somewhere it can do parallel as well. I have an old computer from the early 2000's that has a parallel port. I believe it is Windows XP. I only use it in my stock room for a usb thermal label printer to put company name, quantity, and lot numbers on bags of small parts. I can put another spare computer in there and move that in between the 2 Mori SL 1's with the 2000G's if Predator can indeed work that way or someone could point me in the direction of some custom software like was suggested. I haven't seen any option in mine to set this up. Am i missing something or do not all versions have this? I have had it for ten years maybe more, so i'm sure i don't get any free tech support. This isn't as ideal as getting the tablet to work w/the 2000G, or building a single board computer to do it which i would leave in the machine cabinet just like a BTR, but it would be usable as a temporary fix that i would be glad to have until i can get something better working.
Sorry to be so scattered and throwing out so many alternatives and possible projects I'd like to learn how to build. It is just that any of them would be a huge step up from what i have, so i am putting anything i see as plausible out there and hoping advice or helpful background knowledge will trickle in. There are plenty of people on this forum, far smarter than i when it comes to this type of thing. I can't stress that anything may be helpful and greatly accelerate my progress.
I know how to dnc my machines with RS232 in existing apps, and have a basic grasp of why it works (what each parameter does and how to change at the machine and at the DNC device), and wiring a cable, troubleshooting DNC setup for serial communication in a newly acquired machine. That is about the limit of my knowledge on the subject.
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