Hey all. Can anyone point me in the right direction. We have an old okuma mill with the 5020M controller at work. I'd like to load programs with the floppy drive but once the disk is formatted in OSP format my computer won't open the disk to save a program and vice versa with a regular format disk. The machine does NOT have MS-DOS? What can I do? They're not really wanting to go the RS232 route. I'm using HSM works pro editor/post processor for what its worth. It's a royal pain to get anything installed on our computers our IT is in Germany so local solutions is what I'm after. Thanks.
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Okuma OSP format issues
- Thread starter JamesB421
- Start date
- Replies 4
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Tell them to figure it out. If they're not wanting to use 1980's technology and use RS-232 then I'd be finding another job.
guythatbrews
Cast Iron
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2017
- Location
- MO, USA
Yeah you can't use the okuma floppy to transfer programs. Serial comm is the only way, whether they want to or not.
Search the forum looks like there may be posts about this.
Search the forum looks like there may be posts about this.
The issue is once upon a time they tried hooking a laptop to the machine and they said it fried every laptop that they tried. I kind of doubt this but whatever. What do I need to look at/verify to ensure the port is hooked up correctly? I'd assume all I need is a null modem 232 cable that will hook to my laptop. I'm using HSM works editor which has a built in DNC with it. I know you have to set baud rate and parity and all that but the actual connection concerns me if it really did fry a laptop. We aren't putting big programs in per season but still 3000 lines sucks to type in by hand. Takes forever.
metlmunchr
Diamond
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2004
- Location
- Asheville NC USA
As it was explained to me when I added a BTR card to an Okuma lathe with a 3000 series control about 20 years ago, Okuma used a floating ground. IIRC, the explanation of that term was that, instead of 5V and 0V, a circuit could be operating on 15V and 10V. Still the same 5V difference, but not compatible with direct connection to an RS232 on a computer.
The man went on to say that a direct hookup to a laptop could cause damage, or not, depending on the particular laptop. But the far more serious problem was in connecting directly to a desktop as that was almost guaranteed to cause major damage to the control itself. Blow up a couple cards in the control, and the repair cost would easily equal the price of a dozen PC's.
At that time, the seller had an Okuma specific BTR which was optically isolated, and that took care of the potential problem of the floating ground. IIRC, the isolated card was around $50 more than the standard card. That said, I'd imagine all such add on cards on the market today have optical isolation, but it's something you'd want to verify prior to purchasing.
