Re: HELP! Retrotek 8800 CNC retrofit kit died!

[Ray Henry <rehenry-at-up.net>]

Ralph

Sounds like you did about what I'd do to make sure that boards and chips are 
seated and making proper connections.  If these are card edge connectors, I 
have been known to use an eraser to clean the surface before reinserting the 
cards.  Does this run from an installed os or do you load that when you start 
the machine?  Have you tried a search for boards?

The board most commonly used with the EMC for servo motion is the Servo-To-Go 
card at ~$900.00 by the time you get cables and breakout boards.  Currently 
this is an ISA implementation but they promised PCI a while back.  For more 
info see  http://www.servotogo.com/
http://www.servotogo.com/

Jon Elson is working on an Extended Parallel Port set of cards for stepper or 
servo motion.  The servo cards are completed and external I/O is being 
integrated.  For more info see  http://www.pico-systems.com
http://www.pico-systems.com

Paul corner is currently working with Vigilant to develop drivers for both 
their ISA and PCI boards.  He reported some success at the recent NAMES show. 
For more info contact Brian Schwartz at http://www.vigilanttech.com/
http://www.vigilanttech.com/

Maurizio Ferraris in Italy also has a very interesting set of ISA cards that 
he plans to write an EMC driver for.   See  http://www.studioferraris.it
http://www.studioferraris.it

Hope this helps.

Ray

On Thursday 02 May 2002 02:51 pm, you wrote:
> I'm looking for recommendations on how to fix the problem, or to
> replace the Retrotek computer.
<snipped service comments>
> The components that I think are worth keeping:
> -the mill with installed ballscrews (duh! :-)
> -the Gould permanent magnet servo motors
> -the servo amplifiers
>
> What I'd like to do:
> -replace the ancient computer with a modern system
> -get a PCI servo motor controller board with G-code and CNC software
> to drive it.
> -I'd like to power the encoders separately from the servo system, so I
> can use
> it as a manual mill with high resolution encoders
> -have it not cost very much :-)
>
> Questions:
> -what servo board is going to work for 3 or 4 axes?  Linux compatible?
> Price?  It has to pass spousal approval which is a low amount of money
>
> :-(
>
> -CNC/G-code software?  Linux?  $$$?  Free?
> -Is it possible to drive the encoders and servos separately?
>
> I already have scads of computer stuff lying about, so I just need the
> servo board(s) and the software.
>
> Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks!
> -Ralph
> rpseguin AT yahoo DOT com