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Oh Blimey I bought a CNC Lathe !!!!

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awemawson:
Pete,

I've not got to the stage yet that the hydraulics can be automatically activated as the controller needs fully sorting first - there is some SERIOUS power in this machine so it's definitely a case of taking it slowly step by step. Two hydraulic chucks, two hydraulic parts ejectors as well as the flip in /out parts catcher. I have manually powered up the hydraulic power pack by overriding the appropriate relay, and although obviously not quiet it isn't deafening. A few months back I resurrected another CNC lathe (an Eagland Chipturn) and that used hydraulics for the tool turret rotation and locking. When the oil was cold the bypass valve made quite a racket and the rotation was a bit erratic, but it settled down as it warmed up.

Andrew

awemawson:
As things are hotting up and there is now a chance that I might actually get this monster working, I thought I had better take my courage in both hands and try and read the 1" paper tape copy of the parameters originally shipped with the machine. Although I also had been given a floppy disc with parameters on I wanted to go back to the 'original source' rather than what others have created over the years.

I managed to pick up a very nice hardly used Facit paper tape reader / punch off eBay about a year ago still in it's original box, so I dug it out, made up a cable to interface to my PC and had a go at reading it. Next question was 8 bit data, 7 bit and parity, and if so even or odd parity. Well after the second pass through the reader I got sensible results (7 bit even parity!) and actually got the tape wound back up without tearing it. It's decades since I've played seriously with paper tape - how time flys :clap:

Anyway I now have a 6kbyte file which has many similarities with the one on disk but has all the params not just some of them

For the really bored amongst you I attach a copy! (A sort of off site backup I suppose )

vtsteam:
Great work! Sounds like you're really on the verge. Paper tape, even. Amazing!  :coffee:

awemawson:
Got a few minutes today to play: Going though the various error reports it's showing is a 'Z58 BRAM error' which turns out to be indicating an MC462A battery backed ram card that I understand holds the parameters. I've tracked a couple down (good old google!) and am 'negotiating'  Also managed to make up the link cable to the PC but can't use it until I can clear this Z58 error.

awemawson:
Well the MC462A battery backed RAM card arrived today from the depths of Illinois USA, and lo and behold it has cleared my Z58BRAM error. Relief as it took a long time to get and wasn't cheap.

The TX8F controller has a 'file system' in ram that has to be formatted - the original Meldas version of the controller has a menu system that lets you do it, but the reprogrammed Traub version omits the menu - argh!!! Thrashing around all day trying to find a work arround I eventually found a scruffy single A4 sheet in the documents that came with the machine that revealed the cryptic sequence of keystrokes to do the format. This sheet seems to be a page from some training notes that I'd dearly like to obtain, even though it is obviously written by a German in English and the word order of various bits had to be adjusted!

Having created the file system I was able to write a diddy program and save it so it shows up in various directory screens etc

What I can't do yet is re-input the parameters to get it actually running code. Keep getting 'Horizontal parity errors' (remember this data was originally paper tape - a horizontal parity error is within one stripe of holes ie one character - a vertical parity error is along the tape in what we always called a BCC or Block Check Character.

Detailed reading of the Interface Specification this evening seems to suggest that parameters can only be read in when the control is set up for No parity, 1 Stop Bit and 8 Data, but strangely sourced from a PC or tape reader set of 1 Stop, Even Parity and 7 data. Very strange but I'll give it a whirl tomorrow.

Meanwhile here's a picture of the newly replaced MC462A in all its' splendour.

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