Retrofitting a 1986 Maho MH400E

Thanks a lot Mark, now everything is clear to me!

Another idea I had for organizing computer parts in the MAHO is removing the printer receptacle and RS 232 port on the side of the electric cabinet (they're both bolted on) and replacing them with a couple of USB and Ethernet ports. I'm going to use the AMD parts that don't work with the Mesa card to make another computer for the workshop and I'm considering connecting the two with a cable for easy program transfer without worrying about having a USB stick. I could install Windows on the other computer and use Fusion360 for CAD and CAM in the workshop, saving myself a lot of hassle (the workshop is in a detached garage).

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationI also removed those ports from the side of my cabinet (you remind me that I was going to make a blanking plate.

Having a local network between the MAHO and the CAD/CAM station could be really nice. If you have the PC/MoBo mounted in the user module, with USB ports on the opposite side of the cabinet, you will exceed the 5m recommended cable length limit for USB. I had the same issue in the other direction, which I why I used a powered USB hub.
If you do that, I'd still recommend putting at least one USB port on the user interface module. It is very convenient to be able to plug in a thumb drive there.

I added three external USB ports to the user module for:
1/ File transfer with thumb drives
2/ the USB keyboard
3/ USB mobile internet stick which gets used for connecting the MAHO to the internet when I need to update anything. Normally it is offline.

Two ports there would have been sufficient, but I used dirt cheap chinese extensions to the Logitech powered hub which had four ports.
The fourth port is using internally to connect the touch screen.

These are the ones used...

Mark

I'll probably go with the PC in the cabinet instead of the user module because there's a ribbon IDC cable going from my 5i25 to the Ethernet hub Mesa card (I forget the code name). So, either I mount both in the cabinet, or both in the user module. In the former case, I'll need to run an HDMI cable through the conduit (plus any extensions, like you did; HDMI cables can be very long, have smaller connectors than the old D-Sub type ports and are now cheap to get and easy to replace, so I'll do what Hanno did there), in the latter, I'd have to run two CAT5 cables and one DB25M-DB25M shielded cable (to the 7i77). Considering the DB25 cable is shielded, thick and not exactly cheap, I think the cabinet PC option is better. Had I bought the Ethernet anything FPGA board instead of a PCI one, I'd put the PC in the user module and only have one CAT5 cable to run to the cabinet. If there aren't any issues with that board, I think it's the best option for such retrofits, utilizing as much of the old casing as possible. I don't think there'd be an issue with data transfer speed.

Working with the Philips control thus far, I've used the RS port on the side of the cabinet to transfer programs between the MAHO and an ancient laptop with an RS port. So it seems natural to upgrade that connection to an Ethernet port and a brand new PC. The printer receptacle is a nice size for Ethernet I think.

When it comes to Internet access, I've so far been using my phone to set up a USB hotspot, since I'm on a business plan with unlimited data. It would be great to have an LTE router and wire everything with cables to always get the best speed (that's probably a quirk of mine, but my home PC is connected to the router with a CAT5 cable and I prefer it that way). I don't know if such devices exist though, they all seem to be completely wireless.

up to you as you like tiny space go for it
if it workes fine Well Done

I started working on the pendant for the MAHO. This is the back cover/lid of the pendant housing. Not exactly efficient tool paths.



Next challenge is making the top match
Mark

Inspired by this post:
forum.linuxcnc.org/38-general-linuxcnc-q...inese-tool-presetter
I bought a Chinese tool height setter. It arrived today.



It appears rather well made, with nice laser engraving of the logo. The tool striker plate appears to be carbide as advertised.


Lucky it is a simple device, as the instructions are not clear for me...



Now I'll need to get it working with LinuxCNC.
Mark