Bridgeport Series II Interact 2 Conversion

There are many Heidenhein interpolators on eBay, starting at $99 and that seems simpler, though:
www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=%28heidenha...ion%2C+EXE%2C+IBV%29
Make sure you get the right type, here is the manual
www.lna.br/~det/Projetos/TCSPD/doc/HeidenheinEXE602.pdf

Andy, Thanks! great information! In fact everyone's been very helpful and I appreciate it!

C. Get an interpolation box from eBay (3-channel, or one for each axis)
D. Make an interpolation device out of a microcontroller (such as an Arduino)
E. Square the pulses up with a simple comparator circuit.

Option C looks pretty good. There seems to be lots available on eBay. My original control board provides a 5 fold increase so given the ERO 115 gives 125 pulse per revolution (ppr) * 5 Fold * 4 quad digital = 2500ppr. The EXE boxes seem to be available with different fold rates. I wonder if it makes sense to use something like an EXE 650 for 10 fold or 25 fold to bump counts up to 5000 - 12500 ppr. I know there's a point of diminishing returns. Also the EXE PDF Andy provided talks about clock frequency (?) not sure what this refers to.

Thanks All!

Jay

I can't reference ERO 115 - all the ERO I can find are 4 digits numbers. Are you sure the model number is right?

Anyways before buying a converter box you must figure out if it uses current signals (11micro amp peak to peak) or voltage signals (1 volt pp)
EXE converts current , IBV converts voltage (and are harder to find)

Does your original converter board have a serial number? I wonder how hard it would be to figure out the outputs from it.
Also your MPG's are probably analog as well so you would need to buy a converter for them or buy new TTL outputing ones.

The one on my Z-Axis is stamped:
ERO 115 125 D12.
Id.Nr. 217 900 D4

I've dug around and found snippits of info that point to it being a 11uApp device. Here's a thread for an ERO similar to mine.

I can't find official docs from Heidenhain out there either. A couple of leads point to cncrotary.com or call Heidenhain directly.

Plan A is to re-use the original control board, Plan B is the EXE devices.

Jay

it seems that the ERO 115 is an 11 micro amp signal encoder, according to another linuxcnc user:
www.linuxcnc.org/index.php/english/compo...iew&catid=27&id=1589

he actual has the specs if you can get a hold of him..maybe his email is still valid.
There is also another fellow on that thread that just used the original converter board - there is a pic....

cmorley wrote:

it seems that the ERO 115 is an 11 micro amp signal encoder, according to another linuxcnc user:
www.linuxcnc.org/index.php/english/compo...iew&catid=27&id=1589

he actual has the specs if you can get a hold of him..maybe his email is still valid.
There is also another fellow on that thread that just used the original converter board - there is a pic....

Hah! not 1 hour before I read this I found that thread and sent an email - hopefully he's still in touch.

I have the same machine but it originally had a Heidenhain TNC151 controller. Attached is some info on the encoders. I corresponded with Heidenhain about them a bit. I would recommend getting 602 boxes for them. I used 602D/5 boxes. They were $50 apiece on ebay and it kept my original controller intact. If you do want to go the route of using the original encoder board, I have some info on that too but it's somewhat involved and there are no guarantees. I don't know what your electrical skills are like but if you're uncomfortable with that, the 602 boxes are an easy solution.

Maxvdh,
Good information. Do the 602D boxes work with the Handwheel as well - or is that a digital signal already?

I just borrowed a scope from a friend and as soon as I get out from under tax season I'm back on this. My electrical skills are definitely rusty as I haven't done any deep dives like this for some twenty years. It's tempting to use the 602 boxes and sell the TNC145 on eBay.

Jay

The 602D boxes do seem to work for the handwheel. I ended up buying a no-interpolation factor version of the 602D for the handwheel - it gives more than enough resolution. They're cheaper too. If you want to give me an email address, I can fwd you the info I have on using the 151 encoder interpolation board but of course I can't guarantee that it is identical to the 145.

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