Bridgeport Boss 9 R2E4 convertion

Wyliest wrote: Forgot to mention that the micro controller for the SFP board is Motorola 68000 in a dip64 packages in a socket. It would not be unreasonable to just replace it with something more modern.

store.mesanet.com/index.php?route=produc...=7i73&product_id=116

Is intended for this sort of thing.

Hello all, first post on this forum. This thread is what I am looking for, I see no posts have been made to it for some time.
I just acquired a BOSS R2E4 that is in good shape other than controller is bad and has electronic drives have been removed
From what I have read on this thread to retrofit machine to LinuxCNC (which I have never used, at least yet)
Automation Direct Gs2 VFD Spinder power supply, I would like to add encoder at some point for power tap-- will need help with this later.
Automation Direct encoders for the current servo motors (Powerton motors) which encoders do I need? is this a direct replacement or do I need adapters? which one do I need for the spindle for power tap?
messa 7i77 - 5125 plug n gokit
messa 7i73 pendant - panel control interface, I would like to use the pulse generator on the BOSS controller panel if possible?
Gecko 320X servo drivers, need three for X,Y and z servo motors. Also, is it possible to add an A axis with a stepper motor?
Power supply ? the transformers are intact, just not sure how to convert, I don't have any schematics.
I also need to come up with a PC?
Any help is much appreciated, Hopefully the people that were involved with this thread will jump in and give me some directions to make my BOSS run again.

What encoders are on the motors now?
Or is it done with tachometers and linear scales?

This is an image of connector, I assume it is an encoder. can you tell..

It has enough pins to be almost anything. It could be encoder + tacho, it could be a resolver. Any plates, serial numbers, other clues?

No plate on it. The motor does have a plate on the side of it but that probably does not help. The machine was minus one motor, the guy I got the machine from took one off of another matching machine and gave it to me, he said it was the same thing, it looks to be a match and it does have a tag on it.
BEI Mod# E25G-250-ABZC-8930-SM18-S PART# 924-01029-092A. Maybe I need to take off the end cap and take a look inside??

The label mentions a tachometer, so it seems likely that the 10pin unit contains a tachometer. But that would only use 2 pins, leaving 8 for encoder power and three differential phases.
But it could also be a tachometer and resolver.

A bit of a Google found this:
www.grmolds.com/?p=57
Which seems that it might be a useful resource for your conversion, but some things have changed in LinuxCNC and he appears to have replaced the servo drives.

andypugh wrote: www.grmolds.com/?p=57
Which seems that it might be a useful resource for your conversion, but some things have changed in LinuxCNC and he appears to have replaced the servo drives.

That is a good find, I am concerned about "things have changed in LinuxCNC" ??
grmolds is utilizing the original (tack/encoder) on the Bridgeport and connecting to 7I77 SIX AXIS ANALOG SERVO PLUS I/O DAUGHTERCARD from what I am seeing.
From grmolds.com I don't need to replace the servo (tack/encoder)? What do you think Andy?
Thank you for your help:) I am lost without it!!
I will be looking closely at www.grmolds.com as this is the same machine I am working on..
Randy

Birddogs wrote: I am concerned about "things have changed in LinuxCNC"

Mainly that the instructions how to install LinuxCNC on Ubuntu are no longer relevant.

Power supply?
I see some people utilize the transformers from original cabinet, is there a guide to wiring this up to power advanced motion controls 25A20 servo drive?
or is it best to purchase separate power supply and remove all the original transformers?
my dc servo motors are rated at max 146 volts.