Using Powermax with RS485

Re this from the manual :-

A typical connection diagram is shown in the appendix of this document.

It should be noted that during the initial testing phase of this feature it was found that the USB to RS485 converter had reliability issues and that a PCI RS485 card was then installed on the test machine with no issues at all.

Has anybody successfully done this without a pci card?

I could not get the USB to rs485 converter to work but you might have better luck.

Clive S wrote: Re this from the manual :-

A typical connection diagram is shown in the appendix of this document.

It should be noted that during the initial testing phase of this feature it was found that the USB to RS485 converter had reliability issues and that a PCI RS485 card was then installed on the test machine with no issues at all.

Has anybody successfully done this without a pci card?

All my testing was done with a USB to RS485 converter BUT I wasn't testing with a Powermax, just an Arduino.

phillc54 wrote:

Clive S wrote: Re this from the manual :-

A typical connection diagram is shown in the appendix of this document.

It should be noted that during the initial testing phase of this feature it was found that the USB to RS485 converter had reliability issues and that a PCI RS485 card was then installed on the test machine with no issues at all.

Has anybody successfully done this without a pci card?

All my testing was done with a USB to RS485 converter BUT I wasn't testing with a Powermax, just an Arduino.

Phill can the communications be tested without firing the torch up and without air. ie just with the machine powered up

Yes, there is a little test program included called pmx_test.py

Clive S wrote: Re this from the manual :-

A typical connection diagram is shown in the appendix of this document.

It should be noted that during the initial testing phase of this feature it was found that the USB to RS485 converter had reliability issues and that a PCI RS485 card was then installed on the test machine with no issues at all.

Has anybody successfully done this without a pci card?

Yes, I used the serial port on the motherboard. It did require using a rs232 to rs485 adapter still.

phillc54 wrote: Yes, there is a little test program included called pmx_test.py

I don't see the connections in the manual

just this:-

30.3. RS485 Connections
width=75%

Clive,
Check the docs for V 2.8 as master branch docs do not display images. Try this

linuxcnc.org/docs/2.8/html/plasma/plasma...ml#rs485_connections

Snowgoer, There are some single board computers that have a RS485 built in. The Odroid H2+ has a UART built into the GPIO pins and they suggest using a MAX RS485 chip to connect to the UART. I suspect the seedstudio does the same

I have ordered an odroid so it will be interesting to see how I go.

rodw wrote: Clive,
Check the docs for V 2.8 as master branch docs do not display images. Try this

linuxcnc.org/docs/2.8/html/plasma/plasma...ml#rs485_connections

Snowgoer, There are some single board computers that have a RS485 built in. The Odroid H2+ has a UART built into the GPIO pins and they suggest using a MAX RS485 chip to connect to the UART. I suspect the seedstudio does the same

I have ordered an odroid so it will be interesting to see how I go.

So are you saying that then manual from this link linuxcnc.org/docs/devel/html/plasma/plas...ml#rs485_connections is pointing to the 2.9 branch. Surely it should point to the 2.8 branch

The "devel" in that link means development branch (2.9) for 2.8 it would say "2.8" instead.