error after Plasmac setup

this is my first cnc build and exposer to hal and ini files so bare with me please.
after setting up the Plasmac configuration i received and error when i tried to start the program.

The error
Starting LinuxCNC IO program: io
Starting HAL User Interface program: halui
twopass:invoked with <> options
twopass:found ./metric_plasmac3.hal
twopass:found ./plasmac.hal
twopass:found ./metric_plasmac3_connections.hal
twopass: Error in file ./metric_plasmac3_connections.hal:
Signal 'plasmac:arc-voltage-in' of type 'bit' cannot add pin 'plasmac.arc-voltage-in' of type 'float'
Shutting down and cleaning up LinuxCNC...
Removing HAL_LIB, RTAPI, and Real Time OS modules
Removing NML shared memory segments

My connections .ini
# Keep your plasmac i/o connections here to prevent them from
# being overwritten by updates or pncconf/stepconf changes

# Other customisations may be placed here as well
# This file is built by the configurator in your configuration directory

#***** debounce for the float switch *****
# the lower the delay here the better
# each 1 is a 0.001mm (0.00004") increase in probed height result
loadrt debounce cfg=3
setp debounce.0.delay 5
addf debounce.0 servo-thread

#***** arc voltage lowpass cutoff frequency *****
#***** change to the cutoff frequency you require *****
setp plasmac.lowpass-frequency 100

#***** the joint associated with the Z axis *****
net plasmac:axis-position joint.3.pos-fb => plasmac.axis-z-position

net plasmac:arc-voltage-in parport.0.pin-10-in => plasmac.arc-voltage-in
net plasmac:arc-ok-in parport.0.pin-15-in => plasmac.arc-ok-in
net plasmac:float-switch parport.0.pin-13-in => debounce.0.0.in
# net plasmac:breakaway {YOUR BREAKAWAY PIN} => debounce.0.1.in
# net plasmac:ohmic-probe {YOUR OHMIC PROBE PIN} => debounce.0.2.in
# net plasmac:ohmic-enable plasmac.ohmic-enable => {YOUR OHMIC ENABLE PIN}
net plasmac:torch-on => parport.0.pin-01-out

# a 1 here allows multiple tools to be used
# gcode M3 S1 needs to be changed to:
# M3 $0 S1 for the plasma torch
# M3 $1 S1 for the air scribe
setp plasmac.multi-tool 0
net plasmac:air-scribe-arm plasmac.air-scribe-arm => parport.0.pin-16-out
net plasmac:air-scribe-start plasmac.air-scribe-start => parport.0.pin-17-out

i understand why the pin needs to be a float i just have not been able to figure out how to change it from a bit to a float, any help would be appreciated. thank you

I am using a C10 parallel port breakout board at the moment( www.cnc4pc.com/c10-bi-directional-parall...-interface-card.html ).
i was hoping to get started with this then move on to add more and upgrade later

I don't have an external THC at the moment, i was going to add one later or attempt to build one with either a raspberry pi or an arduino.
do you need a THC to use plasmac?

phillc54 wrote:

It should be possible to use a Mesa THCAD and run that into a software encoder .

But if you go to the trouble of ordering a THCAD, you might as well add a 7i96 to the order and be done with it. Its really the cheapest THC available.

The plasma cutter i ordered has a 1/50 torch head voltage divider built into it. couldn't i use run that into and arduino analog input then write a bit of code to output one pin or another based on voltage readings, then i could use Plasmac mode 2 for the z control

Probably but don't go over 250 volts or you'll fry the input.
That is probably fairly safe upper limit for a plasma cutter in the 40-50 amp range though.
It will still be a crude substitute for a THCAD.