Digital Machinist article: Encoder Threading with Mach4 Lathe and the usb cnc controller PoKeys57CNC I was excited to hear that threading with Mach4 Lathe and the usb cnc controller Pokeys57CNC with an encoder was now working. I just had to try it, since I had mixed success with index only threading in Mach3 Turn. I had [...]
A new version of the PoKeys plugin for Mach4 was released today. Most changes have been done 'under the hood', the biggest one affecting the MPG jogging with PoKeys devices. MPG jogging is a very useful feature of PoKeys57CNC devices that enables improved control over the CNC machine and resembles the handwheel of a manual [...]
Ground loop is a result of electricity flowing to a ground over two or more paths. Ground loop is usually generated by connecting together different power sources. Users in many cases believe that all ground points are at the same potential. That is far from the truth. All wires or other conductors have a resistance [...]
Oscilloscope probe compensation is a procedure to reduce impact of probes on measured signal. We have to keep in mind that oscilloscope probes aren't just pieces of wire with pointy end attached to them. Here are two important aspects to consider when selecting and using probe: Faithfully transmit the signal from your device under test to the [...]
CablePack PoKeys57CNC connectors and cables In this tutorial we will explain how CablePack PoKeys57CNC connectors and flat cables can be used. The cable pack contains four types of flat cables that should be used with appropriate connector. All black IDC (Insulation-Displacement Contact) connectors are female gender connectors and can be plugged into corresponding male gender [...]
In this PoBlocks tutorial, we will describe how PoBlocks can be used to solve a stepper motor positioning task. PoBlocks is a graphical programming tool for PoKeys device and is free of charge for PoKeys users. Background We have been approached by one of our users on how a positioning system can be implemented using [...]
USB isolator – Isolated USB port Are you asking yourself, why should I use an USB isolator? The answer is simple, to avoid trouble and save money. We all know that many devices these days can be plugged through USB cable to a single computer. Therefore, computer and peripheral devices (USB device etc.) share the [...]
A slip ring test? What does this have to do with PoKeys? Well, we needed a cheap slip ring for one of our test projects and we got some from China. Slip rings are devices that transfer electrical signal from stator (non-rotating part of the device) to the rotor (rotating part of the device) using [...]
This tutorial will show how to trigger an action in Mach4 based on signal change. In Mach4, user customization options are available via simple LUA scripting language. We will map the signal to one of the PoKeys inputs and configure it to trigger the 'Cycle start' function. We assume you have configured the PoKeys device [...]
It's Easter time and we have a new product to announce - PoKeys57CNCdb25. As its name suggests, it is a PoKeys57CNC in a smaller package, a package that allows it to be directly connected to a DB-25 connector of your old CNC machine. One would think that PoKeys57CNCdb25 is only a USB to parallel port [...]