RS-232 or Ethernet

[Elad]

We are going to buy a new machine but it will be far from the main computer (dnc) and i got an offer from the company to buy the machine with ethernet connection.

He said that if i will have more then 15 meters of RS-232 it will not give good results (especialy when using tape).

This ethernet card cost about 2400 us$.

Does anyone work with an rs-232 cable longer then 30 meters?

are there any problems with that?

 

Thanks,

[somename75]

From what I remember you will need to get a signal booster and place it in between the machine and computer. If it were me I would pay the 2400 for sure, RS232 is unrealiable IMHO

[gcode]

ethernet is a much better solution. well worth the price IMO

[?Mark]

quote:

---

Does anyone work with an rs-232 cable longer then 30 meters?

are there any problems with that?

---

Yes we run it up to 100 ft (about 30m) at 19200 baud rate with no problems.

The key is to use a good cable like the one from Predator Software. I think they call it Predator Grizzly Cable (looks like it's a regular cat-5 cable that you plug into an adapter that plugs into rs-232 of your machine).

 

Regards, Mark

[chris m]

If you have really good cable and no big interference sources along the run [high freq welders, etc] I've heard of successful 200' RS-232 runs. Even with crap cable we have some pushing 100' though we only run 9600 baud with no drip feed at this time.

 

C

[Elad]

Thanks.

[Racer X]

I have drip fed for 4 years now with 90 feet (30 paces. I have counted them many times) plus the 10 feet on each end from the ceiling to the ports. Even runs past the EDM. No problems at all. I made my own cables out of grizzy cable though. Ethernet is probably the better way to go, however. It's not really worth the risk.

[htm01]

S4A set us up with 150' cable we have no problem

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

Ethernet ALL THE WAY... unless you can afford Fiber Optic

[Steve Biehl - Cimquest Inc]

the cable htm01 is talking about is CIMCO RS232Max Cable. It is like Pred. Grizzley Cable. 28 gauge stranded, shielded cable with RJ45 connections at either end. We sell it in pre-made lengthes, by 25' up to 200', or bulk 1000' rolls for wiring a shop.

[RickG]

Well we use RS-232 and push 250' ... but a good cable is a must!

We don't use any boosters but sometimes when we push too fast (over 19200) the machine complains. (loss of data)

..We have been at for 7 years so far.

 

Just a side note only 10-15% of that is DNC most is file transfer. But no major troubles with either.

[drago]

Lets see if anyone can beat this:

 

RS232 - 600 feet of cable.

 

Boom!

[drago]

Sorry I had to resurect this thread...

 

 

We are about to hook up our Lathes to my computer and we are getting to a point where we'll have about a 1000 feet of cable btw. comp. and machine.

 

We have 20 Mori Seiki Lathes 18 of them have Ethernet ports. I would like to go wireless but I have no idea what software will support ethernet, and how to turn a wireless signal into a wired one. I tried using a Linksys "Game adapter" and Mori's CAPS server software but i could never get the machine to connect.

 

Any Input would be much appreciated.

 

Thank You

[New Job]

You can go from wired to wireless back to wired with a wireless router:

 

PC -->> Router -->> CNC

 

All modern pcs will support the ethernet connection, I don't know about the Mori's. With this many machines it would seem like a good idea to look into it. I (personally) wouldn't want the cable hassle myself.

 

HTH

[Jerosu]

For sure go for the ethernet option!!!!!!!!!

 

And for wireless you'll need an ethernet bridge. I use one from Buffalo and it works great on a Mori mill. I just configured it from my PC with the network key etc. then plugged the machine into it. Easy as that.

[drago]

Jerosu

 

what software are you using to communicate?

[Jerosu]

Our machines have the Fanuc dataserver option, so we are not drip feeding. We just have to run an FTP server on the network and the machines just point to that folder where the programs are stored.

 

I have the CAPS software, but have not looked at it since we don't have the need.

 

I would highly suspect that your problem was due to the ethernet bridge you were using. Sometimes they just don't play nice. I'm using one of these

 

It seems to be completly transparent no matter what I plug into it (PC, laptop, machine, etc.) The key is making sure it is configured properly. Set it up from your PC then try to use your PC on the network using the adapter. If it works you should be able to plug your machine into it and never even know it's there.

[drago]

Do you have to give it a certain IP adress, or do you let it assign one itself?

 

Does it have to be same as adress on the machine?

 

I like the caps server cause it gives me control over what program is loaded. Right now we have a problem where every operator and set-up guy has his own programs and they won't run anything else.

[Jerosu]

It is best for the machine and the FTP server to have a static IP address. We just set the machine up like it was hard wired (set machines IP in the control parameters). Then instead of a wire, we plugged in the adapter. The adapter, bridge, converter, whateveryoucallit should not be assigning IP addresses to anything.

 

It's been a year since I did this and didn't write it down But I don't think the adapter needs an IP address (sounds wierd I know)