dnc controller

[CAM]

thinking of purchasing a dnc controller(predator)any comments?it is going on 17 cnc mills and lathes.the reson for wanting this is to be able to send and recieve prog's from machine controller and better organization of programm files

[Brendan P]

We use the Predator software for this.

'Remote Request' from the machine is the way to go.

The version we have is a bit old,and I know that the newer versions have a lot more bells and whistles.

[M. Anderson]

Brendan,

 

I have read about this -

 

what is "REMOTE REQUEST"

 

How does it work?

 

Thanks,

 

Mark

[mcpgmr]

I use a Palm Pilot for about the same amount of machine tools. Sounds crazy but there is never any more than one program in the machine at one time and the operators are not alowed to make any changes to the programs without permission from myself or the General Manager. The posts are that clean that the programs are about 99.999% turn key and go. This way there is no need to send the programs back thru a DNC after prove out. If a change needs to be made we make it in the Model and re-post. I'm new here and I have never worked in a place that had such good control over the CNC processes and programs.

[Brendan P]

Mark,

It is just a fancy word used in the software which is a setting that allows you to be able to call up your cnc gcode program from the machine and also allows you to send it back to your 'stored programs' computer (server).

 

These dnc systems can also be purchased in a 'wireless' configuration.

Jay (AKA CadCam) can fill you guys in on this stuff.

 

Usually you buy the software,and then the hardware is sold as a lisense of how many ports you want.

[cadcam]

Brenden , you can do this same option with the wireless. Did a setup last year after westec for 15 machine with the wireless and Romte call.

 

Works really nice.

 

Brendan what version are you running of DNC?

[M. Anderson]

Brendan or Jay,

 

I understand that it is to call the program from the machine - But how does that work?

 

I can set my machine to send a file back to my computer, capture it into cimco then save it to the hard drive.

 

I can also set my machine to receive a program, go into the office and press send. Or even the reverse of that.

 

I have FANUC and DYNAPATH controls currently. But what I don't understand is how a software program running on my computer or the server could know which program to send to the machine, since I know of no way it would be possible to send a "REQUEST" from the machine control for a paticular program.

 

That is what I don't understand?

 

If this would work with my controls - this may be something I would look too purchase!

 

Thanks for your time -

 

Mark

[Brendan P]

quote:

---

Brendan what version are you running of DNC?

---

Don't laugh.....

Predator V2

Jay,the only way we are ever going to upgrade is when we need more ports...

 

quote:

---

I can also set my machine to receive a program, go into the office and press send.

---

Key words here.. "go into the office"

Who wants to run to the office to press 'send'??

 

The way we have ours set up is like this:

To call a prog. to the machine (from the machine)

we have a very small prog. stored in the controller.It looks like this:

 

O8000

F1234.020

M30

 

The (1234.020) is the name of the gcode file I want to get.(So you change this # acordingly.)

After you make your change to the program you want,you do O8000 punch.(This is how it finds the file in your stored network computer.)

Then you hit O1234 read.

Now the program Remotely comes into the machine controller.

And kinda like the same to send it back too.

 

All's this does is cut out having to 'run' to computer to retrieve or send your programs.

 

HTH's

[chris m]

Mark

 

On 9/8/04 we went online with our CIMCO DNCMax V4 DNC system which replaced the cobbled setup that we'd been running for years. We currently have 21 machines hooked up to the system with these controls:

 

Fanuc 6MB

Fanuc 10T

Fanuc 10T Dual Control [Twin-Twin machine with independent left and right side programs]

Fanuc 18iT

Fanuc 18iM

Yasnac 2000G [circa 1980]

Yasnac 2000GII [circa 1982]

Yasnac MX3

Okuma OSP-5020L

Okuma OSP-U10M

Okuma OSP-U100L

Okuma OSP-E100L

Haas [2003 Mill Control]

 

All that I can say about this system is that its the cat's a$$. No disrespect to Predator's product (we looked at them, too) but the CIMCO system was up and running flawlessly from the word go. I understand that some of this is due to the ability of my reseller [s4A Rocks!!] but a lot of it is due to the capabilities and configurability of the system.

 

We now use remote request for all of our machines except for the 2000G and 2000GII (they are unable to store more than one program at a time so they can't hold the remote request program) which require a client PC to send programs to them; this also works beautifully.

 

All of our guys love the new system since they don't need to worry about going to the PC to send programs or anything; all they need to do is push 'Punch' or 'Read' and BAM! the program is there.

 

The were some skeptics here before the system went online but now EVERYONE thinks that its the sh!t; you don't even know its there..

 

Feel free to give me a shout if you have any questions about what we're doing

 

CIMCO ROCKS!! (Sorry Jay)

 

C

[jeff]

Cimco DNC Max is awesome!

Love the remote request feature and the ability to "talk" to multiple machines at once!

[cadcam]

quote:

---

I understand that some of this is due to the ability of my reseller [s4A Rocks!!]

---

this is the real answer to it up & running in a timely matter.

 

I am not saying the software is no good by any means.

But Predator can do all the same things and in some cases more.

 

So you can not go wrong with either as long as you have a good support behind it.

[kkominiarek]

We use Focal Point DNC from CNC Engineering. It has the "remote request" feature also...it's a piece of cake to call programs from the machine control.

 

We currently have 15 machines hooked up to DNC.

 

*** CADCAM ***

We are interested in going wireless...is there any info you can give me this subject?

-good/bad?

-ease of install?

-cost compared to standard DNC?

-loss of data due to interference?

 

Thanks,

[M. Anderson]

Thanks Guys!

 

I was not aware of how all this works.

 

I will contact some people and see about Cimco and Predator. Both sound better than what we currently do!

 

Thanks, Again!

 

Mark

[CAM]

i printed your comments out,and it was the selling point to my boss for my plea for a dnc system. he said cut a p.o.

thanks for your input

[Steve Biehl - Cimquest Inc]

cam,

is mlc-cad your MC dealer?? They service and support CIMCO DNC Systems.

[Bruce Gibson]

How do the dnc systems work with restarting in the middle (or anywere) when you have a toolbreak

using remote request?

 

Thanks,

Bruce.

[cadcam]

kkominiarek , I will be back to followup just really busy to get back at this moment.

[steve f]

Bruce,

 

with CIMCO DNC a mid-program restart works similar to remote request. Basically, you send a remote request that also contains the line number you'd like to start at. CIMCO reads the incoming request, inserts a "program head" code snippet ahead of the line you want to start at (that you customize for each machine) and sends it out to the machine.

 

CIMCO also supports sub-programs during drip feed in a similar manner. It detects an M98 (or whatever you want to specify) in the program it's feeding out to the machine, removes the M98 and replaces it with the actual sub-program.

 

pretty powerful software.

 

steve

[medaq]

We run multi-dnc, Which does the job. But with the issues I had with the people who installed and supported it. The installer dropped a box of cable on the lights, which resulted in a rack of lights coming down. Then promptly saying she did not touch it. :/ Plus a plethora of other problems was related in the instalation. Telling me we had to spend another 2,000 to upgrade our hubs, cause they did not know what was wrong. Ended up the hardware we had worked fine. In the end I had to do most of the software install myself.

 

We also paid to have the machine wired, After checking their work they pulled the plugs out of all my machines. Meaning I do not have a rs232 port anymore in my machine So now I have to go through this huge process if something breaks down, instead of plugging in a laptop to the machine. Is this related to the software? nope. But I bought a package and this was the support we got. After telling multi-dnc of our problems and install problems Multi-dnc told us basicaly tough ****.

 

Even though the software does run pretty solid. I would chose to use predator. Predator has many times helped me when multi-dnc would not.

 

And that goes a long way with me. And when I need a new system, I will most likely be using them myself.

 

Another bad example.

 

I had a little problem very minor, due to a new install. We had to setup a new dnc computer. There was one switch on in the software that was not allowing me to dnc properly. And the guy on the phone knew what it was, but refused to tell me less I spent something like 800 dollars to buy a stupid xxxx yearly maintenance. I dont need yearly maintenance for my dnc package that we already paid a good dollar for. So instead of him being a good guy, and making my day, he refused to help me. I promptly told him I would always tell people of my experience with his company, and hung up. I ended up figuring it out myself 1 hour later. But if I can help one person not go through that agony, then I will.

 

Btw I only recomended predator, not as a deterent to other dnc programs, I just felt the guy helping us on another companys software was a class act, and would love to see how much he would of helped on his own product.

 

Jim