25 out of 30.

You need to be a beta test site to have access to the beta forum.

50 in August. My how time flies by after 40. I must be doing something to make the years seem shorter. Congratulations on making 50 - Hope you make it another 50.

In general, setting the priority higher than normal does not gain you any notable change in performance. For that matter, you could run Mastercam at one level down from normal (belownormal) and on my stopwatch it only makes 1 or 2 seconds difference than setting priority to (abovenormal). see this article for available settings: http://www.winnetmag.com/Article/ArticleID/14500/14500.html Craig

Still alive and kicking. Craig Madsen

On the Windows Desktop, Right-click / Properties / Appearance tab / Effects / uncheck the 'Use the following transition effect for menus and tooltips:' option. Then uncheck 'Show shadows under menus' option. See if these help. Craig Madsen

If you go to http://www.microsoft.com then select supportknowledgebase and enter 'filename limits' (without the quotes), you will see there are limits to the filename length as well as the length including the path. For DOS applications this is a low as 64 characters. Other operating systems are limited to 127 characters or 248 characters, TOTAL. So, what is the full path? (note that if your admin has mapped your drive P to point to the server d:mastercamprograms that your P: is really 22 characters PLUS your path.

Another thing to try before swapping out graphics cards - Change your mouse pointer 'scheme' to none. (flat, non-rendered, non-animated cursors). If I use animated cursors on Open-GL enabled applications I have noticed substantial slowing of response with the mouse. It is on the control panel / Mouse settings. Craig Madsen

The P4 'extreme' has 2 Megs of cache memory. The P4 'HT' has 512k of cache memory. The Xeon could have 512k/1meg/or 2megs of cache memory. That being said, a slower computer with more level2 cache will execute programs faster than a computer with a faster clock, but smaller cache memory. example: my P4 3.0g / 800 mhz ram 512k cache system is slower running test programs than Pentium M 1.7g / 400 mhz ram 1meg cache machine. Side by side the 'slower' processor consistently outperforms the 'faster' one. Craig Madsen [email protected]

Another option - If your machine is worth upgrading, I believe Tulip Electronics is making a replacement control - Faster, and with huge memory capacity - to replace the existing control. Their number is Phone: 519-364-3221

Clear blue sky. Should reach 80 this weekend. Unseasonbly warm - should be 50 or so. Craig Madsen Felton, CA - 40 Minutes south of San Jose - in the REDWOODS.

With so many axis' stacked up, one on top of another, the tolerances on the part would be pretty bad. It might be fun to watch, but I would not want to see the result or hear the process. Craig Madsen [email protected]

My desktop system: 3.06Ghz P4 512k cache 2Gigs PC3200 ddr ram My new Laptop: 1.7Ghz Centrino 1024k cache 1Gig PC2700 ddr ram ran timing test with Mastercam sample parts - tightened tolerances and added arc filtering etc. so that I forced the systems to regen (and not work from any saved rgn files) The end result? desktop 2min 51seconds laptop 2min 45seconds Similar results on multiple tests. I assume that if I purchased the new 'gaming' P4 with 2048k of cache (almost $1000 last week when I checked) that the P4 would then run circles around the Centrino. Cache size, more than CPU speed, has the largest affect on Mastercam. That is why the Xeon processors work so well, most start at 1024k cache. Anyone else playing with different configurations? Craig [ 01-06-2004, 10:04 PM: Message edited by: Craig Madsen from CM3D ]

Since it takes 3 or 4 years for the cows to show symptoms of mad cow disease, I think there will be a major impact on that areas ranchers. Cattle are bought, sold, mated, etc. between ranches all the time. Tracking the contacts between infected and exposed animals will be a monumental task. That, in part, is why so many were destroyed in England.

In the '89 quake there were a few machines that were damaged. Lathes are usually set on blocks that may not be bolted down. Anyway, a couple dropped of the blocks and ended up on their 'faces' (Front of lathe). Nobody hurt, but some levers and minor parts to replace. A guy at one customer was welding some parts and when the 89 quake hit, no one saw him leave. He was out the door in a heartbeat. The damage a quake does, though related to the magnitude of the quake, is more serious the longer it happens. The 89 quake (mag. 7.9) would have not done as much damage if it had not been as long. The same for this one. There would have been less damage if it hadn't been going for 32 seconds. Later, Craig Madsen [email protected]

There is a updated hasp9.exe in the November Maintenance update. Click on the 'Patches' button on the top of this site, download and install the update, then run hasp9.exe - should be no problem then.

If it runs on one computer, but not the other, you may have a corrupt file, or, some other setting is causing your problem. 1st, exit Mastercam, then in the MCAM directory, rename the mill9.cfg to mill9cfg.old. When you restart Mastercam the system will recreate the mill9.cfg with the system defaults. Depending on the file size, I would set the database allocation to 64000, and toolpath to 32000. (if your file size is larger than the allocated memory you will see a 'hard disk' show up in the lower right corner of the graphics screen). Then load your part and try again. IF it still has a problem, re-install Mastercam with the 'repair' option when it shows up, or install to a new directory and try it again. Craig Madsen [email protected]

On a line before the tool is called out in the post add: n = t the n number will be the same as the tool number

Clean the machine completely before using coolant. The dust/debris swells when it gets soaked and if that happens in the coolant system you may end up cleaning ALL of the coolant system.

I have to add my 2 cents here. 1. The Error indicated above with the arc created by endpoints does illustrate the error. 2. The error will most likely not be caused by Mastercam, the programmer, or other sources with any kind of good reputation. 3. It WILL, generally, be caused when the radius you are cutting using "R" designation is within a 2 or 3 degrees of 180 degrees. Your math may be perfect, but the control may be operating with limited precision, or may be converting between inch values and metric output. There are many instances where the conversion is between "Even" numbers and the control will introduce a error that is multiplied during interpolation. 4. I've seen the results of this many times, with many different brands of controls. 5. It may not always happen. Just like I can drive 80mph and not get ticketed. But, it will happen, and I will deserve the result. Craig Madsen

Classic case of misdirection. Look HERE while I add to one column of numbers something that should have been subtracted from the other column. It took me 1/2 hour to explain this to my brother in-law a few months ago. The 2 dollars should have been subtracted from the 30, not added to the 25 . . . etc. etc.

I think the Fadal actually uses the sign to indicate direction of movement. It is not necessary to be in incremental. A45. move to 45 degrees cw A-40. move to 40 degrees moving ccw All of the angles are really from 0 to 360 degrees and the sign show direction of movement. Craig

That was not written by Georgle Carlin, you can find it at http://www.xdude.com/paradox.htm On www.georgecarlin.com you can find the list of things going around on the web that are attributed to him and his comments about them. Craig

This is a control issue. When you use "R" values, the control calculates a best fit position and determines its own location for the arc center. Since the control is rounding the data to 1 micron icrements, and the inch/metric conversion may result in +/- 1 micron errors, you get a error in position calculation. As a example, create two points .9999" apart. Then draw a arc/endpoints, .500 radius and select the two points. When you analyze the arc center, it will be off. This is what your control may do. This may not always happen at the control, but as I tell my customer: "Yeah, I can drive 80 mph and not get a ticket, BUT it doesn't mean I can ALWAYS get away with it."

Well Guys, I think you're going about the permission thing all wrong. Just say "Dear, if you let me buy this I'll never ask you for anything else." Of course, she'll say yes, and then you just never ask again - - - just do it. "Dear, I said I'd never ask again!" Craig Madsen