[Cam4ge]

Looking for a little advice. I have drivers and motherboard ect. ready to go for my bridgeport series 2. what i am doing is using bobcad and mach 3 for this machine. so my question is we were going to use a 20 pin? printer type cable to do this.(obviously an older system that would use that cable to go between system and pc.) but i am considering buying a new computer so that it will have much more capabilities.my question is what other options are there to get the system to communicate since those cable ate a bit antiquated. bear in mind i am learning all this so i am not so tech savvy (iow need the special needs explanation) i am trying to find the most effective way to do this. Thank you guys so much for your advice-Andy

[ranchak]

Andy, I have a retrofitted BP. I'm not sure if I understand what you are trying to do, it sounds like you are trying to run your machine by using the RS232 port and Mach3. Is this right?

[Cam4ge]

That is how i have seen others do it, my question is with newer pcs what alternatives to this are there. The systems that I have looked at do not have that system any longer and I would like a more powerful computer. My question is how do I accomplish haveing the computer linked to the system without the type of hookup you mentioned. Thanks again, Andy

[ranchak]

I guess I wasn't clear, you may already know this. You can't simply hook up a pc running mach3 to you BP. You need to rewiring the original drivers to mach3 through an external breakout board. One of the members here makes a breakout board to use on the older Boss controls which allows you to use the original BP drivers and stepper motors. I don't know if it will work on your control system. You can also run your stepper motors on Gecko drives using an external breakout board. You will still need to use a parallel port cable between the breakout board and your pc's parallel port. I hope I didn't make things more confused.

[Cam4ge]

I have gecko drivers and the breakout board.I guess what I was really wanting to know is if there is a way to use a new computer for this as opposed to getting an older outdated system. I just have not seen new systems with the port on it.just wondering if there was a better way to connect Prof I could intal that port easily on a new sytem. Thanks so much. Andy

[ranchak]

Parallel ports are the problem with Mach3. I know there are a lot of guys using a SmoothStepper, I used one and had problems with it. You should be over on the Mach3 forum, you'll find a few guys that are running a BP like yours that they converted.

[Cam4ge]

Thanks so much.I'll head over there.