Serial Port

[mopar691 281]

I hear alot of people ay oh you need xp or you cant do that on vista. When i started this i was using vista on all my pc's and connected my cutter with no problems to my tower that had a serial port. Then upgraded them all to Win7 and still no problem at all, not even a glitch. But the second i try USB or all these adapters it is nothing but problems or glitches. I truely need to say that when using these its not the operating system that makes any differance its wether your pc has a serial or not. I know the usb adapters work but..... Get a pc that has the correct equipment to run simple machines such as these.

I can use and have used just about every peice of software out there on both vista and win 7 with no problems. And a host of cutters from a Master, US Cutter MH, Graphtec and a Zen. All with no issue using nothing but serial as they were designed. USB on any cutter is gunna cause issues. I was running top of the line 9 axis cnc turning centers that would fail every time we tried to parse information via usb. Serial  would go without a hickup. What im saying is look for a box with a serial and save the headache. Whether it be a laptop or a desktop. It is gunna save you so much pain down the line.

I know some have seperate box to design on running all new stuff and a old one to cut on, but man, thats a pain in the rear. Files all over the place, jump drive everything, now, what one is the one i cut?? ugg. Tried that too and hated it.

What i quess im saying is look ahead and think when you upgrade your pc. oh, that new dell doesnt ave a serial? then maye you should lok at some other companies. Alot do if you look for them. Get a  good moniter, Dial in your colors, load your favorite graphics and cutting program and away you go.

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

[Jay2703 704]

I agree, I would only have a second box if your first doesn't have a serial port. I had nothing but trouble with my PCut until I switched from USB to a serial connection then all of the trouble went away. I know some people will say they use USB with no problems but I wasn't one of them.

Jay

[rackitup 0]

Hi,

great points,

do you think the problem with the USB is @ the cutter end or the PC/Laptop end?

I have been lucky so far to run my US Cutter Via  printer to USB cable,

I am trying to set up an old Roland color cam PC-50 to my laptop that does not have serial or parallel ports,

the Roland has the old serial and parallel ports,

I have located and purchased both serial and parallel to USB cables,

which on would you use? the serial or parallel cable?

[Jay2703 704]

Hi,

great points,

do you think the problem with the USB is @ the cutter end or the PC/Laptop end?

I have been lucky so far to run my US Cutter Via  printer to USB cable,

I am trying to set up an old Roland color cam PC-50 to my laptop that does not have serial or parallel ports,

the Roland has the old serial and parallel ports,

I have located and purchased both serial and parallel to USB cables,

which on would you use? the serial or parallel cable?

I definately think it is on the cutter end. Every other USB peripheral works without problems.

[rackitup 0]

Hi,

I definately think it is on the cutter end. Every other USB peripheral works without problems.

Thank-U,

that makes sense, the printer to USB port on my cutter is loose, it does not take much to jar it.

[Jay2703 704]

I have heard of people using a Hot Glue Gun to bond the cord to their cutter.

[JoeBlow 5]

Hi,

great points,

do you think the problem with the USB is @ the cutter end or the PC/Laptop end?

I have been lucky so far to run my US Cutter Via  printer to USB cable,

I am trying to set up an old Roland color cam PC-50 to my laptop that does not have serial or parallel ports,

the Roland has the old serial and parallel ports,

I have located and purchased both serial and parallel to USB cables,

which on would you use? the serial or parallel cable?

First of all Mopar is 100% on the money if your PC doesn't have a serial or parallel port you will have problems.  It does not matter which end the USB connection is it is a poor connection and is prone to working loose with any physical movement or vibration.  It happens with your mouse, your printer, it's a very poor connection.  A lot of people blame stray cuts from plotters not being earthed, I think you'll find that 90% of those stray cuts that the plotter stops 1/2 way through a job are cause by the USB connection. If your PC or laptop does not have a serial or parallel port buy either a PCI or PCMCIA card.

Joe

[rackitup 0]

I have heard of people using a Hot Glue Gun to bond the cord to their cutter.

Great idea, i will do that untill i get a pcmcia adapter.

[mopar691 281]

These machines are basic 2 axis cnc machines. Being that they were designed to be fed linear information or movement pulsed at a given rate. I know they have a buffer to temporary hold informaton as it is used by the controller. But that buffer gets filled in a instand via usb as it is a file dump and not a feed as it designed for the controller. More ram in the buffer is a very crude fix to the nature of the beast.

[rackitup 0]

First of all Mopar is 100% on the money if your PC doesn't have a serial or parallel port you will have problems.  It does not matter which end the USB connection is it is a poor connection and is prone to working loose with any physical movement or vibration.  It happens with your mouse, your printer, it's a very poor connection.  A lot of people blame stray cuts from plotters not being earthed, I think you'll find that 90% of those stray cuts that the plotter stops 1/2 way through a job are cause by the USB connection. If your PC or laptop does not have a serial or parallel port buy either a PCI or PCMCIA card.

Joe

Thanks,

I am sourcing pcmcia adapters now,

I will get a serial-pcmcia cable for my US Cutter, and a serial-pcmcia cable for my Old Roland,

And to help anyone reading this thread I would advise you to find thes items on E bay, I went to Radio Shack when I was looking for a usb-serial cable and they were $38.00, I found them on E-bay for arond $6.00.