I would suggest using the NPN proximity sensor for the Mach3 USB or the Pokeys57cnc. The proximity sensors have a top DC voltage limit of 30 volts, so it would be best to use the 24V power supply that is used to power the controller. Both controllers have a 24V power requirement, so that is convenient.

The blue wire of the proximity sensor is the GND wire and is connected to the 24V power supply's V- terminal. The brown wire is the positive wire and is connected to the V+ terminal of the 24V power supply. The black wire is the signal wire and is connected to the input terminal of the controller.

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How can I connect an inductive proximity sensor to the Mach3 USB controller?

You can find all of the wiring instructions for the Mach3 USB controller here:
https://www.buildyourcnc.com/item/electronicsAndMotors-electronic-component-breakout-Mach3-USB-Board

Scroll down until you see the videos. The wiring instructions cover wiring all of the axes, setting up the inputs to sense limit switches, setting up the outputs and how to diagnose the outputs, setting up an external relay to control external devices, and setting up spindle speed.

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where can I find wiring instructions for the Mach3 USB controller?

To use a touch plate on any controller, all you need is a conductive flat material with a known thickness and some wire and alligator clips. Solder a wire to the touch plate and connect the other end of the wire to the free input terminal of the controller. Connect a wire with an alligator clip to the ground of the controller (on the Mach3 USB controller, this ground is the DCM terminal, or the digital gnd on the 24VDC power supply). Connect the alligator clip to the end mill.

You can either use a script to serve as the probe, or you can use the ref all home button and setup the touch plate as a home switch.

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I connect wire to cmd- and to in2. I cant getbit to work, what arecthe corresponding ports and pins to usenin mach3? Please help.

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Hello, Can I hook up a Z axis touch plate to the usb controller?

The USB controller board is currently only compatible with Planet-CNC software.

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Can I use Mach3 or 4 with your USB controller PCA?

I created a video to demonstrate how to use the outputs on the Mach3 USB controller. You can find this video on the following page:
https://www.buildyourcnc.com/item/electronicsAndMotors-electronic-component-breakout-Mach3-USB-Board

Scroll down to the 5th video on that page. The title of the video is: Mach3 USB Controller Outputs

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How do I use the outputs on the Mach3 USB controller?

No, the Mach3 USB controller only works with Mach3. If you wish to use Mach4, I would recommend this very feature-rich controller:
Pokeys57CNC controller https://buildyourcnc.com/item/electronicsAndMotors-electronic-component-breakout-Mach4-mach3-USB-ethernet-Board

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does the Mach3 USB Controller support Mach4

The mach3 control software will work with all major CAM software (CAMBAM, Aspire and Vectric, BobCAD/CAM, ArtCAM, Dolphin CAM, CAM software that integrate with SolidWorks and AutoDesk Inventor, and many more).

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Is there a kit or actual product that can be wired into the Mach3 controller to give me virtual zero

The Mach3 usb controller/interface has instructions and videos on this page:
https://www.buildyourcnc.com/item/electronicsAndMotors-electronic-component-breakout-Mach3-USB-Board

There is a 5 step process on that page to install the plug-in and the configuration xml file that is necessary for the proper functioning of the controller.

The videos on that page also demonstrate in detail how to install the software, plug-ins, xml file and wiring and testing most of the features of the Mach3 USB interface.

Hope this helps.

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good day, does this controller board support the M11/M10 command set.

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How do you install the software for the Mach3 USB controller?

The Mach3 100 kHz controller may be able to support the Sherline 1/2 pulse mode, but I have not tried it. There is no information in the documentation that is related to the parameter that can be set in Mach3 for the Sherline 1/2 pulse mode. You may be able to play with the available kHz ranges that the plugin allows to see if there is a pulse width that meets the Sherline 1/2 pulse mode specification.

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[575] Does the USB MACH3 controller support Sherline 1/2 pulse mode?

Yes, you can use a corner plate very easily. You will want to make a corner plate that has three independent plates that do not conduct with each other. Each of these plates will be connected to a different input (i.e. IN1 for X, IN2 for Y and IN3 for Z). The end mill or tool that is inserted into the spindle will connect to V- of the 24V power supply, or the DCM on the controller, which is connected to the 24V V-. Then, you can use the ref all home button on the program run screen of Mach3.

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Is there a way to use an X,Y plate that will only be responsible for corner finding in Mach3 with the Mach3 USB controller?

The USB Interface can only be used with the Planet-CNC software which runs under the windows operating system.

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Can the USB CNC Controller be used with LinuxCNC?

Is this regarding the Mach3 USB controller?

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I'm having a problem with my controller card: I can measure 24 volts going to the card, but when I set Mach3 outputs I reagister no voltage. Please help

Yes, you can use 2 motors in the same axis output, however you will still need a driver for that motor! Also depending on the orientation on which you mount the motor you might have to invert the direction of the motor, and that will be simple by swapping the A+,A-, to the B+,B- locations and vice versa, from the driver to the motor wiring.

Also you can run a slave motor using another axis on the board, and setting it up in the Planet-CNC settings.

Planet-CNC/File/Settings/Axes, here you will enter 3 in the Number of Axes location, and then change the Function of the Axis 4 to Slave 1. There you will have the 4th axis or A-axis be a slave for the x-axis.
Slave 1 - X-Axis
Slave 2 - Y-Axis
Slave 3 - A-Axis
Slave 4 - B-Axis
Etc...

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Can I run two stepper motors off the same axis output on the USB controller?

To implement a electronics combo to run you Proxxon MF70, you will need to find the correct drive components (ACME screw, linear rail, etc) and look into any specific modifications needed to your rig.
I would recommend the USB 3 Axis Large Motors Electronics w/ USB Interface Board.
Since the machine is metal, our larger motors would be highly recommended.

We have not done this conversion, through research is recommended.

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Hi I have a Proxxon MF70, I want to add 3axis stepper with controller and software by USB. Can you suggest a kit for me? Thanks.

To use a touch plate on any controller, all you need is a conductive flat material with a known thickness and some wire and alligator clips. Solder a wire to the touch plate and connect the other end of the wire to the free input terminal of the controller. Connect a wire with an alligator clip to the ground of the controller (on the Mach3 USB controller, this ground is the DCM terminal, or the digital gnd on the 24VDC power supply). Connect the alligator clip to the end mill.

You can either use a script to serve as the probe, or you can use the ref all home button and setup the touch plate as a home switch.

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I there a tutorial on hooking up a Z axis zero touch plate to the usb controller?

The DRV8825 driver IC by TI (Texas Instruments) has two main connections called STEP and DIR. These are the two main connections that you need to use to connect to the Pokeys57CNC controller. You also need to connect the positive digital voltage pin (5V) from the Pokeys57CNC controller's motor connector to both the reset and sleep pins. The GND pin from the Pokeys57CNC motor connector is connected to the GND pin of the DRV8825 driver. The enable pin of the DRV88525 can remain unconnected.

There is a trimmer potentiometer on the DRV8825 that can increase or decrease the amperage setting for the motor. Depending on the DRV8825 board you purchased, there may be two pads to determine the amp setting while turning the trimmer (in the voltage setting on your multimeter).

The A1 and A2 is connected to one of the motor's coils and B1 and B2 is connected to the other motor's coil. There is a pin on the DRV8825 called VMOT that you will connect to the power supply (max 45VDC) and the GND pin next to the VMOT is the V- for the same power supply.

I hope this helps. If not, please add additional information on this thread.

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I followed (to the best of my ability) the instructions provided to my original question, but I did not receive successful results. When I followed the instructions and connected the ground pin from the Pokeys57CNC motor connector to the DRV8825 / A4988 expansion board, it stops the communication between the Pokeys57CNC board & the motors 1-3 that I had working previously. The DRV8825 / A4988 expansion board will be the fourth driver I am connecting to the Pokeys57CNC. The previous three drivers are PoStep-60's if that helps understand the issue.

Prior to hooking up the ground pin (I used pin 10 from the Pokeys57CNC motor connector) to the DRV8825 / A4988 expansion boards ground pin, I was able to see the power being applied via the red LED being illuminated on the DRV8825 board; after this new configuration the light is not turning on.

With the new recommended setup, I used a heat shrink solder piece to add the shunt for the connection to the sleep pin. The connection to the sleep pin is where I believe my issues are stemming from. I must be connecting it to the incorrect pin (within the 9 pin layout on the DRV8825 / A4988 expansion board). Do you have any reference to the 9 pin pinout on the A4988 expansion board? I double checked the pinout provided on the Texas Instruments page, but it only gives clarity to the pinouts on the DRV8825 board itself. After reviewing their documentation, I tried connecting the 5v (pin 9 from the Pokeys57CNC motor connection that's split to connect with the reset pin on the DRV8825 / A4988) wire directly to the terminal on the DRV8825 board and that didn't work either.

Any help or clarification you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

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How can I connect the Pokeys57CNC controller to a DRV8825 / A4988 expansion board?

To control a spindle using the USB CNC interface, you will need a relay board that contains a transistor that can activate the relay with a power source with enough current that can activate the relay. This video explains all of the information you will need to develop this relay circuit:

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i have a breakout usb controller iam using a spindle output to active a relay 5V but it didnt work.... whats the problem, what else i need to active that realy 5v 10A?

In generally, you would only need a driver to drive the motor on the 4th axis.

A fourth (4th) axis can be added using a head stock that contains a motor where the motor turns a chuck that holds the object. The motor requires a driver that is controlled by an interface card such as the parallel breakout board, or the usb controller board. Our 4th Axis head stock can be driven by our standard 3.0 amp driver.

The software used to control the 4th axis would need to be able to control 4 axes (X, Y, Z and A). Mach3, LinuzCNC and Planet-CNC are good examples of control software that can control more than 3 axes.

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Can I add a fourth axis by just adding another controller?

Planet CNC has the option to turn off these outputs on your USB board. Under the File/settings/Pins. You will have Spindle (M3,M4,M5) Coolant (M7,M8,M9) as available output pins. On the drop down tabs for these output pins you will have this option ( --- ), if selected it will turn of that output pin in your board and you will get not voltage change in the pin.

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On the USB controller I am unable to get voltage from the Mist relay block on the board. The Flood and Spindle produce a voltage change correctly. Is there a setting I am missing?