# Mach3 using Xhc MPG Pendant



## bpratl

Just purchased and installed a wireless pendant to use with mach3turn on a grizzly G0602 lathe to be used for an initial part setup. It works fine except for a slight hesitation when using the MPG control. I did try quite a few different combinations in the Ports & Pins config file for the Pulse & Velocity settings with out success.  
Using mach3's MPG calibration procedures also did not help. Is this the characteristic of the Pendants or is there a better method in setting them up. I do get instant response from the keyboard using the arrow keys but I like the idea of using the hand held control. Bob


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## Boswell

I am using an XHC pendent on Mach3 for my Mill. Not every feature seems to work well but the main feature I use it for is Jogging in pre-determined steps and for that it works without delay. I tried using it in the mode where the faster you turn the MPG wheel the faster it jogs but that never seemed to work very well.


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## woodguy

The driver for the XHC pendant is being actively maintained. The latest one is here: http://www.cdxhctech.com/html/downloads/view_119.html

A thread on CNCZone with posts by the developer says that a third mode will be added to the jog wheel.  The post was made earlier this month. For details have a look there. I would post the link, but CNCzone links may be forbidden here - Moderators feel free to comment.

Just a note for others who get this pendant: The instructions tell you to install the macros into the mach3/mach3mill folder, but of course they actually need to be in the folder for your active profile.  If they are not there, the probe Z function for one will not work (fails silently).


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## JimDawson

woodguy said:


> A thread on CNCZone with posts by the developer says that a third mode will be added to the jog wheel. The post was made earlier this month. For details have a look there. *I would post the link, but CNCzone links may be forbidden here - Moderators feel free to comment.*



There is no restriction on linking to other forums.

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## woodguy

The CNCZone thread is here: http://www.cnczone.com/forums/mach-software-artsoft-software-/210234-xhc-wireless-pendant.html


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## bpratl

Thank you guys, I will give the new Xhc driver a try. Bob


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## bpratl

Implementing some of the recommended changes did help in hesitation but the Xhc display is still not reading the positions.
The display shows only random numbers for X,Y,Z. The mach3 screen as well as the machine tracks well with the Pendant.
I thought that I needed a later Shuttlepro.dll file, no change. Is there something in my mach3 configuration that is not allowing the display to function? Thanks Bob


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## Boswell

My Xhc  displays the positions but I don't remember doing anything special to set it up. You might try completely uninstalling and re-installing the XHC. Not sure how to accomplish this though.

I almost never look at the display on the pendent. Much easier for me to look at the DRO on the Mach3 screen when I am trying to hit a number.  While for me the Xhc work and is OK, I find that I only use a small subset of features and I continue to look for a pendent that focuses on
1. separate rotary switch to select Jog increment (.1, .01, .001, .0001,  ) with at least 4 positions 
2. Selector rotary switch to select axis
3. Handwheel 
4. E-Stop

anything else for me is just extra weight and space.


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## woodguy

I'm using the latest driver and the display reads fine, though there is a noticeable lag before the mach3 display and the pendant display agree.

As for reinstalling, all that is necessary is to delete the dll file and replace it with a new one, then restart the system.

It would be nice to know what jog increment you are currently in, but I can live with it the way it is. 

If you want to communicate with the developer, there is an email address in the CMCZone thread. It's new year over there, so a response may take a day or two.

I think I'll ask if the jog increment can be displayed - who knows they may do it.


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## woodguy

It turns out that the pendant does display an indication of the jog increment in the top of its display. Not as good as a labeled knob I suppose, but it works for me.


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## Boswell

Yes, I depend on the indication. What I don't like is having to cycle through the different scales to get the one you want. Mach3 lets you (requires you to) set 10 jog increments. The pendent will cycle through them in one direction. I have it setup to repeat a sequence of 3 increments but that leaves one repeat to fill out for 10. Anyway I find myself regularly having to press the jog increment button several times to get the increment I want, when a rotary switch allows you to go right to what you want up or down. Also I find that when edge finding, I don't have to look at the pendent or the Mach3 display. I am looking at the edge finder. With the XHC I have to take my eyes off the work to look at the pendent display when I change increments (I always start at .1 and then as I get closer I decrements the increment until I am at .0002. Again not a huge deal but in a perfect world I could do this by feel on the pendent and not take my eyes off the work. 

And yes, I am more than a little OCD over efficiency


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## bpratl

I got the Xhc display and most of the functions to work after deleting the shuttlepro.dll and installing the one, on the CD, that can with the pendant. I was surprised on how many different dll's are out there and I was informed not to use the one that came with the Xhc. Oh well as long as it works. Are there any good ideas on fabricating a custom overlay for the Xhc? Thanks for all of the suggestions. Bob


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## woodguy

Just saw that the 3.6.0 driver has been posted here: http://www.cdxhctech.com/html/downloads/view_119.html


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## bpratl

Thanks for the update, I will download the new dll tonight and give a try.


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## bpratl

I have been using the shuttlepro.dll 3.6 for a couple of days now and it seems to be quite an improvement.
If I turn the MPG at a moderate speed for 5 turns (.250") , I may loose or gain .005", which is Ok for a setup.


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## Boswell

Thanks for the report. I'll update today.


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## megaplow

Hey All,
I am a little late to this thread but I am having issues with my LHB04 (wired). I have tried several drivers and still no luck. The display only ever shows zeros and nothing seems to be controlling mach 3.

I am using the driver found off this site: http://www.cdxhctech.com/html/eProduct/view_402.html
My machine is a Precision Mathews 940 and uses an nMotion card 

The thing seems pretty cool but for now it is a paper weight.


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## JimDawson

What operating system is on your computer?  Does Mach3 run the machine at all?


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## megaplow

Thanks for the reply!
I am set up on windows 10 with the latest version of mach3. Jogging with the keyboard works. I have been messing with the various MPG settings but I don't have the right combo yet. That said, regardless of what my settings are, shouldn't the pendant show machine position data? I am leaning toward incorrect drivers.


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## JimDawson

megaplow said:


> That said, regardless of what my settings are, shouldn't the pendant show machine position data?



Maybe, but that means the the pendant would have to be communicating with Mach3, and it sounds like it is not.  Did you actually find Win10 drivers for the pendant.  I also heard a rumor the the latest update of Win10 caused some issues with communications on some machines.


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## megaplow

Looks like you need the new version if you want to run with windows 10... Sadface.


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## megaplow

My WHB04B wireless showed up yesterday! The thing is connecting to my PC and showing position values. I can use it for several operations then it crashes (or hangs) Mach3. Are there other MPG settings I should or should not be using? I see options in Mach3 for MPG ports and pins. If you have a WHB04B working please let me know what your Mach3 settings are.


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## megaplow

Hello,
Are any of you successfully running with the XHC pendants? I have the wired and wireless versions. Both do not display any info from Mach. Conversely they do not send any pulses to Mach either. I feel there is a pin or setting in Mach3 I am missing that is not mentioned in the setup.

I have the latest driver from the manufacturer and am running Win 10
http://www.cdxhctech.com/html/edownloads/221.html

Thanks
Joe


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## Boswell

I have the wireless version working. I am either using HB04_3.5.6 or HB04_3.6 driver versions (have to go out into the shop later to know which.  These appear to not be the latest but I get position display (that I never look at) and I can JOG when I am zeroing and adjust feed rate override in real time when needed.  I am also using Windows 10.  It has been a long time since I installed it but I don't remember having significant problems.  I'll try to get out into the shop later and find the actual DLL that I am using.


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## megaplow

Thanks!
I just did a full windows update and a reinstall of mach3. The pendant connects to the wireless dongle, but there seems to be no communication between mach and the pendant. I went with the driver 3.8. It looks like the drivers on the site may be mislabeled. I tested with 3.6 but that was for the wired version.


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## megaplow

I got things working! 
After a clean install of Mach3, the pendent driver needs to be the first addition. From there I added my controller driver and machine profiles.

Next Question:
What are your macro settings? In the plugin config, there is an upper section with macro labels and pull down menus. There is a lower section with more macro labels but it is asking for button numbers in text fields. 

What is the difference between the macro1 in the upper section and the macro1 in the lower section?


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## Glenn Goodlett

I have not had much luck with the macros. They don't seem to run reliably.


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## Boswell

yep, I don't use macros. In fact I use it only for a few things
1. Jogging when setting part zeros (rotary  switch to select the axis and the jog wheel to move. I select the jog increment directly from Mach3
2. Realtime adjustment of Feed rate. This is useful on first runs when I am dialing in the proper feed rate and then also when I am milling a larger pocket the first pass is a full width cut and then remaining passes are 50% so I need to manually slow the feed rate down for the first pass and then back to 100% when it gets to the 50% depth of cut.


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## megaplow

Circling back on this one. I have been using my WHB04B-4 to start and stop the spindle and a few macros. Past that, the jogging is kinda strange. My machine will move one or two ticks and then Mach3 will freeze for 15-20 seconds. This seems fixable through a Mach3 configuration. Have any of you seen this behavior and know how to fix it?


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## Boswell

Generally jogging works just find for me and about the only thing I use the pendent for. It does feel like there is a sync between the detents in the jog wheel and the actual jogging from Mach3.  Well, most of the time, one "click" on the wheel will cause a Jog of the selected distance but occasionally I will rotate the wheel one "click" but no movement of the table will happen. As this is a very benign failure mode, I just ignore it.  I have never seen Mach3 freeze up. check to be sure you don't have anything else running on the system, even virus software etc. Does Mach3 freeze under any other circumstances besides Jogging?  What about if you jog via the keyboard and not the Pendent?


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## megaplow

I would LOVE to use the pendant for jogging, it is kind of what I bought it for. The machine is running pretty slim, but I will go back and make sure nothing else is running. All works great when keyboard jogging, this is the only thing that causes Mach to freeze. On the syncing issue, what Kernel Speed are you running?


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## Boswell

I will have to check later this evening. Should be the "default" as I don't remember ever changing that.


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## Boswell

I just checked and it is at 25KHz


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## megaplow

Thanks,
I'll check mine and put some time in tonight.


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## megaplow

Figured it out!
Last night I updated to the latest drivers and gave it another go. When in step jog mode the pendant works great. Is it possible to run in continuous jog mode? The step mode is kinda slow and as the jog% gets bigger so do the steps so it is not ideal.


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## Boswell

megaplow said:


> Figured it out!
> Last night I updated to the latest drivers and gave it another go. When in step jog mode the pendant works great. Is it possible to run in continuous jog mode? The step mode is kinda slow and as the jog% gets bigger so do the steps so it is not ideal.


I mostly only use the step mode. About all I use the pendent for is finding and zeroing to edges. I agree long traverses are slow but I don't often have to do that with the jog wheel.  I was never happy with the continuous mode.  I use the MDI for cutting when I don't want to write a GCode program or go into my CAM system etc. and for long traverses.


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