# Any experience with Prototrak Plus, RS-232, and Win 7 out there?



## dwent (Feb 14, 2013)

Hi Folks,

I'm brand new to the group....

I've an old Prototrak Plus 2-axis CNC on a Bridgeport. These were made in 1990-92, back when RS-232 was the standard.
The control still works great but I've never tried to interface it with my PC - I just write the program at the control.

I'm actually thinking of buying a CAM program, and serveral of the vendors say they have post processors for the Prototrak Plus.
It occured to me that I'd better verify that I can get my PC and the Prototrak communicating over RS-232 before I plunk down some cash on a CAM program.

PC's don't come with serial ports anymore, and I've learned that Windows 7 no longer includes software for serial ports - XP was the last version for that.

So - is there anyone out there that has figured out how to hook up a 32-bit Windows 7 machine to the old RS-232 interface?

Any advice would be appreciated - thank you,
Don


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## 09kevin (Feb 15, 2013)

Hi Don,

I did a search on CNCZone.com and found this http://www.cnczone.com/forums/want_buy_need_help/117938-prototrak_plus_2axis_mill.html  There are more posts on the Prototrak there also.    Hope this helps.

Kevin


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## Kevin45 (Feb 15, 2013)

Go to www.southwesternindustries.com 

That's the website for ProtoTraks. They have a fairly good question and answer section or did. Or drop an e-mail to one of their people. They are very good at getting back to you with answers. We ran ProtoTraks in my toolroom, both two axis and three axis. But we were still using the RS-232 to converse from computer to machine.

I've been retired for two years now so I don't know whether they have upgraded the computers at work or not to answer your question. SouthWestern will help you out though.


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## dwent (Feb 15, 2013)

Thanks for the tips Gentlemen...

If I can get this to work I'll post a "how to" on it

Regards,
Don


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## jumps4 (Feb 15, 2013)

I dont know anything about a ProtoTraks but i was wondering if this might help with your gender problem
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Belkin-USB-...US_Internal_Network_Cards&hash=item460ae7313b
steve


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## dwent (Feb 18, 2013)

Thanks - while looking at that usb to serial cord (link above on ebay) I found a guy who has a cable kit for older Prototraks, and he recommends getting a dedicated rs-232 card/port

I think I'll try that first and see if I can stay clear of usb to rs-232 converters and having to install hyperterm communication software


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