Shumatech DRO-550 problems

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Chucketn

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I somehow have managed to mess up myShumatech DRO-550. It all started with erratic scale readings onfirst the Z and then the Y Axes. After several days spent cleaning,disassembling, reassembling, and testing, I finally got all axesworking again.
Next, I had trouble with the bolt holefunction. I had entered the bolthole parameters, and to familiarizemyself with the process, was stepping through the hole locations withthe DRO when I noticed the hole locations were not plotted correctly.I decided to erase the DRO and reload it with the latest version ofOpenDro.
Here's where I have serious problems.When I completed the original build, I was running a desktop with XPPro on it. Now I'm running a laptop with Win7 Home Premium 64 bit. Sono serial port. I have tried to no avail to load the latest versionof OpenDro on the DRO-550. I have tried both AMTEL's SAM-BA andBossa. Neither program will connect to the DRO-550.
I even dragged an older Dell Desktopout of storage, loaded XP Pro, SP3, updates, SAM-BA, and Bossa. Nocommunication from either program using USB or serial. The onlyproblem I can see is SAM-BA does not offer the USB connection. Bothprograms see comm 1 but will not connect. I think it is a driverproblem, but I'm not sure.
Somebody please help! I am a retiredcomputer tech, and a very long time ago I was an electronics tech, soI know my way around computers and such. But, this has me baffled. Ihave become used to using the DRO on my mill and was just gettingready to try setting it up on my lathe.
Anyone else have this issue? TheDRO-550 seems stuck in programming mode or the current load hasbecome corrupt. HELP! I have a lot invested in the DRO-550 and theShumatech group and website don't seem to want to help. I posted tothe Shumatech group over 24 hours ago and my post has not appearedyet. I have e-mailed Steve S. with no response.
I have also been corresponding withRick Sparber, but even his help hasn't got me going again.


Chuck
 
Splat, I went there first! But that group doesn't have the following of this one, or the other 5 hobby machinist groups I'm on. I was hoping to find an expert to help me fix it! Still hoping !

Chuck
 
Hi Chuck, sorry to hear about the difficulties your having. I have both the DPU-550 and DRO-550 and have not had any of the problems you are experiencing. I have found the documentation at this location to be very effective:

http://www.shumatech.com/web/products/opendro

The last time I upgraded my software I used Windows 7 and a USB and Bossa with no problem. Your situation almost sounds like a connection problem internal to the board. You might want to start by going over the board with a magnifier looking for any suspect connections or solder joints. The symptoms you list are not those of s/w issues, more likely you dealing with a h/w issue. Since these units need a good power source you might want to check to make sure you have the correct voltage at the input. Marginal sized walwarts will give you problems. I do not know what type of scales you are using but if they are capacitive type make sure the connections are soldered and not conflicting with the adjacent connection. The plugs on these scales do not work well.

I would start by examining the board closely including any jumpers. I would then read all of the documentation including release notes on the latest s/w. Next, I would methodically step through the Bossa/openDRO instructions and see what happens.

Jim
 
As long as your cables are correct and working, I'd have to agree that's it's a driver issue. Is there a way to duplicate your old setup? If so, you could create a virtual computer with Virtual Box that will run from your windows machine, but acts like whatever you installed. I use it to keep a copy of XP Pro around for certain programs that don't like Win8 (like turbotax!).
 
I have sucessfully reprogrammed my 550with the help of a member from another forum. He provided me with theorigional programming software which had to be installed on an XPmachine to work. All's well...


Chuck
 
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