New 424 user, no love with my VistaCNC pendant

[spencyg]

I just installed a 424/407 into my lathe, getting rid of a woefully inadequate C32/ESS combo when I swapped over to 4. I've got everything working again as it should, except for my VistaCNC pendant. It doesn't work at all with the PMDX unit. I see others have had some luck but I'm not one of them. I have tried both an M1 pendant and the simpler P1A, both of which don't do a thing. I'm an experienced Mach4 user so all of the plugin settings are correctly addressed (on the VistaCNC side, at least). I have never had to do anything other than plug the pendant in and make sure the plugin was activated for it to work in other environments (ESS and Vital Systems products) so I'm stumped. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Steve Stallings]

This is not related to using a SmartBOB or any other motion device, it is an issue of
pendant support under Mach4.

VistaCNC's web site says that Mach4 is supported on the P1A-S, P2-S, and P4-S pendants.

You are probably out of luck with the M1 and P1A (plain) versions. Apparently they
are using the micro that runs the LCD screen to do some of the Mach4 stuff.

[spencyg]

Both the M1 and P1A have mach4 plugins and associated firmware updates available on the VistaCNC website. I have used both in Mach4 applications, so this isn't a pendant issue. I can plug either into my mach4 mill or router without a single issue. Are there any settings required in the 424 plugin that I should know about? Brushing off the problem as somebody else's issue when this is my first experience with PMDX hardware and support isn't exactly comforting...

[12strings]

Brushing off the problem as somebody else's issue when this is my first experience with PMDX hardware and support isn't exactly comforting...

And that is not a great way to get people to want to help you out :(  Looking at the main VistaCNC page, they do only mention the P1A-S, P2-S and  P4-S under the Mach4 column.  On the other hand, on the downloads page there do appear to be plugins and firmware for additional models.

So... lets focus back on the problem.  I know this sounds silly, but when you say "doesn't work at all", what exactly do you mean?  Do you see any messages in the Mach4 status line (lower left corner next to the "history" button), or in the history window (click the "History" button)?  When you try to jog, for example, does ANYTHING change on the Mach4 screen?  What if you open the Mach4 log window (Diagnostic menu, then Logging).  Enable the log (click the "play" button) then try jogging from the pendant.  What do you see?

I've never used a VistaCNC pendant, so I'm guessing at things here, but do you have the jog input signals on the Mach4 Config "Input Signals" tab assigned to VistaCNC jog outputs?

[spencyg]

Brushing off the problem as somebody else's issue when this is my first experience with PMDX hardware and support isn't exactly comforting...

And that is not a great way to get people to want to help you out :( 

I expect more from a company I spend my money with. This is all I will say about it since I'm here to fix a problem, not start a dialogue on customer service.

Regardless of that, thank you for jumping in. The plugins are activated in Mach4 the same way they are in my other machines. The lights on the pendants power up when they are plugging in prior to starting mach4 up. All drivers are registered within Windows. Mach4 does not recognize any inputs from the pendant, either in the DRO's or in the history bar. There is no indication from Mach that the pendant is installed and plugged in. This is the first time I've experienced this problem, and I've been using Mach4 for a couple years now, and VistaCNC pendants since they started selling them. As previously stated, I've had no issues with ESS-based and Vital Systems based systems, both of which just start moving when the pendant is activated. I did notice in Mach4 under PMDX control that the inputs, outputs, and mpg tabs have the pendant as an option in the configuration drop downs, this is why I thought maybe there were some settings within Mach that the PMDX motion control requires to recognize the pendant. These drop downs do not contain any reference to the pendant in my other Mach4 systems.

I guess if PMDX doesn't actually work with VistaCNC pendants, that what other options are there? I see an encoder input into the 424 board but I'm not interested at all in creating my own scabbed together pendant or splicing something else in.

Thanks for any help toward the resolution of this issue.
 

[spencyg]

 Ok. I don't know why, but I owe Steve a partial apology. I actually have a new P1A-S pendant on the shelf and I thought "what the heck, I'll try it". It loaded up and everything worked right out of the gate. PMDX should be able to work with any Mach4 enabled VistaCNC pendant, but it apparently does not. I can confirm that the PMDX 424 board does NOT work with the P1A or the M1 pendant. I don't have a P2S or a P4S pendant handy so I can't  verify those, but the P1A-S pendant does work and does not require any special settings within Mach4 other than enabling the pendant plugin within the Mach4/Config/Plugin tab.

Hopefully this bit of hair-pulling will benefit others who are considering using a VistaCNC pendant, and hopefully they read this before purchasing the "wrong" one.

Now I get to see whether the 424 board can run a threading routine any better than the ESS can.

[Home CNC]

I recently bought a P4-Se pendant and the plugin in Mach 4 would not open.  It works fine but not able to open the app.  I contacted VistaCNC and they told me they don't have a working Mach 4 plugin yet, working on it.  But the pendant works.  Just not able to adjust settings with the plugin.

It is an outstanding pendant though!  Very nice in velocity mode to get quickly to the touch off point and just slowing down the MPG turning go very slow to touch. 

I went with the e version because it makes the Emergency Stop button in the pendant a hard wired switch as well as the software switch.  Still works with the software USB Emergency Stop.  Pendant does not go directly into USB, first to the switch box with a relay hard wired to the switch then to the USB.  Wires from the relay box go to hard E Stop on the circuit board.  That way for safety it will cut off the machine for sure regardless of what the USB port or software is doing.