Thanks for that, very interesting. If you are undecided about sinking or sourcing, in industrial applications we NEVER SWITCH THE NEUTRAL because some short circuit events can cause equipment to start and not be able to switch off. Sinking is switching the neutral, DON'T USE IT!, use the sourcing option please.
Thanks for the overview. I wish I found this video before hooking mine together. Didn't let the magic smoke out but wasn't 100% sure that I wasn't going to.
Me: Not an Engineer, Hobbyist an best. You: Very Detailed in describing the operation of this device. So: Thank you this is definitely going to help with my plasma cutter controller design. Also: earned you a like and Subscribe too....
Thank you 😊. I have an E and two ED. One of the ED will be going to my school for a project we're working on. I figured since the E keeps running out of stock, I'd just use the hidden secret, since there's 30 of them still available 😆
I liked this video, I hit the thumbs up, I am subscribed, I watched every second of it - my morning coffee. I am a complete noob, to electronics, machining, CNC, etc - and am completely out of my element but I am determined to learn. I like your style of explanation, etc. I hope you don't mind if I leave a suggestion or two...I would like to see a video about some of the wiring and electronics considerations that go into this. Like what gauge wire should be used and why, why 24V, I have a 48V power supply for my motors. I figure if every day I learn something more, then every day I get closer. Right now I am going to find a wiring diagram for the 7i76 I ordered and will print that out, its a start.
5v and 24v are commonplace on industrial CNC equipment. 48v is into the realm of high voltage supplies for steppers, etc. Most IO communications happen at the 5v or 24v level, occasionally 12v, but not often. The mesa cards only handle 32v but will run at the 5v level as well. It's suggested to run 24v into the field IO and into the tb3 section with the jumpers as I mentioned in my video because that will convert 24v to 5v level to power 5v IO and the Ethernet section but supply 24v to the field IO, unless you have a specific reason to separate your signal level (5v) and io level (24v). It just saves space and uses less power supplies. 24v, 5A is a good power supply for general purpose use with the mesa 7i76e. Wire gauge is based on length of run and amount of voltage required. I personally use 18-20awg for most but you can run 22-24 at signal level but i like something that's got some meat to it. My mains wire is usually 14awg because home breakers don't venture much higher than 15 amps, 12awg for 20.
@@TheFeralEngineer great explanation. love the channel...im about to switch one of my machines to linux cnc... i know it quite a different animal than mach 3...i think your videos will help me get over most of the hurdles.....thank you for this and all of your knowledge.
@@minskmade as a side note, Mach and Linuxcnc share the same ancestral history. Emc was forked into Mach 1 for widows and emc2 for Linux, which eventually became Mach 3 and LinuxCNC respectively. Anything Mach can do, LinuxCNC can do, but in different ways. Think of it as baking a cake. Mach is a premixed box of yellow mix, Linuxcnc is a countertop full of ingredients
I ordered a pi for the lathe I'm building. It'll be my first attempt at using a pi with the 7i76e. There's also a 7c81 board I'm interested in finding out more information about, it connects directly to the gpio header on the pi and gives you 3 26 pin io points
@@TheFeralEngineer I have watched Chris videos about the pi. I have done some testing with my own logic shifters. I am going to order one his boards out of the next batch. I used his Hal and ini file. It was pretty easy to follow. Very interesting how the Hal file is setup for the pi. Thanks for the great effort you are doing. I have watched a few of your videos and all are great.
If I understand correctly, the 7i76 is a DB25 breakout, this board is more like a 5i25 combined with 7i76 that uses Ethernet instead of PCI. It still offloads step generation from the PC right? I'm having a rough time understanding how all the components work together
Ive got a 5i25 and 7i77 plug n play. I was considering leaving the servos to step direct and using 1 micron glass slides to the control. Not sure how well this will work.
@@duediligence791 interesting. I've wondered about this because the servo drives I've seen use the rotary encoders as their feedback. It's not necessary to feed the encoders back to linuxcnc, so theoretically you could use glass slides for absolute positioning.
Another superb explanation. I'm running 3 machines with 5i20+7i33. Analog servo drives in all of then. From your explanation, if I'm understanding well, the 7i76 is like designed for steppers more than for servos. I'm right? Could be used the 7i76 for analog servos? Thanks very much
The 7i76 will handle anything that supports step and direction, so steppers and some servos will work - DMM and clear path have supporting hardware, I'm using DMM on my mini mill with a 7i76e, but they are only closed loop from the motors to the drives, not the software. With the expansion card capability, I can connect the encoder feedback to the expansion board and still use full closed loop if I wanted, while still retaining step and direction drive. If you want to drive analog servos, you have the choice of the 7i77, which is a parallel port card or the 7i97, which is Ethernet. The 7i77 can be made to run on an Ethernet connection with a 7i92 board attached to the DB25 of the 7i77 or use the 7i97. Downside to the 7i97 is less IO but it's a 6 axis card instead of 5 and you still get expansion slots for additional IO if needed. Both of those boards will support analog servo as well as full encoder feedback loop
Thank you for your videos! One frustration that I've had is software. Ideally I'd like to use old laptops with 32 bit CPU's. My latest I've installed LinuxCNC 2.7.14 "Wheezy" Does the 7i76E work with this version?
I don't see why not. My only thought would be the encoder inputs might not be great and higher speeds with the limited performance of the pi, but otherwise you should be okay. I'd email Peter Wallace at Mesa to know for sure, though. pcw@mesanet.com
@@TheFeralEngineer I will not use the encoders inputs just the I/O ports for the axis and spindle output, currently it's working with mach3 but I want to migrate my system to linuxCNC, and thanks I would appreciate it very much.
@The feral engineer the 7i76e is out of stock and I saw that the 7i96 have few outputs and inputs, but you think that is enough for my cnc? for that I wanted to buy the 7i95, but I'll considerate your opinion because you have more experience than me
I want to use 2 pcs linear incremental encoder for x,y and an rotary encoder for z position. Is it possible with this motion controller? Do I need to buy additional brakeout I/O panel for it?
@@gmzsolt yes. You would also need to buy one for the 7i76e because it only supports one encoder. The other two are single ended for mpg use, primarily. You'd probably be better off with a 7i95 or you'd have to add on a 7i85 to either of the other options
yes need find this board cheap less 100$ maybe, all ower 90$ have lot lot owerprice. normal paraller port controller cost 10$ not much more need pay one card. mesa have all owerprice lot thief and scammers.
@@TheFeralEngineer uh, ower 200$ super expensive. its thief and scam lot hobby users not newer can buy this. price need be less than 80$. who make copy and cheapen card.
For using the two expansion IO ports, they need the connections with two extra breakout boards, am I right? If so, may I connect other brands' ones instead of the Mesa ones that it recommends. Thanks.
You can utilize the header pins by themselves but you need to resistors to protect the board from spikes. I've not done this, but Peter from Mesa mentioned it as an alternative to something I had a question about a while back. You should be able to use the headers with other types of breakout boards, but the mesa ecosystem is very robust, so I would suggest sticking with it if it fits your needs
not hobby users card, too expensive, i need build wood mill cnc to my son but mesa card have totally owerprice too expensive use hobby maker shop. were can buy mesa card or copy cheap, less than 100$ because normal hobby builder not can pay 100-300$ one card.
@@mattivirta unfortunately, I don't have any answers for you. Considering the price of a comparable Ethernet smooth stepper, mesa prices are right in line with their respective market
Thanks for that, very interesting. If you are undecided about sinking or sourcing, in industrial applications we NEVER SWITCH THE NEUTRAL because some short circuit events can cause equipment to start and not be able to switch off. Sinking is switching the neutral, DON'T USE IT!, use the sourcing option please.
Thanks for the overview. I wish I found this video before hooking mine together. Didn't let the magic smoke out but wasn't 100% sure that I wasn't going to.
Let me know if you need any other assistance. Glad to help
Very good job for helping understand the Linuxcnc
Me: Not an Engineer, Hobbyist an best. You: Very Detailed in describing the operation of this device. So: Thank you this is definitely going to help with my plasma cutter controller design. Also: earned you a like and Subscribe too....
I like these card. I own the E-Version! Great cards!
And: great video again
Thank you 😊. I have an E and two ED. One of the ED will be going to my school for a project we're working on. I figured since the E keeps running out of stock, I'd just use the hidden secret, since there's 30 of them still available 😆
Thanks for this great video. I received shipping notification on an E card earlier this afternoon.
I liked this video, I hit the thumbs up, I am subscribed, I watched every second of it - my morning coffee. I am a complete noob, to electronics, machining, CNC, etc - and am completely out of my element but I am determined to learn. I like your style of explanation, etc. I hope you don't mind if I leave a suggestion or two...I would like to see a video about some of the wiring and electronics considerations that go into this. Like what gauge wire should be used and why, why 24V, I have a 48V power supply for my motors. I figure if every day I learn something more, then every day I get closer. Right now I am going to find a wiring diagram for the 7i76 I ordered and will print that out, its a start.
5v and 24v are commonplace on industrial CNC equipment. 48v is into the realm of high voltage supplies for steppers, etc. Most IO communications happen at the 5v or 24v level, occasionally 12v, but not often. The mesa cards only handle 32v but will run at the 5v level as well. It's suggested to run 24v into the field IO and into the tb3 section with the jumpers as I mentioned in my video because that will convert 24v to 5v level to power 5v IO and the Ethernet section but supply 24v to the field IO, unless you have a specific reason to separate your signal level (5v) and io level (24v). It just saves space and uses less power supplies. 24v, 5A is a good power supply for general purpose use with the mesa 7i76e.
Wire gauge is based on length of run and amount of voltage required. I personally use 18-20awg for most but you can run 22-24 at signal level but i like something that's got some meat to it. My mains wire is usually 14awg because home breakers don't venture much higher than 15 amps, 12awg for 20.
@@TheFeralEngineer great explanation. love the channel...im about to switch one of my machines to linux cnc... i know it quite a different animal than mach 3...i think your videos will help me get over most of the hurdles.....thank you for this and all of your knowledge.
@@minskmade and thank YOU for continuing to inspire me to make these videos 😊
@@minskmade as a side note, Mach and Linuxcnc share the same ancestral history. Emc was forked into Mach 1 for widows and emc2 for Linux, which eventually became Mach 3 and LinuxCNC respectively.
Anything Mach can do, LinuxCNC can do, but in different ways. Think of it as baking a cake. Mach is a premixed box of yellow mix, Linuxcnc is a countertop full of ingredients
@@TheFeralEngineer ha nice.
i know mach 3 so well...but i want to know both...because i love all cakes.
Power for inputs do not come directly from power supply. It should come from the isolated field power. The orange connector.
Hmm, makes sense. Learn something new everyday!
FYI - as confirmed by none other than PCW himself and I quote:
"If you are using a single 24V supply, any +24V will do"
@@TheFeralEngineer yes but still has to go through the field power. (orange connector).
thanks. Will probably get to one of these. I am starting out with a Rpi for a bit of fun. Best of luck
I ordered a pi for the lathe I'm building. It'll be my first attempt at using a pi with the 7i76e. There's also a 7c81 board I'm interested in finding out more information about, it connects directly to the gpio header on the pi and gives you 3 26 pin io points
@@TheFeralEngineer I have watched Chris videos about the pi. I have done some testing with my own logic shifters. I am going to order one his boards out of the next batch. I used his Hal and ini file. It was pretty easy to follow. Very interesting how the Hal file is setup for the pi. Thanks for the great effort you are doing. I have watched a few of your videos and all are great.
Thanks, that was very informative.
Great video, you are a master
If I understand correctly, the 7i76 is a DB25 breakout, this board is more like a 5i25 combined with 7i76 that uses Ethernet instead of PCI. It still offloads step generation from the PC right? I'm having a rough time understanding how all the components work together
This is like a 7i92 connected to a 7i76 db25 board, but yes. It's much like the 5i25/6i25 and 7i76 combo, but it uses Ethernet.
@@TheFeralEngineer great, thank you for the response and all the HAL tut's.
Ive got a 5i25 and 7i77 plug n play. I was considering leaving the servos to step direct and using 1 micron glass slides to the control. Not sure how well this will work.
@@duediligence791 interesting. I've wondered about this because the servo drives I've seen use the rotary encoders as their feedback. It's not necessary to feed the encoders back to linuxcnc, so theoretically you could use glass slides for absolute positioning.
Another superb explanation.
I'm running 3 machines with 5i20+7i33. Analog servo drives in all of then.
From your explanation, if I'm understanding well, the 7i76 is like designed for steppers more than for servos.
I'm right?
Could be used the 7i76 for analog servos?
Thanks very much
The 7i76 will handle anything that supports step and direction, so steppers and some servos will work - DMM and clear path have supporting hardware, I'm using DMM on my mini mill with a 7i76e, but they are only closed loop from the motors to the drives, not the software. With the expansion card capability, I can connect the encoder feedback to the expansion board and still use full closed loop if I wanted, while still retaining step and direction drive.
If you want to drive analog servos, you have the choice of the 7i77, which is a parallel port card or the 7i97, which is Ethernet. The 7i77 can be made to run on an Ethernet connection with a 7i92 board attached to the DB25 of the 7i77 or use the 7i97. Downside to the 7i97 is less IO but it's a 6 axis card instead of 5 and you still get expansion slots for additional IO if needed. Both of those boards will support analog servo as well as full encoder feedback loop
Thanks again!
Thank you for your videos! One frustration that I've had is software. Ideally I'd like to use old laptops with 32 bit CPU's. My latest I've installed LinuxCNC 2.7.14 "Wheezy" Does the 7i76E work with this version?
Only if you use the preempt-rt kernel. Rtai is for parallel ports
@@TheFeralEngineer Thank you!
do you know if I can use the 7i95 with raspberry pi?
I don't see why not. My only thought would be the encoder inputs might not be great and higher speeds with the limited performance of the pi, but otherwise you should be okay. I'd email Peter Wallace at Mesa to know for sure, though. pcw@mesanet.com
@@TheFeralEngineer I will not use the encoders inputs just the I/O ports for the axis and spindle output, currently it's working with mach3 but I want to migrate my system to linuxCNC, and thanks I would appreciate it very much.
Have you considered the 7i96 or 7i76e then? The benefit of the 7i95 is the fact that it's a step and direction board with encoder inputs
@The feral engineer the 7i76e is out of stock and I saw that the 7i96 have few outputs and inputs, but you think that is enough for my cnc? for that I wanted to buy the 7i95, but I'll considerate your opinion because you have more experience than me
oh damn, I just found a 52 page manual on this
Hello, Where can I buy it in Europe ? Thank you in advance !
I don't know, sorry
what would a benefits of sourcing or sinking be?
In the event of a loose wire making contact to ground, the output device would not have a way of becoming enabled
Is there any mesa 7i76e in stock in the world?
No, but you can get the new 7i96s
store.mesanet.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=374&search=7i96
I want to use 2 pcs linear incremental encoder for x,y and an rotary encoder for z position. Is it possible with this motion controller? Do I need to buy additional brakeout I/O panel for it?
@@gmzsolt yes. You would also need to buy one for the 7i76e because it only supports one encoder. The other two are single ended for mpg use, primarily. You'd probably be better off with a 7i95 or you'd have to add on a 7i85 to either of the other options
Can find this board anywhere, or am looking in the wrong spots.
Here ya go 😊
store.mesanet.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=290
@@TheFeralEngineer Thank you!
@@rockyblankenship1166 happy to help 👌👌
yes need find this board cheap less 100$ maybe, all ower 90$ have lot lot owerprice. normal paraller port controller cost 10$ not much more need pay one card. mesa have all owerprice lot thief and scammers.
@@TheFeralEngineer uh, ower 200$ super expensive. its thief and scam lot hobby users not newer can buy this. price need be less than 80$. who make copy and cheapen card.
For using the two expansion IO ports, they need the connections with two extra breakout boards, am I right? If so, may I connect other brands' ones instead of the Mesa ones that it recommends. Thanks.
You can utilize the header pins by themselves but you need to resistors to protect the board from spikes. I've not done this, but Peter from Mesa mentioned it as an alternative to something I had a question about a while back. You should be able to use the headers with other types of breakout boards, but the mesa ecosystem is very robust, so I would suggest sticking with it if it fits your needs
Understand. Thanks
Excellent, thanks!
is input AC or DC?
Dc
Thank you. Thank you for your video too.
not hobby users card, too expensive, i need build wood mill cnc to my son but mesa card have totally owerprice too expensive use hobby maker shop. were can buy mesa card or copy cheap, less than 100$ because normal hobby builder not can pay 100-300$ one card.
So get a Chinese breakout board on AliExpress and stop spamming my page with your garbage
@@TheFeralEngineer im NOT spam, i looking link mesa card price and have true out of hobby users budget, owerprice lot.
@@mattivirta unfortunately, I don't have any answers for you. Considering the price of a comparable Ethernet smooth stepper, mesa prices are right in line with their respective market
@@TheFeralEngineer Hey do you now a way to get a mesacard looks like there are no availible ?
@@JaS-kd6kx unfortunately, I do not. The only available card right now seems to be the 7i96s in small batches