STEPCRAFT RMC 100
Wireless Remote Control
Product description:
The RMC 100 Wireless Remote Control Jog Pendant is designed to use with
UCCNC software. Included with the RMC 100 package are: the handheld remote
controller, the USB wireless transmitter module, which connects to the
computer’s USB port and transferring data between the PC and the jog pendant
device, and two AA batteries. Using the remote control makes it easier to move
and locate your work piece zero location, especially when the keyboard is out of
reach from the machine.
The remote control comes with a built in LCD screen which continuously shows
and updates the readout values of the axis positions, the stepping mode, and the
spindle’s actual speed. This gives the user real-time feedback without the need
to look at the computer’s monitor. Also the axes can be zeroed and the main
spindle can be switched on/off using the remote control device.
Installing the device drivers on Windows XP, 7, 8 and later operating
systems:
The RMC100 device enumerates as a standard HID (Human interface device) on
the control PC and for this reason there is no need to install any drivers. Just
plug the USB wireless transmitter to the USB port of the PC and the device
drivers installs automatically without any user interaction.
Enabling the plug in on UCCNC:
(Note: The screenshots below are shown with the Touch Probe Screenset, but the setup
and buttons are the same if you have the default version of UCCNC installed)
UCCNC will come with a plug in as part of the software package. However, on
some installations you will need to activate it and then restart UCCNC in order to
start using the remote control.
1) Open UCCNC and click “CONFIGURATION” from the top menu of UCCNC.
2) Then click “GENERAL SETTINGS” from the sub-menu
3) On the configuration page, click the button “CONFIGURE PLUGINS”
4) Look for the Plugin Name: “UCR200 Plugin”.
5) At the end of that line you will see two boxes: “Call Startup” and “Enabled”.
Please make sure both are checked.
6) You will need to close UCCNC and restart the program for the plugin to be
activated.
Using the device:
After the successful installation of the USB drivers and the wireless remote
control’s USB transmitter plugged into the computer’s USB port run UCCNC
control software
By following the instructions above to get back to the CONFIGURE PLUGINS
page in UCCNC, look for the UCR200 Plugin again and select the CONFIGURE
button. A settings window will pop up and all setup of the RMC100 can be done
on this setup screen.
In the current plugin version the following settings can be done:
–
Backlights time: The time in seconds that the backlight of the LCD
remains on after the last touch of the pendant buttons or its dial.
–
Going idle time: The time in seconds till the pendant goes to an idle, low
power mode after touching the pendant's buttons or dial the last time.
–
Backlights brightness: The intensity of the backlight on the LCD display.
–
Number of decimal places: Sets how many decimal places of the numbers
are shown of the position DROs (Digital Read Outs) on the LCD.
–
RF channel: Up to 4 different radio frequency channels can be selected
which makes it possible to use up to 4 separate remote controllers in the
same workspace to control different machines in the same time.
–
Region: YOU MUST LEAVE THIS SET TO “EUROPE”
This screen will also show you the RF Signal Strength to let you know the
connection quality between the remote control and the USB receiver that is
connected to the computer.
The ”window always on the top” setting makes this screen float above all others
in UCCNC.
Properties of the LCD screen and the buttons:
The top right section of the LCD shows the state of UCCNC, the strength of the
radio frequency signal and the power level of the batteries in the remote
controller.
Below this section on the right side of the screen the feed rate (F:) and the
spindle speed (S:) are shown, and when in MPG mode the JOG parameters are
displayed.
Pressing the “MPG mode” button toggles between the MPG and normal
operation modes.
The term “MPG” stands for Manual Pulse Generator and is basically refers to
using the dial to send movement commands to the CNC machine. Selecting
“MPG Mode” will allow you to rotate the dial and move the axis on the machine in
steps based on the indents in the dial.
In normal operation mode pressing the “Axis/FRO/SRO” button selecting through
the axes and the feed rate and spindle speed values. Pressing the button more
then one time makes the selection jog through these properties.
The left side of the LCD screen showing the coordinate DROs of the activated
axis in a decimal number format setup on the UCCNC screen.
The LCD screen can display 4 rows one time, if more then 4 axes are activated
in UCCNC then pressing the “Axis” button jogs through showing and selecting
the other axis. The selected axis coordinates are always displayed inverted.
The device has 9 buttons in total and their functions are the following:
–
The upper buttons can start, feed hold (pause) and stop the program
running. A reset can be also activated in UCCNC.
–
The middle row of buttons have the spindle on/off switching function, the
zero axis function and the previously described MPG/Normal mode
selection.
–
The lower row of buttons has functions for the MPG speed, which can set
the percentage of the jogging speed. The available settable ranges are
100%, 10% and 1%. The MPG step button selects between the
continuous and the stepping jog modes
Selecting the channel of the radio frequency:
In UCCNC on the UCR200 plugin settings screen select the required radio
frequency channel. Press the Cycle start and the reset buttons for 5 seconds.
The pendant will switch to the RF channel settings mode and the channel can be
selected using the encoder wheel on the device. For the correct operation, the
same RF channel has to be selected in the RMC 100 device as which channel
was selected in UCCNC. After the selection was done press the stop button to
step back to normal operation mode. The device saves and keeps the settings
after exiting this mode.
It is important to mention that the region setting should remain in EUROPE mode
for it to work properly.
Error messages:
No connection error.
If this error message appears check that UCCNC is running and if it is then
check if the UCR200 plugin is enabled (see above).
Also check the RF frequency in UCCNC matches the device.
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