hi All
Just wondering if i used good quality generic serial cable why would i not be able to connect to the Control Technique drive eg. Mentor?
is there some sort of hacking required rather than studing manuals from the drive manufacturer about the pinout, protocol and speed?
I feel like i might be missing something

 

You should be able to make/use your own cable instead of buying an expensive one. But: carefully check the quality of the cables (don't use cheap Chinese aluminium cable), properly shielded and grounded properly twisted, right pin-out, take care of EMC in the connectors, don't short-circuit wires if you solder them (against each other or the connector housing), use proper termination resistors if appropriate, etc. Depending on your hourly rate it could be more expensive than buy a cable.

 

You should be able to make/use your own cable instead of buying an expensive one. But: carefully check the quality of the cables (don't use cheap Chinese aluminium cable), properly shielded and grounded properly twisted, right pin-out, take care of EMC in the connectors, don't short-circuit wires if you solder them (against each other or the connector housing), use proper termination resistors if appropriate, etc. Depending on your hourly rate it could be more expensive than buy a cable.

is it possible that there is some not disclosed trick in the comms which would make creating that cable impossible? so on top of careful wiring some analysis using wire shark will be required? I am asking only for opinion. Many thanks

 

This should be pretty straight-forward by using the details and pinout described in the Mentor MP user's manual, specifically section 4.10 on page 54 here:
https://www.nidec-netherlands.nl/me...ser-guide-en-iss7-0476-0000-07.pdf#G8.1611296

The communication is RS-485, so any USB to RS-485 adapter should work (I recommend using one based on an FTDI chip, though). Then, take any standard CAT-5 cable, cut one end off, and strip back the wires for pins 2, 3, and 7. Connect your adapter to the CAT-5 cable as follows:

USB to RS-485 Adapter	CAT-5 Cable (Mentor MP)
RS-485 +	Pin 2 (RX TX)
RS-485 -	Pin 7 (RX\ TX\)
RS-485 GND (i.e. Reference, REF, Common, COM, Signal Ground, SG, etc.)	Pin 3 (0 V isolated)

 

This should be pretty straight-forward by using the details and pinout described in the Mentor MP user's manual, specifically section 4.10 on page 54 here:
https://www.nidec-netherlands.nl/me...ser-guide-en-iss7-0476-0000-07.pdf#G8.1611296

The communication is RS-485, so any USB to RS-485 adapter should work (I recommend using one based on an FTDI chip, though). Then, take any standard CAT-5 cable, cut one end off, and strip back the wires for pins 2, 3, and 7. Connect your adapter to the CAT-5 cable as follows:

USB to RS-485 Adapter	CAT-5 Cable (Mentor MP)
RS-485 +	Pin 2 (RX TX)
RS-485 -	Pin 7 (RX\ TX\)
RS-485 GND (i.e. Reference, REF, Common, COM, Signal Ground, SG, etc.)	Pin 3 (0 V isolated)

wow well impressed by these details, i will try it out and let you know how it went, thanks a lot