Current loop board

**gola** · 01-24-2006, 11:22 AM

I use WECO equipment for edging,CNC-90, tracer and Weco 430. All of them are connected thru current loop to a computer running the old TSM-30. This computer has a board that connects to current loop and serial port1.
Since this is a very old system, i am looking for a spare one.
I has seen in Internet that there are some current loop to RS232 converter.
http://www.lanode.com/tier2/cloop.htm
Has anyone used one of this generic current loop converters instead of the expensive one that Weco sells.
Maybe someone has information of the specifications of the Weco current loop
to see if one of this generic devices could be adapted .

**shanbaum** · 01-24-2006, 12:14 PM

I think you'll find that the Weco current loop is quite non-standard. I tried using generic converters a long time ago and never could get one to work.

I don't remember the details of Weco's non-conformity; it was a long, long time ago that I was looking at this...

GC stopped making CL boards when ISA slots disappeared from PC's. The board itself is astoundingly simple, and it really doesn't have to reside in a PC's slot at all, as the only thing it got from the ISA bus was power. The parts on the board are pretty common (unless they're now obsolete, which I doubt). You could probably make a copy yourself, if you can solder.

Of course, if you were to do that, we'd have to hunt you down and kill you...

(Just kidding, Alberto).

**gola** · 01-25-2006, 07:51 AM

Shanbaum thanks for you answer. I promess i will not to copy it.
By the way, do you remember how many volts is the power it get from the isa board?

**shanbaum** · 01-25-2006, 07:57 AM

Originally Posted by gola

Shanbaum thanks for you answer. I promess i will not to copy it.
By the way, do you remember how many volts is the power it get from the isa board?

Not without looking it up. The pinouts for an ISA slot should be widely available on the Internet. Look at the board, I think you'll see there are only two connections. My recollection is that they were + and - 5 volts (the ISA slot also provides +/- 12... or was it just -12?... brain failure... press nose to desk to reboot...)