I’m trying to understand the depp details of how the JCZ boards work wrt galvo based engravers. My current understanding is as such:
Lightburn talks to the JCZ driver board via usb, implementing BJJCZ’s proprietary protocol.
the JCZ board drives the galvo head via XY2-100.
the JCZ board also controls the laser source.
The root of my question llies here. How does it “talk” to the various laser sources?
Raycus, JPT, Maxx, SPI et al sources seem to have proprietary protocols, generaly running over rs-232.
They also tend to have an external modulation mode, i.e. PWM modulation and a ttl signal for power on/off of the laser,
I presume, based on the fiber type drop down present in the laser source configuration that, for fiber, it may be that the JCZ boards MIGHT use these protocols, especially for MOPA sources, but the lack of these options for UV/CO2 suggests that those default to PWM mode. SPI sources also have their own, more complex control protocol.
I guess that’s why there’s 3 categories of card sold by BJJCZ: fiber, co2/uv/tag, spi. but they all look the same!
All this beacuse i’d prefer to not use PWM mode for my UV laser build, and I don’t wnat to buy yet another controller. And I can’t see how the board could possibly set the pulse width for my UV source when only 3 wiires are connected (gnd, gate, PWM)
My current thinking is that, if my assumptions are correct about the different driver modes, I can essentially spoof a MOPA laser source RS232 comms and translate on the fly to the propietary protocol that my UV laser source uses in “internal mode”, and abuse the timing delays to offset whatever timing overheads this incurs.
If the JPT MOPA mode is setting the pulse width setting per the YDFLP-E-60-M7-M-R manual, it’s essentially sending a single command over a “clocked” serial port.
In fact, at this point, I may as well spoof the JCZ protocol entierly and make an open source controller!