Heidenhain DRO Display Units

Hi - I have a Heidenhain 3 axis DRO system fitted to my milling machine and am very happy with its general performance. It is an ex-industrial piece of kit fitted with a Type VRZ 720B/760R series display unit which can be pre-programmed in a number of ways via the keyboard. One of the many options is to vary the baud rate (parameter 06) but I am not sure why and when one would need to make any changes to this particuclar setting. Perhaps someone would be kind enough to explain its workings.

If it is a self-contained system, I can see no reason why the baud rate would need changing

If, however, it can communicate with other equipment then they need to be talking/listening at the same speed [and using the same protocol]

Not sure if that helps, or if I am just stating the obvious [in which case, I apologise]

MichaelG.

Even if it were self contained one might want to reduce the baud rate to improve noise immunity.

Industrial kit is often reconfigured in a group, that is many devices are wired together and can be updated at the same time, or monitored.

In addition to the keyboard, there's probably a data socket on the back. Modern kit sometimes has an Ethernet or USB connection, and some are probably be on to Wifi and Bluetooth by now. Earlier devices typically have a less sophisticated RS232 or RS422 socket, where the reader and writer have to be set to the same baud rate, parity, and stop/start bit convention before they can talk.

If you had lots of DROs or VFDs, it would be possible to compose all their settings on a laptop in a comfy office. Once the laptop is ready, walk down a line with it, plugging in to install the same settings on as many machines as wanted. Much quicker and more reliable than faffing with a separate keyboard on each machine. Very handy when installing lots of new kit, reconfiguring for different work, or resetting after a fault. Not so useful if you've only got a few machines.

The other reason for having a data socket is the DRO can probably transmit readings to a remote console. It's handy for monitoring several machines and logging what they're up to. If you suspect someone is wasting company time and money making rabbits, you can prove it...

Dave

VRZ 720 Pilot

VRZ720 installation & setup

The Pilot tells you how to operate the unit, but makes no mention of the RS232 output function. The Installation manual goes into more detail about how to set up communications & specifically mentions printers. This could be useful if the counter was used on a tool presetter to print a label with the tool diameter & length values, for example.

HTH

Nigel B.

Hi everyone - Thanks for the replies and support given on the subject. As I am working with a stand alone system I can see that baud rate is of no great concern to me.