Hi all.
The CNC repair guy that comes into the place I work gave me an older 2
axis DRO setup for nearly nothing the other day. He is a nice guy, I
like him. I am planning to put it on my old Sheldon lathe. The reader
head on the long scale was not working, but I managed, through some
careful surgery, to get it functioning again.

It is an Anilam "Miniwizard" readout. I downloaded a manual from the
anilam website. There seem to be lots of variants to the Miniwizard
line, but the manuals they have on line don't seem to cover my unit.It
indicates that by pushing the "8" button ten times, I can get into the
"Setup" mode to choose scale resolution, direction, Dia/radius, default
to inch or metric on power up, etc. Well, that don't work! He had
mentioned that some of these units have "hidden" buttons on the front
panel, meaning that they are there behind the flat flex panel, but are
not labeled. I checked that, and sure enough, there below the X and Y
buttons are 3 secret buttons. The problem is, I don't know how to use
them. I tried pushing in different combinations, etc, but nothing works.
I would like to access this so that I can use a different (physically
smaller) scale that I have for the X axis on my lathe.

Any of you guys have one of these units and know how to do this? Or
have a manual? Google has not been much help. I may try calling Anilam
next week sometime, but I have not had much luck with that in the past.

Any guidance would be most appreciated.

Thanks for any ideas!

Best regards,
AL A.

Al, does your manual contain the diagnostic or self-test procedure?

The manual I have (a photocopy from Acu-Rite/Anilam) covers the Micro, Mini
and Wizard models, and Setup is described the same as what you stated (#8
key pressed 10 times).
The wording doesn't specifically state that the scales should be attached to
enter the Setup mode, but I believe they should be.

The Wizard Digital Readouts Operating Manual is p/n 70000119 which covers
the units with flat front panels with silkscreened, plastic sheet
overlay-membrane-like keypads (not hard button keys like most PC keyboards
have).
These membrane front panel models are early 1990s models, IIRC.

I don't know if you've removed the front panel to see if any unmarked
switches exist behind the plastic overlay, or if you've just felt that there
may be holes in the metal behind the overlay.
I've had both of my units apart, and have not found any unlabeled switches,
but I have noticed that different models use-or-omit certain functions at
the front panel (some have a hard on/off switch on the rear panel, and
others have a front keypad on/off soft switch, for example.. or any of 4
available output options for the Miniwizard model).

If you don't have the Diagnostic procedure in your literature, I'll type it
out if you want to see it. If your model isn't the same type that I've
described, it may not help.

WB
..........
metalworking projects
www.kwagmire.com/metal_proj.html


"Al A." wrote in message
. ..
Hi all.
The CNC repair guy that comes into the place I work gave me an older 2
axis DRO setup for nearly nothing the other day. He is a nice guy, I like
him. I am planning to put it on my old Sheldon lathe. The reader head on
the long scale was not working, but I managed, through some careful
surgery, to get it functioning again.

It is an Anilam "Miniwizard" readout. I downloaded a manual from the
anilam website. There seem to be lots of variants to the Miniwizard line,
but the manuals they have on line don't seem to cover my unit.It indicates
that by pushing the "8" button ten times, I can get into the "Setup" mode
to choose scale resolution, direction, Dia/radius, default to inch or
metric on power up, etc. Well, that don't work! He had mentioned that some
of these units have "hidden" buttons on the front panel, meaning that
they are there behind the flat flex panel, but are not labeled. I checked
that, and sure enough, there below the X and Y buttons are 3 secret
buttons. The problem is, I don't know how to use them. I tried pushing in
different combinations, etc, but nothing works. I would like to access
this so that I can use a different (physically smaller) scale that I have
for the X axis on my lathe.

Any of you guys have one of these units and know how to do this? Or have
a manual? Google has not been much help. I may try calling Anilam next
week sometime, but I have not had much luck with that in the past.

Any guidance would be most appreciated.

Thanks for any ideas!

Best regards,
AL A.


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Wild_Bill wrote:
Al, does your manual contain the diagnostic or self-test procedure?

The manual I have (a photocopy from Acu-Rite/Anilam) covers the Micro,
Mini and Wizard models, and Setup is described the same as what you
stated (#8 key pressed 10 times).
The wording doesn't specifically state that the scales should be
attached to enter the Setup mode, but I believe they should be.

The Wizard Digital Readouts Operating Manual is p/n 70000119 which
covers the units with flat front panels with silkscreened, plastic sheet
overlay-membrane-like keypads (not hard button keys like most PC
keyboards have).
These membrane front panel models are early 1990s models, IIRC.

I don't know if you've removed the front panel to see if any unmarked
switches exist behind the plastic overlay, or if you've just felt that
there may be holes in the metal behind the overlay.
I've had both of my units apart, and have not found any unlabeled
switches, but I have noticed that different models use-or-omit certain
functions at the front panel (some have a hard on/off switch on the rear
panel, and others have a front keypad on/off soft switch, for example..
or any of 4 available output options for the Miniwizard model).

If you don't have the Diagnostic procedure in your literature, I'll type
it out if you want to see it. If your model isn't the same type that
I've described, it may not help.

WB
.........
metalworking projects
www.kwagmire.com/metal_proj.html



WB,
Thanks for taking the time to reply. The unit I have is older than
your, I think. The keyboard on my unit is not a membrane type, there are
actual switches mounted on a PC board behind the front panel overlay.
There are switches there, you can feel them click, and just to be sure I
opened up the case.

Thanks for offering to type out the diagnostic procedure. But I am
pretty sure that I have the same manual that you describe. It outlines a
diagnostic procedure, but that does not work on the unit I have.
Unfortunately the actual model number on the back of the unit has worn
off or faded away. The sticker is there, but no numbers. There seems to
be quite a variety of units encompassed under the "MiniWizard" name.

I think I am going to try giving Anilam a call this week when I have
time. I do have a contact there that is always helpful to the extent
that he is able. The seem to not have lots of support info on old units
like this. I guess that is understandable, given the type of customers
that they generally serve.

Thanks again for your help.

Best regards,
AL A.

When you call the company (Acu-Rite now) for additional info, it may be
useful if you could find etched or printed part numbers and/or version of
the main board to mention to the tech/engineering support person.
The P/Ns are often etched in copper characters, and P/Ns or version numbers
may also be silkscreen-printed, although some are hand written with
fine-point permanent marker ink.

Additionally, you might also be able to find some dates or date codes
inside. Codes are generally four-digit numbers year-week or week-year (week
being 01 to 52 for number of weeks in a year).
The places I've usually found production dates are on the power
transformers, or codes on the ICs and other semiconductors.

I've had several different brands of DROs, but only these 2 Anilam units.
The only other setup sequence I remember.. is to press and hold a key and
then turn the power on, and wait for dashes to appear in the displays before
releasing said key, but I think that was a Sargon DRO.

When I requseted manuals and schematics from the company (expecting to pay
for them), I was surprised when they sent them for free.

WB
..........
metalworking projects
www.kwagmire.com/metal_proj.html


"Al A." wrote in message
. ..


WB,
Thanks for taking the time to reply. The unit I have is older than your,
I think. The keyboard on my unit is not a membrane type, there are actual
switches mounted on a PC board behind the front panel overlay. There are
switches there, you can feel them click, and just to be sure I opened up
the case.

Thanks for offering to type out the diagnostic procedure. But I am pretty
sure that I have the same manual that you describe. It outlines a
diagnostic procedure, but that does not work on the unit I have.
Unfortunately the actual model number on the back of the unit has worn off
or faded away. The sticker is there, but no numbers. There seems to be
quite a variety of units encompassed under the "MiniWizard" name.

I think I am going to try giving Anilam a call this week when I have
time. I do have a contact there that is always helpful to the extent that
he is able. The seem to not have lots of support info on old units like
this. I guess that is understandable, given the type of customers that
they generally serve.

Thanks again for your help.

Best regards,
AL A.


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

I forgot to mench, the key/button below Y on my model is CF (correction
factor) and below that is the front on/off for the display unit (even though
there is a hard AC power on/off switch on the rear panel).

WB
..........
metalworking projects
www.kwagmire.com/metal_proj.html


"Al A." wrote in message
. ..


WB,
Thanks for taking the time to reply. The unit I have is older than your,
I think. The keyboard on my unit is not a membrane type, there are actual
switches mounted on a PC board behind the front panel overlay. There are
switches there, you can feel them click, and just to be sure I opened up
the case.

Thanks for offering to type out the diagnostic procedure. But I am pretty
sure that I have the same manual that you describe. It outlines a
diagnostic procedure, but that does not work on the unit I have.
Unfortunately the actual model number on the back of the unit has worn off
or faded away. The sticker is there, but no numbers. There seems to be
quite a variety of units encompassed under the "MiniWizard" name.

I think I am going to try giving Anilam a call this week when I have
time. I do have a contact there that is always helpful to the extent that
he is able. The seem to not have lots of support info on old units like
this. I guess that is understandable, given the type of customers that
they generally serve.

Thanks again for your help.

Best regards,
AL A.


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com