What scan panel?

[Jbarthell]

Hi folks, sorry to bother you but I installed all the software and drivers and upgraded everything but there is no "scan" panel in the control panel app. I registered the probe but still no response, tried to register again now it chokes and tries to save the registration data to a file.... what is the big deal here... you pay hundreds no wait thousands of dollars and nothing but aggravation I'm about to take a sledge hammer to the shark and finally get some satisfaction out of this multi-thousand dollar waste of money!

Ok im sorry is there a trick to getting the scan panel to show up? Where exactly do I have to stick the probe to make it happy?

[4DThinker]

It's been awhile since I bought the probe, but with the new controller software I believe after registering you'll get an email with a new code to enter, and when you then register the device using the new code within the software then the features for the device show up.

I recently bought the touch plate, and the prompt to use it didn't show up in the software until I had entered the new code into the sofware.

[wolffie]

When you download the latest version of the control panel, you get the scan panel. You also get a new jogging mode where you can go down to 0.001".
I have it on mine although I have not connected my probe yet.
Cheers
Wolffie

[Jbarthell]

Thank you very much, I do appreciate the response. You sir are a great person for responding to me so quickly out of the goodness of your heart... the rest of this is directed at NWA not you by any means, feel free to be entertained by my frustration if you are so inclined I take no offense

so I did the registration about 10pm.... I probably got about ummmm 60 hours to stew and fume and gnash my teeth, till somebody gets back to their desk on Monday morning and verifies that I'm not a criminal and what? that I didn't steal someone elses probe or whatever?? what the heck this is hardware they shipped it to me what is so difficult is there a big market of black market probes out there? At this price point why not do a trust model where you know what everything works on day one but if you dont register it in 30 day we reformat your hard drive...

Who amongst us has 60 hours to waste waiting for an email?

gnash, gnash, gnash

[Jbarthell]

I have the latest control panel (and the one before that) neither one has the scan function...

I think it was .22 and .23c (they are installed on the laptop connected ot the shark or Id look right now). neither has the scan panel.

[4DThinker]

I believe it was the last two controller versions where they changed the code to not show add-on options until you registered the serial number off the add-on. I bought my probe when it first came out, and believe the Scan tab showed up with an update they created at that time. There "may" be some software theft going around, but I suspect NWA is more interested in just having a better picture of what Shark, what Controller, and what devices you are using with it for support purposes. Since they've grow to several versions of the Shark, at least two different controllers, and a large number of customers, support must have become a real challenge. Now you register all your parts, and they get an instant picture of what your hardware consists of to help solve your problems. No more wasted time explaining the Scan Tab to people who don't own the probe to take advantage of it or the PC router mount to those with Colt models. Just a theory.

Yep, weekends suck when your probe shows up on Friday and you can't get it to work until Monday. I feel your frustration. Hopefully they hate Monday complaints and are working to improve the email registration so it works quickly and all 7 days of the week.

[Jbarthell]

Yeah! registration key showed at 7am! that ain't bad. I will give 'em credit for that. Obviously exceeded my expectations ;'-)

actually 2 showed up, not sure which to use I'll try the first key that was likely using the latest software.

Thanks again going to go try it now...

Understand completely not showing the panel if there is no probe but they COULD only display it if the probe is plugged in, (since the software only runs if the usb is plugged in, and in fact embed a unique address in each probe and harvest the information at runtime. eliminate the need to register the device at all AND gain the information you pointed out would be so useful.)

Oh well off to try the new key hope this works....

[jeb2cav]

In the beginning, all the options show on the panel for the first 30 days after installing the software (v20). Up until the zero plate was fielded in v23, the only option was the scan. Now the zero plate function of the control panel is not shown until it is registered. This change and fielding of the scan plate was not well stated by Rockler or NWA - so there you go. It is pretty well documented though about registration and the number of days you have to register - and that after that, no functionality and in the case of the scan probe panel, it no longer 'shows up'. It may be since v23 that the scan panel doesn't show up without a registration as well during the first 30 days of use.

And this 30 day window is not based on when you install the latest version of the Control Panel. The clock starts ticking with the first installation. So, if you started with v20/v21/v22 for example, you may have forgotten by now that the scan tab was present, but inactive (as you didn't have a probe plugged in) and then disappeared.

I don't disagree with your ideas on how a better process might be created - although I'm not sure that the probe would be able to support/enable this. Certainly the zero plate can't. And while NWA did not publish any release notes for v23, the v22 doc gives a pretty clear sense that you'll need to register the probe and enter the registration before the scan panel opens (if you're beyond 30 days of use of the control panel software).

So, for other folks considering a purchase of the zero plate or scan probe - keep in mind that there will be a registration step to perform after you receive your new toy before you can use it. Hopefully NWA's system performs as well as it did in this case - a few hours.

[4DThinker]

As much as they cost you would think the Probe and the Touch Plate were smart devices. They aren't. They are simple switches, closing a circuit to signal the controller/software. In that simplicity the same jack is easily used for both add-ons, and possibly more to come. I can see a future table coming with limit switches at the ends of X and Y runs and the top of the Z lift. The controller would get a signal when any of those switches are closed and know it should not advance any more in the current direction. It would allows auto-homing of the table, save resetting of the coodinates when your tool path runs out of range, and possibly more. The action it takes during a cut might be to lift to safe-Z until the tool path pulls away from the limit. Keep moving X when against a Y limit, and keep moving Y when against a X limit. Having registered the table's true limits the software can be smart enough to know when (and where) your tool path(s) will exceed them.

[Jbarthell]

Thanks to everyone getting this running and it is running... sort of.... ran for an hour, I expected it to run 26hrs came back and the probe is at z0 everything else seems to be functioning normally. restarted everything and the second time increased step to .04 and speed to 10. it quit about the same place, third time changed the step to .08 and the speed to 20 the z0 error occurred instantly and the probe never dropped. I restarted the scan it worked for a few seconds then z0error...... this time though before I recycled the hardware i tweaked the probe and it started working again. it failed 6 or seven more times in the next 5 minutes and tweaking it got it working again. it looks like it happens whenever the ruby is dragging across a flat surface.

Is there a fix for this? what size crescent wrench do I hit it with?