From: "Rich Rock" <wealthy_stone hotmail com>
To: "Mr23" <mr23 mn rr com>
CC: Elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu
Subject: Re: (ET) Alltrax ControllerPRO
Date: Sun, 7 Nov 2004 20:25:00 -0600
Chris,
After describing the problem to Steve, he explained that I probably had the
wrong port setting on my computer. He walked me through the steps to
change the computer to recognize "port 1" and the problem was fixed. I
wish I could write out those steps here but I am not skilled on computers
so will need to leave that to someone else. There was some sticky material
on my controller port and I wiped it off as best I could but it did not
impact the connection.
As a follow up to my "wig wag" foot control pedal, it is working very, very
well. Push forward with your toes and the tractor moves forward. Rock the
pedal back to neutral in the middle or keep going with your heel and the
tractor switches into reverse. It is very intuitive and my 11 year old son
mowed our 1 1/2 acres (with about 50 trees to mow around) this weekend. As
a safety feature, I changed the Alltrax ControllerPro software to go 1/2
speed in reverse. With the tractor in a fairly high speed forward gear, I
found the reverse intimidating when working around our trees - the foot
pedal/Alltrax combination allows one to infinitely control speed but in a
high gear reverse ramps up pretty quickly with small changes to the pedal.
The 1/2 speed feature made reverse much more easy to control.
The only negative with the current pedal configuration regards the neutral
position. There is a detent but it is not firm enough so I need to go back
to the drawing board and get something little better.
Rich Rock
April 1971 E12s (Alltrax conversion)
I-5 Many thanks to John Kuehn for selling/shipping to me an I-5 (not
working) last week. Looking foward to rebuilding this new toy.
B&D CM1000
Of all the enemies to liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded,
because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the
parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and
debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the
domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the
Executive is extended; its influence in dealing out offices, honors, and
emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds, are
added to those of subduing the force, of the people.
-- James Madison, Letters and Other Writings of James Madison (1865)
----- Original Message -----
From: Mr23
To: Rich Rock
Cc: Elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu ; Steve Richardson
Sent: Saturday, November 06, 2004 3:28 PM
Subject: Re: (ET) Alltrax ControllerPRO
Rich, did you get your Alltrax working with the ControllerPRO?
I tried mine today for the first time, and I'm getting the same
"Controller not responding", accompanied by the 1 red blink "throttle
position sensor over range" error code.
The serial port connector on my Alltrax is goobered up with silicone,
did yours have that?
Could be I'm getting no electrical contact because of it.
I called Alltrax, and the recording at 541-476-3565 says to call Cliff
Reese at 626 859 3103 for technical questions, but that 626 number is not
in service...
Hope someone can help...
-Chris
952...451...2021 cell.
----- Original Message -----
From: Rich Rock
To: Elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu
Sent: Saturday, October 23, 2004 6:16 PM
Subject: (ET) Alltrax ControllerPRO
Has anyone used the Alltrax software ControllerPRO to change the
settings for their DCX300-ET? I need to change the pot input setting so
today downloaded the software from the Alltrax web site and hooked my WinXP
computer to the controller with the DB-9 serial cable as instructed. All I
got was "Controller not responding". I then took the DCX300 out of the
machine and wired it as shown in the directions with 2 9v batteries in
series and hooked to the apporpriate pins. The controller LED flashed red
so was powered but again all I got on my computer was "Controller not
responding".
I'll be calling Mike on Monday but hoped someone out there may have
some experience with this.
After installing the DCX300-ET I was disappointed with the pot
assembly shipped by Alltrax. I wanted to have something with the
forward/reverse built into the foot pedal so I have custom built a foot
pedal with a 20K potentiometer with the 2 end leads wired together. This
creates a pot with 0K-5K from the start of rotation to the center and then
5K-0K from the center to the end of the rotation. I have also placed a
forward/reverse switch that activates at the center (neutral) position. My
last task is to mount a second swith for the "throttle" role that will be
triggered in the neutral (5K) position. The controllers are currently
shipped with 5K as full throttle so I need to change the controller to a
setting that recognizes 0K as full throttle. When complete, this foot
pedal should work very similar to a modern hydrostat type foot control in
which the operator pushes forward with the toe to go forward, neutral is in
the center position, and pushing (rocking) back on the heel causes the
tractor to go in reverse. The pedal has friction locks to hold position
and a detent to indicate neutral.
Rich Rock
Of all the enemies to liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded,
because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the
parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and
debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the
domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the
Executive is extended; its influence in dealing out offices, honors, and
emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds, are
added to those of subduing the force, of the people.
-- James Madison, Letters and Other Writings of James Madison (1865)
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