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Re: (ET) Alltrax ControllerPRO
I received a call back today from Alltrax (thanks for calling!) and they answered all my questions. When I tried the ControllerPRO tonight it worked first time. More below.
Yes, there is 'grease' (according to Alltrax it's Vaseline) on and in the port connections, to keep the potting material from clogging up the pins.
My unit had a glob of silicone (or at least looked like it was a glob of silicone) on the serial connector.
The connectivity problem I ran into turned out to be an undisclosed 'feature' of the software. Turns out, if you desire to connect using COM port 1, and something else (like a PDA hot sync app) is holding that port open when you start the ControllerPRO software, C..PRO will skip over COM port 1, and select COM port 2 (or the next available COM port) as the 'default'. If you free up the port (by closing the 'other' app), then select COM port 1 on the C..PRO settings/port dialog, it will still fail to initialize COM port 1. You have to exit C..PRO and restart the application for it to work. The 'refresh' button is not enough to make it work. I should have figured that and restarted the app, but I was trying to squeeze in a quick test/setup session in between home improvement projects... and getting as far as I did took a lot longer than I expected the whole 'configuration' session to last. I did spend my late evening modifying the Alltrax supplied wiring diagram to reflect my E16's desired wiring, including all Elec-trak stock wire labels. I should be able to follow the diagram now and rewire more quickly. I've already removed all but the PTO contactor and it's support wiring/card.
On the issue of the 'technical support' phone number that is recited on the Alltrax answering machine message, Alltrax said it was Cliff's cell phone, and guessed that his cell phone was not in active service (and didn't take a message either). 

Hope this helps the next guy.

-Chris
'02 Prius
E16
CMM650
----- Original Message ----- From: "john briese" <goodguyforsure hotmail com> 
To: <wealthy_stone hotmail com>; <mr23 mn rr com>
Cc: <Elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu>
Sent: Monday, November 08, 2004 7:38 AM
Subject: Re: (ET) Alltrax ControllerPRO
The "sticky" stuff on the port is grease to keep water out. No need to wipe it off as it will not affect electrical connections. 
John Briese
I-5/alltrax


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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