PC-DNC Pro Server download (version 2.3.0)

(Includes both PC-DNC Pro service and native Client for operation on server PC

PC-DNC Pro Client download (version 2.3.0)

(Includes only the PC-DNC Pro Client to enable operation from other PCs on your network)

PC-DNC Pro System Overview

PC-DNC Pro installs and runs as a Windows service.  Unlike PC-DNC Plus, which is a standard Windows application,  PC-DNC Pro is a multi-threaded service that can be controlled using a PC-DNC Pro Client (shown above), which can run on any PC on your network.   

When you start your computer, the PC-DNC Pro service loads and runs automatically, and does not require a user to log on to the PC.  You can use the Windows "Services" menu to assign a system user account to the PC-DNC Pro service if needed.    PLEASE NOTE:   Since PC-DNC Pro runs as a service, you can not use "mapped" drive letters when sending files to or reading files from a network server.  Instead, you must specify complete UNCs path on your network server for each directory accessed by PC-DNC Pro on your network server.   PC-DNC Pro can be configured to communicate with any number of ports (from 1 to 256). Since each DNC window is simply another iteration of the same 1-port DNC application, there is far less complexity to the software design. Each DNC window functions independently of all other applications. You can open, close, or reset each DNC window individually, or you can control them all as a group from the main command window. Since each DNC window is a separate thread within the service, an error that might occur in one DNC window is isolated to one element of the system, and does not affect other DNC windows or the main client command window.

Client/Server capabilities

A PC-DNC Pro "server" can communicate with up to 255 CNC machines. A PC-DNC Pro "client" can connect with any PC-DNC Pro server on your network, and can be used to perform any manual operation that might be needed.   Our "floating client" licensing method permits many clients to connect with each server, regardless of where they are located on the network. If your facility has multiple PC-DNC Pro servers in operation, any client can connect with any server that is currently running.  The Install program for PC-DNC Pro Server includes one Client, which can be run without restriction on the same PC that is running the Server.   To run the client on any other PC on your network (one that does not run the service), download and install the PC-DNC Pro Client software by clicking here.  

Types of Communications Ports

Serial (RS232):

PC-DNC Plus can communicate with CNC controls, BTR devices, or paper tape punch/readers using any logical COM port (RS232 or RS422) on the PC-DNC Plus Server PC. These ports can be native COM ports (COM1 to COM4), or the COM ports provided on a Multi-Port Serial board, such as Comtrol RocketPort boards. PC-DNC Plus can also use serial network hubs, such as those made my Comtrol, Quatech, or Moxa.  For wireless DNC systems, we recommend the Moxa W2150-A or the Quatech SSE-W-100D units.    Baud rates from 110 to 115,200 are available, along with a multitude of configuration options for tape codes, leader/trailer, character masking, etc.

Pre-configured Wireless Ethernet-to-serial kits:

Our new Wireless Ethernet kits come pre-configured with a powerful DLink wireless access point and one Moxa wireless Ethernet device server for each CNC.   The popular Moxa devices have 9-pin serial ports, and all the necessary IP addresses and wireless data encryption pre-configured so that all you need to do is plug them in to your CNC control and "stick" them to the CNC cabinet with the powerful magnets that we provide.     For more information on the Moxa wireless adapters, please click here.

BTR boards:

PC-DNC Plus can transmit serial data to nearly all BTR (Behind the Tape Reader) boards. We recommend the BTR boards manufactured by ADR Corporation because of their extreme flexibility and ease of use. To transmit to an ADR board, simply connect an RS232 cable to an available PC-DNC Plus serial port, and set the DNC option to "Send program w/o Xon in (x) seconds"

Direct BTR connections:

Our "MultiPort PC-DNC Editor can be configured to transmit data directly to the CNCs tape reader port using a parallel (LPTn) printer port. With certain model CNCs that use 5v TTL signals for the tape reader, this direct BTR link can be used instead of a BTR board. The cable length limit between the PC-DNC Plus server PC and the CNCs CPU board is approximately 16 feet (5 meters).  Please note that the device drivers for the PC-DNC Editor's BTR connection are considered to be "legacy" components, and will not work with newer versions of Windows.  Windows 2000 and XP are the last Windows versions supported by this special BTR software.

RS232 Operation

PC-DNC Pro lets you upload & download files using remote commands from the CNCs keyboard, or you can manually "queue" files for sequential output to the CNC. Remote commands are freely programmable so that you can easily accommodate the keyboard restrictions on various CNC controls. When a file is requested from the CNCs keyboard, PC-DNC Pro can be configured to search for the requested file in any sequence of subdirectories (folders) or sub-folders.

Files can be queued directly from a file list box with a toolbar button, or by dragging & dropping the file from the file list to the CNC control’s window. You can also use OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) to drag & drop files from other applications, such as Windows Explorer. You can easily edit or re-arrange the queue list if the sequence of files needs to be changed. Files that are manually queued can be sent automatically after a specified time delay. This way, you can configure PC-DNC Pro to download a file to a BTR board or tape punch/reader as soon as it is queued on the PC-DNC Pro system.

An automatic queue function lets PC-DNC Pro "find" any file that is placed in a designated subdirectory (folder), and queue it for output to the CNC control. By copying a file to this designated "auto-queue" folder, PC-DNC Pro will automatically queue that file to be transmitted to the CNC.  This can be done with any one of several FREE file explorer apps for Android or Apple smart phones.

PC-DNC Pro can also upload files from the CNCs using automatic tape code recognition and automatic program ID recognition. Uploaded files can be stored in separate "upload" directories to prevent confusion with proven files. An automatic versioning system can also assign version numbers to uploaded files.

Remote Monitoring of the DNC System

PC-DNC Plus contains a powerful remote diagnostic capability. If you have access to the PC-DNC Plus server through your network, then remote troubleshooting and diagnostics are easy. If a remote network connection (WAN) is not available, you can connect one of the PC-DNC Plus serial ports to a Hayes compatible MODEM, which is then connected to a standard analog phone line, and set to "auto-answer." A service technician can then dial-up that MODEM, connect to the PC-DNC Plus server, and perform a wide variety of maintenance tasks.

Typical remote service tasks include the downloading of activity log files, security log files, clearing and resetting error conditions, and replacing or updating the .EXE files that compose the PC-DNC Plus system itself.

Features for "Drip-Feed" DNC

PC-DNC Pro includes a powerful "Tool Break Editing" feature. If a DNC cycle is interrupted for any reason, you can quickly highlight the portions of the file you want to run again, stitching together any segments of the file into a special "one-time" sequence. You can then cycle start your CNC again to run only those selected blocks of data. Once the edited sequence has executed, the DNC window discards the edited sequence and returns to normal DNC operation.

PC-DNC Editor

Each PC-DNC Pro Client includes our powerful PC-DNC Editor for quick & easy editing of your NC data files. Toolbar buttons on the PC-DNC Pro main window permit a quick-link to PC-DNC Editor and to the editor's powerful File/Compare function. PC-DNC Editor includes many powerful functions for modifying G-code files, as well as a variety of pop-up calculators and reference files. A more detailed description of the PC-DNC Editor is shown in a subsequent section.

Security System

PC-DNC Pro has a comprehensive "logon" security system, which can be disabled for those shops not requiring user logon security. With the system activated, you can restrict individual users to the use of certain specified manual operations on a specified group of machines. Users are required to log on and log off using their own names and passwords. A Security Manager program lets the system administrator enter user names, passwords, and machine access privileges. All password information is encrypted and stored in a "fail-safe" mode, which restricts all access by anyone but the administrator if tampered with.

Machine Cycle Monitoring

A machine cycle monitoring feature lets you automatically record "Cycle-start" and "Cycle-end" events from any machine on your system. Information collected can then be analyzed and displayed as a bar-graph/time chart, and relevant statistics such as the number of cycles, average cycle time, average load time, and uptime/downtime ratios are calculated for you. Once a time period has been selected for analysis, the Cycle Time Analysis module will let you select any "Job" that was run within that time period for further analysis.