Modelcad?

I'm hoping to find some experienced soul here, who may be able to give me a few pointers. I have a Hewlett Packard DraftPro 7570A plotter I was hoping to use for printing out full-size model plans. I know I can get the pens for it, but I'm not sure where to find the hardware driver, nor what kind of a cad program will work with it. There used to be some "Modelcad" programs advertised in the model press, but I've not seen those ads in several years now - anyone able to give me feedback on those programs? What I would really like to do, is be able to scan the old magazine plans and convert them into accurate, full-size plans. Any help would be most appreciated, including what sort of PC would be required to run everything.
Thanks
Rudy

>I'm hoping to find some experienced soul here, who may be
>able to give me a few pointers. I have a Hewlett Packard
>DraftPro 7570A plotter I was hoping to use for printing out
>full-size model plans. I know I can get the pens for it, but
>I'm not sure where to find the hardware driver, nor what kind
>of a cad program will work with it. There used to be some
>"Modelcad" programs advertised in the model press,
>but I've not seen those ads in several years now - anyone able
>to give me feedback on those programs? What I would really
>like to do, is be able to scan the old magazine plans and
>convert them into accurate, full-size plans. Any help would
>be most appreciated, including what sort of PC would be
>required to run everything.
>Thanks
>Rudy

Hello Rudy

Your plotter should work for what you want to do. Most Cad programs come with a set of drivers, but because of the age of your plotter, it might not be supported in the more recent Cad programs.

You should be able to go to HPs' site though and down load the correct driver.

ModelCad is still available, try a Google search for it.

In this part of the forum, there is a thread pertaining to Cad systems, You might try reading some of the comments. There are several available that will do a pretty good job, and won't break the bank purchasing them.

As for scanning the old magazine plans, you might find that it is a bit more complicated, to get them into an accurate Cad file.

Scanned objects are contained in huge files, called Rastor files. They need to be converted into Vector files, which is what a Cad System uses. Some Cad systems have included a Rastor to Vector conversion utillity, but most, even some very expensive stand alone programs require that the drawing be "cleaned up", before it's really useful.

Turbo-Cad is one of the programs I know of that includes a rastor to Vector conversion program. I've used it, but still spent a fair bit of time cleaning the drawing up. Currently, I import the rastor file into my drawing, and then do a hand trace. It takes about the samje amount of time for the average drawing.

There is available, a CD with many of the old plans already scanned in. A good printing company, should be able to make a full sized copy of the plans from the CD, but the charge will be approximatley 40-60 bucks.

It may also be possible to configure your plotter as a large printer, and print the files yourself.

Most computers to about 5-10 years old, or newer should have the power to do what you want. You'll need a lot of memory, as it will make everything go a lot faster.

>I'm hoping to find some experienced soul here, who may be
>able to give me a few pointers. I have a Hewlett Packard
>DraftPro 7570A plotter I was hoping to use for printing out
>full-size model plans. I know I can get the pens for it, but
>I'm not sure where to find the hardware driver, nor what kind
>of a cad program will work with it. There used to be some
>"Modelcad" programs advertised in the model press,
>but I've not seen those ads in several years now - anyone able
>to give me feedback on those programs? What I would really
>like to do, is be able to scan the old magazine plans and
>convert them into accurate, full-size plans. Any help would
>be most appreciated, including what sort of PC would be
>required to run everything.

Rudy;

I have not used ModelCAD, but I am familiar with the older HP pen plotters, as I own an HP Draftmaster II.

The older HP Pen Plotters all use HPGL, e.g. Hewlett-Packard Graphics Language. Regrettably, the last Microsoft operating system that supported HPGL was Windows NT. As you are probably using a newer operating system, you will not be able to configure your plotter as a printer through the operating system.

The only solution that I know of is to use a program that communicates directly with the plotter through your serial port. So, if ModelCAD supports direct communication to the plotter using HPGL, then it will most likely work. However, the only program that I know of that still supports HPGL are the Autocad series. All of the other CAD programs that I have looked at rely on the operating system for plotter communication.

If you get past the HPGL issue, the next thing you need to look at is getting the right cable. The HP pen plotters require a special serial cable to communicate properly with the plotter. These cables are becoming difficult to find. Most of what I have seen use the older 32 pin serial ports, and modern PCs all have 9 pin serial ports. If you do luck into one of the older cables, an easy answer is to install a 32 pin serial card in one of the expansion slots on your computer's motherboard.

Pens are also getting scarce. What I have done with mine is I melted a hole in the top of the pen, and then use a syringe to refill it with ink. To seal the hole, I use a #10 or #12 sheet metal screw to close off the hole. Seems to work fine, and I get pretty good life out of my remaining pens.

These are probably not the answers you wanted to hear, but keeping the old pen plotters going is getting more and more problematic. Its a shame, as a clean plot off of a pen plotter has less tendency to fade as what we now get off of the newer inkjet type plotters.

V/r

Bob

>>I'm hoping to find some experienced soul here, who may
>be
>>able to give me a few pointers. I have a Hewlett Packard
>>DraftPro 7570A plotter I was hoping to use for printing
>out
>>full-size model plans. I know I can get the pens for it,
>but
>>I'm not sure where to find the hardware driver, nor what
>kind
>>of a cad program will work with it. There used to be
>some
>>"Modelcad" programs advertised in the model
>press,
>>but I've not seen those ads in several years now - anyone
>able
>>to give me feedback on those programs? What I would
>really
>>like to do, is be able to scan the old magazine plans and
>>convert them into accurate, full-size plans. Any help
>would
>>be most appreciated, including what sort of PC would be
>>required to run everything.
>
>Rudy;
>
>I have not used ModelCAD, but I am familiar with the older HP
>pen plotters, as I own an HP Draftmaster II.
>
>The older HP Pen Plotters all use HPGL, e.g. Hewlett-Packard
>Graphics Language. Regrettably, the last Microsoft operating
>system that supported HPGL was Windows NT. As you are
>probably using a newer operating system, you will not be able
>to configure your plotter as a printer through the operating
>system.
>
>The only solution that I know of is to use a program that
>communicates directly with the plotter through your serial
>port. So, if ModelCAD supports direct communication to the
>plotter using HPGL, then it will most likely work. However,
>the only program that I know of that still supports HPGL are
>the Autocad series. All of the other CAD programs that I have
>looked at rely on the operating system for plotter
>communication.
>
>If you get past the HPGL issue, the next thing you need to
>look at is getting the right cable. The HP pen plotters
>require a special serial cable to communicate properly with
>the plotter. These cables are becoming difficult to find.
>Most of what I have seen use the older 32 pin serial ports,
>and modern PCs all have 9 pin serial ports. If you do luck
>into one of the older cables, an easy answer is to install a
>32 pin serial card in one of the expansion slots on your
>computer's motherboard.
>
>Pens are also getting scarce. What I have done with mine is I
>melted a hole in the top of the pen, and then use a syringe to
>refill it with ink. To seal the hole, I use a #10 or #12
>sheet metal screw to close off the hole. Seems to work fine,
>and I get pretty good life out of my remaining pens.
>
>These are probably not the answers you wanted to hear, but
>keeping the old pen plotters going is getting more and more
>problematic. Its a shame, as a clean plot off of a pen
>plotter has less tendency to fade as what we now get off of
>the newer inkjet type plotters.
>
>V/r
>
>Bob
================================
Hi

I have had DesignCad and Model Cad for several years.
The newer version will import raster drawings and allow you to trace them into cad.
You can easily set the scale, ie) for example, I may set the wing span at 50 inches, and then print the drawing out full size.

Here’s a little info from the past

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187259&highlight=cad+tools+for+modeler

I have an old CalComp 1025 36” plotter. The only way I can get it to work is using AutoCad R12 (old). Loading the CalComp drivers and trying ModelCad wouldn’t work. ModelCad allows export of DFX files, and they import into AutoCad.

In the end I have been just using a PDF file in PhotShop, clean it up, ie) sharpen, contrast, etc., then saving as a JPEG file and loading it into ModelCad and printing it out as tiles for the full sized drawing. This will allow a ½ page drawing, when scanned, to be enlarged into a model plan for a 60” wing span .

ModelCad and WingMaster were offered together for about $50 at Toledo (2007?). It’s hard to go wring for that price.

John, MAAC5526, Canada