OK, so I've been running multiple tests all morning and afternoon. Probably about two dozen or so times after uninstalling and doing a clean install of ver 1.2049 in its own folder. I've tested both the older ver 1.2047 and the newer ver 1.2049 with the Mach 3 wired very basic cheapo MPG (I'll try to post a pic of it below). It works like a dream in either version just as it has for the past year.
As for the UCR201 (which I purchased through Automation Technology, Inc. here in the US, a very reliable supplier BTW), I obviously can't test it in 1.2047 but in 1.2049 after the clean install it worked on the Auto Zero Initialize function in the 2017 Screenset about 50% of the time. The other 50% of the time it did all the crazy stuff I described in my first post. Of the times I did the Auto Zero Initialize (AZI) successfully, if I went back to the moveable plate and tried to do a simple Auto Zero, it drove into the plate quick and hard, or simply gave me an error (sometimes a stack of errors). Of the times the AZI process did not function correctly it either did hard erratic moves, or soft moves with errors halting the Macro, or simply errors. All these with no specific pattern. It also did not make a difference whether I used the UCR201 to initiate the AZI process, or the on screen buttons within the 2017 Screenset.
Question for CNC Drive, might I have received a corrupt driver in the sending unit of the MPG? Is it possible for you to send me another driver to test this possibility, if not publicly via PM or email? I really strongly suspect the issue is with either the MPG driver, or a macro conflict somewhere in whatever changes were made in 1.2049. I sure do want to get this UCR201 working correctly. At $160 compared to the cheap Amazon $49 unit I really do think it should work correctly. Please understand I'm not trying to be rude with that comment, I'm simply expressing an open and honest observation.
Here's a pic of the cheap unit that is working but is unfortunately limited to hard-wiring.
Thanks again for your assistance in advance,
BILL