I too have seen bad break out boards but recently got one of http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171802685847
There seems to be a couple of versions of it on fleabay only tried the one this has direct 74hct driving the opto in the driver rather than have its own output optos, sensible in my opinion, which also means it can drive high or low side optos Dave Caroline On 22/06/2015, Gene Heskett <ghesk...@wdtv.com> wrote: > > On Monday 22 June 2015 03:57:06 Steve Stallings wrote: >> Proceed with caution. This board uses slow opto-couplers >> in the data port output signals that are typically set >> up as step and direction outputs. Many users have reported >> problems due to the inability to pass fast signals. >> >> Additionally some variations of this board connect the >> ground on the output sides of the opto couplers to the >> same signal as the ground on the input sides and thus >> do not actually isolate the ground path. > > That much is documented. As for the slow opto's, that doesn't surprise > me. While it looks well made, its lack of docs, real docs that spec > those speeds etc, makes me think its a $3.75 card in Kowloon. > > Yesterday I ran stepconf on the normal parport, with my pocket scope > watching the outputs, and I get good solid direction reversals on > the "dir" pins, but zip on the step pins. I suspect that without an > adjustable reset time, its not going to work even if this box has > horrible latency, restricting it to a 45u-s base thread or slower. > > The docs tend to say both are open collector (OC) and show a pullup. > This is with a 5v 1 amp supply connected to the 5 & gnd pins, and the > jumpers on, which commons both grounds and 5 volt lines. I don't think > the step pulses are wide enough to get thru those opto's, but will get > out the big scope and check today. > > I am in love with the C1G from cnc4pc as it has all these nice pretty > leds to tell you whats going on, and the opto's are faster than stink > too, so I guess I'll get me a 3rd one for this machine. > > I also see the latest versions of the *542 and *860 drivers can now do > 51200 microsteps, which if combined with the correct currents should be > able to move steppers as close to silently as they can be moved. > > Unforch, while I can probably get steps out of a 5i25 fast enough to get > decent speeds, the interfaces between them, and likely the opto's in the > DM542 and DM860 drivers, are not fast enough to take full advantage of > that. > > That is likely one of the things I will do today since I am still waiting > on the 5i25. Set up one motor, a 470oz, on the 36v supply that came > with the kit, and see if the DM542 is faster than the 2M542. I doubt it > unless the opto's are lasers. At 200 per rev, *51200=10,240,000 steps > per revolution. As that would be a 1000% step forward in the "state of > the art", I don't think so. > > In my tests with a 2M542 a couple of months back, using a duty cycle > tweakable function generator, I was able to spin a 425oz motor close to > 3000 revs in the /8 microstep mode, but ran out of opto speeds in the > 2M542 at about 2200 revs (not quite 340 kilohertz at the function > generator output when trying the /16 step setting. Most any divisor > fell over at 330 to 340 kilohertz with the motor stalling silently. > > They seem to need a 2 u-sec step, and a 3 to 4 u-sec resting period at > best. In this case, they were on & never turned off as the OC voiltage > stayed within a few millivolts of ground. > > Slow opto's on this thing would explain my lack of results. > > One question though Steve, I had to put a power supply on it, I thought > the parport had a 5 volt pin but don't have a pinout handy ATM. Do I > have a bad parport? Or is my memory getting foggy? > >> Steve Stallings >> >> > -----Original Message----- >> > From: Gene Heskett [mailto:ghesk...@wdtv.com] >> > Sent: Sunday, June 21, 2015 4:56 PM >> > To: emc-developers@lists.sourceforge.net >> > Subject: [Emc-developers] Next prob, zero docs on the BOB supplied >> > >> > Which is a db25-1205. Google found it ok, but its a 17 megabyte >> > .exe. >> > >> > Whats the usual linux program to open this winders stuff? >> > >> > Cheers, Gene Heskett >> > -- >> > "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: >> > soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." >> > -Ed Howdershelt (Author) >> > Genes Web page <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene> >> > >> > -------------------------------------------------------------- >> > ---------------- >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Emc-developers mailing list >> > Emc-developers@lists.sourceforge.net >> > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-developers >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>-------- Monitor 25 network devices or servers for free with OpManager! >> OpManager is web-based network management software that monitors >> network devices and physical & virtual servers, alerts via email & sms >> for fault. Monitor 25 devices for free with no restriction. Download >> now http://ad.doubleclick.net/ddm/clk/292181274;119417398;o >> _______________________________________________ >> Emc-developers mailing list >> Emc-developers@lists.sourceforge.net >> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-developers > > Cheers, Gene Heskett > -- > "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: > soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." > -Ed Howdershelt (Author) > Genes Web page <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene> > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Monitor 25 network devices or servers for free with OpManager! > OpManager is web-based network management software that monitors > network devices and physical & virtual servers, alerts via email & sms > for fault. Monitor 25 devices for free with no restriction. Download now > http://ad.doubleclick.net/ddm/clk/292181274;119417398;o > _______________________________________________ > Emc-developers mailing list > Emc-developers@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-developers > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Monitor 25 network devices or servers for free with OpManager! OpManager is web-based network management software that monitors network devices and physical & virtual servers, alerts via email & sms for fault. Monitor 25 devices for free with no restriction. Download now http://ad.doubleclick.net/ddm/clk/292181274;119417398;o _______________________________________________ Emc-developers mailing list Emc-developers@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-developers
