In general, the G540 has a good reputation. Unlike Xylotex, Geckodrive will repair their products, usually for free.
The speed and power of your motors will improve noticably. The G540 does have one design quirk. The inputs are optocouplers driven from just the power of the parallel port buffers. This works OK for motherboard ports that can be put into EPP mode, but may cause issues with PCI based cards if you cannot convince them to run in EPP mode. The difference is that EPP mode drives the control signals (as opposed to data ones) using a totem pole with active pull up. Non-EPP mode uses a passive 4.7K pull up typically and the G540 does not work well with that. In particular the "charge pump" will fail to operate, but I suspect the same issue applies to the other 3 control pins. I seem to remember you using a PMDX-106 for spindle control. Interfacing that to the G540 could be interesting. You may be able to do without it entirely as the G540 includes an isolated analog output and two open collector relay drivers. Some rewiring will be needed, but it should be workable. Regards, Steve Stallings -----Original Message----- From: gene heskett [mailto:ghesk...@wdtv.com] Sent: Saturday, July 30, 2011 4:51 PM To: Enhanced Machine Controller (EMC) Subject: [Emc-users] bad news, xylotex died Greetings all; My xylotex went pop,pop,pop when I hit the keyboard for a x move about 2 hours ago. Also the odor of burnt parts was in the air. So, since this will be the 3rd xylotex to expire on me, I am inclined to look elsewhere for the next set of drivers. Looking at the Gecko G540, which isn't that much bigger, but would allow me to raise the motor voltage about 20 volts above what I have now. Its a package that puts 4 each 50 volt, 3.5 amp, 10 microstep G250's in an easily mountable package. I see I can get it for $242 + ship, which is more than the xylotex. What has been the general experience of this group with the G540? Cheers, gene -- "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." -Ed Howdershelt (Author) Be not anxious about what you have, but about what you are. -- Pope St. Gregory I ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Got Input? Slashdot Needs You. Take our quick survey online. Come on, we don't ask for help often. Plus, you'll get a chance to win $100 to spend on ThinkGeek. http://p.sf.net/sfu/slashdot-survey _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Got Input? Slashdot Needs You. Take our quick survey online. Come on, we don't ask for help often. Plus, you'll get a chance to win $100 to spend on ThinkGeek. http://p.sf.net/sfu/slashdot-survey _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
