[vladdy]

Sure..
done in eagle 4.15...you can use that to open it, and there are images of schematic, board, final proto rendering, ...if you have other program..

[WeCheat]

All I can say guys is the response is pretty awesome to my question and I really appreciate it. Let me clarify what I want to know and why I want it.
1: a stepper controller that requires no PC or break out boards. Basically a self contained unit
2: manual control of the stepper using two buttons for forward and reverse without a PC.
Strictly for testing the stepper motors, and making sure things are not in a bind during construction. This way I do not have to worry about software, PC settings etc until I am at the final stages when everything can come together. I think it would be a good tool during construction and if I ever had a problem. This is why I originally looked at the Anaheim Automation, Model M6R5 from alltronics.com. Building a small board to control this I would have a cheap tester and I can also use it to test my Geckos if I had a problem, makes sense? I’m not very good at explaining myself especially because I am so electronically retarded.
Thanks for all your time you put in to helping People!!!!

[2muchstuff]

I think that it a great idea. It only seems logical to want to power up your motors to find out if there any problems or concerns in your design that should be addressed before the expensive drive boards are connected up.

Some mechanical concerns might be racking, twisting moments, binding, underpowered, loose fasteners only to mention a few.

Some of us out there buy our motors from auctions and have no quick way of finding out if the motor was a deal or not. It's a sinking feeling when you see the "magic smoke" being let out of your new drive on initial power-up.

How about a feature that allows your limit switches to be connected in also to make sure that they work. Wouldn't want that 100+ pound gantry crashing onto the floor.

[pminmo]

Still boils down to the motor. If you have a 4 wire bipolar motor, the M6R5 won't do you any good.

[2muchstuff]

Well in theory it sounded good. I'm not familiar with the M6R5. Just as luck would have it, I have 4 wire motors. Murphy and his Laws allways get in the way.

[H500]

The kitsrus drivers are good for learning, but will give very poor performance compared to a microstepping chopper drive.

[vladdy]

If you want to test the driver board AND motor, circuits like the one I previously posted will work, or even a relay with a r/c circuit to provide pulses, direction could be a switch or even a couple of wires tied together..

If you want to test the motor only without risking your drives, a cheapy 'kits' type of driver / controller board work work fine for <$20 or so, some even have 'internal' ciruits to provide step pulses and direction control..

Another alternative is a lower current power supply [or even a couple of 1.5v nicads], and just run one coil at a time, it will step, not so good if you want to test a x/yz table or lead screw, etc..

You could also check ebay, they sometimes have 'somewhat' dedicated stepper controller / drive boxes that don't interface well with standard parallel ports, or are totally self contained without any interface at all... They just run a stepper at [usually] adjustable speeds with direction change..

bought one like that for 5.99 [I think] plus shipping a few months ago, still sitting in the corner, but haven't had much of a chance to look at it yet..

enjoy..

[azskies200]

I have built the kitsrus Kit #109 had great luck with it. Can be used standalone or connected to a parallel port for limited control. Uses pushbutton for single step and spdt switches to control continous or single step, direction,etc. Need to use ballast resistors to control current to the motor if using more than 12 volts to drive the motors. Unipolar only for this kit. kit109.pdf attached.

[pminmo]

Again, it depends on the motor. The unipolar drivers being pointed out won't work with 4 wire motors. The fact he is planning on using gecko's indicate the need for bipolar drive. WeCheat do you have motors?

[WeCheat]

I have geckos, Bob Campbell board and THC unit 6amp 50v motors (I think :-) I do not have the motors here with me.) A computer nerd told me I need to build a parallel port emulator?? Or emulate a parallel port???: So I could run the board or geckos with out a computer or software to test with. Clear as mud to me, does this help? :drowning:

[pminmo]

Sure it makes sense, that would use what you have, just not a PC. Not a big deal, can be done with a few switches, wires and a DB25M connector. But that would mean pushing a step button lots of times. To emulate that just need a simple oscillator. vladdy's circuit connected to the DB25M would be just fine.

[smarbaga]

if there is enough people interested in one of these stand alone stepper pulse generators i will write the software, program a pic chip and draw up a pcb.
with a bulk purchace pcb, should not be to expensive.
if interested parties could give features and idea's of what they think is required i could have the thing done in a week.
1. perhaps an encoder (opto interupter, like in a mouse (or a mouse)) ,
when you turn the wheel the stepper motor moves accordingly.)
2. ???
__________________________
pic chips have built in clocks, are cheap ( $2.00 us) ,reprogrammable and are readily available.
i think a wall wart, a 7800 v_regulator, a pic chip, a connector, mouse guts and a tin can will do trick.
in fact i think i will draw up a little plan.

[smarbaga]

perhaps something like this
see attachment
for starters

[whateg01]

perhaps something like this
see attachment
for starters

a little simpler than my circuit which has a 555 and a few gates. what would that programmed ic cost?
Dave

[smarbaga]

the microcontrollers are under $2.00 us.
there should be another optical interupter hooked up to one of those spare pins so the motor would move in the direction of the turning wheel, or crank handle, like on the big cnc's (vfo's etc).
i would think that would be the minimum and cheapest way to go.
i'll bet there are some kind of inexpensive a/b encoders out there, like the ones on stereo volume controles that you would just have to attach a handle or crank to. this would be less work than using the mouse guts ( maybe).
designed correctly you could attach this thingy between your printer cable and controller box and be able to use it as a manual positioner as well as using the computer,

[pminmo]

Smarba has the right idea. Utilize a rotary encoder on the opto, put three of them with a db25M an onboard regulator and a method to do jumpers to configure the setup to the db25.

[smarbaga]

so true jumpers , solder pads or dip switches to match any controller box and inputs to know when u have hit the limit switch or home position.
*** it doesn't take long to use up i/o pins ****

[whateg01]

Still seems like a lot of finger turning to get from one end of a 60 inch gantry to the other.

Dave

[2muchstuff]

How about a joystick.

[smarbaga]

i think this is about all we can get out of the pic675. (8 Pin) 6 I/O lines
anything more and the next step up would be the 16f688. (14 Pin) 12 I/O lines
put the chip to sleep and a 9 volt battery would last a year.
this would require a 10 cent zener instead of the 7805.
a pc board with smd's would be about the size of your thumb nail for the schematic.
- somthing like this might be good for a z axis control as well.