[rs4race]

Hi all I'm looking to complete my G0704 cnc conversion. I have already purchased ballscrews, motormounts, and looking into electronics. From G0704.com I found this combo that seemed nice:

(1) MX3660 3-axis Digital Driver $259.95
(3) KL23H2100-50-4B (3/8” Dual shaft with a flat) 570 oz-in $54.95 / $109.90
(1) KL-600-48 48V/12.5A Power Supply $129.95 or Kl-4813 48V/13A Unregulated - $139

But I would like to use usb to connect via laptop. It seems that there are breakout boards that already have usb, or even ethernet, uc-100, or I could get a ExpressCard to parallel port for the laptop. I would much rather keep it simple and use usb, which would allow me to any of the spare laptops I have. This would include:

a netbook with atom processor and 4gb ram,
an ultrabook with i7 and 4gb ram/ssd,
the laptop with expresscard slot is pretty old and might not last long, but is a dv4 with centrino and 4gb ram.

I have looked through several g0704 builds and havent found anything on usb. If anyone has any advice on electronics setup I would greatly appreciate it. I'm hoping to have this running the first week of january.

[hoss2006]

The ethernet version of the smoothstepper is apparently a better option than the usb version to work with a laptop, if you are using Mach 3 that is.
Ethernet SmoothStepper Motion Control Board with Terminals for Mach3 | Automation Technology Inc
Things like the express card won't work.
Hoss

There is info on the site now.
http://www.g0704.com/G0704_electronics.html#usb

[ChrisAttebery]

I would try to find a different power supply. I have that 48v 12.5a supply from AT. I leave my machine running 24/7 for weeks on end and the fan noise drives me crazy when the machine isn't cutting anything.

[Fastest1]

Go with an Ethernet Smoothstepper or a CSMIO. The price difference is negligible and the Ethernet versions are superior to USB. I have both. After tinkering a bit I was able to use the USB version successfully. At this point I believe the developers realize an advantage of using Ethernet instead of USB due to critical timing issues and such.

[rs4race]

Thanks for the replies guys, after some more searching I have found I can use the usb or ethernet smoothstepper with the setup above. I'm leaning towards the ethernet version for reliability. I am curious about the rated speeds of them though usb at 2Mhz and ethernet at 4Mhz. The Stepper drivers are limited up to 200khz, so it seems that even 2Mhz is way overkill. I also found winformach64, but the information is limited on this. All of my PC's are 64bit and I wonder if this might be a better option, its also ethernet.

Looks like Im gonna go with

(1) MX3660 3-axis Digital Driver $259.95
(3) KL23H2100-50-4B (3/8” Dual shaft with a flat) 570 oz-in $54.95 / $164.85
(1) KL-600-48 48V/12.5A Power Supply $129.95 or Kl-4813 48V/13A Unregulated - $139
(1) Ethernet Smoothstepper - $189

Is there anything else special that I should be looking at?

[Fastest1]

You tune each axis independently due to need. I don't think there is an advantage to placing a larger number in the tuning area than that axis can use. Most likely the opposite. More stability in pulse generation at low to medium levels.

[SCzEngrgGroup]

Thanks for the replies guys, after some more searching I have found I can use the usb or ethernet smoothstepper with the setup above. I'm leaning towards the ethernet version for reliability. I am curious about the rated speeds of them though usb at 2Mhz and ethernet at 4Mhz. The Stepper drivers are limited up to 200khz, so it seems that even 2Mhz is way overkill. I also found winformach64, but the information is limited on this. All of my PC's are 64bit and I wonder if this might be a better option, its also ethernet.

Looks like Im gonna go with

(1) MX3660 3-axis Digital Driver $259.95
(3) KL23H2100-50-4B (3/8” Dual shaft with a flat) 570 oz-in $54.95 / $164.85
(1) KL-600-48 48V/12.5A Power Supply $129.95 or Kl-4813 48V/13A Unregulated - $139
(1) Ethernet Smoothstepper - $189

Is there anything else special that I should be looking at?

The data rate of the interface (USB or Ethernet) has no bearing whatsoever on system performance - it's not transmitting step pulses, but position data. The Smoothstepper, either version, can generate step pulses at up to 4MHz - at least an order of magnitude faster than ANY hobby sytem will ever need.

Not sure where you're getting your numbers from, but they're not even close. USB 1.0 (which SmoothStepper uses) data rate is 12Mbps, not 2MHz. USB 2.0 is 480 Mbps. You'll be hard-pressed to find any Ethernet hardware these days that runs less than 100Mbps, and much of it is now 1Gbps.

Regards,
Ray L.

[rs4race]

The data rate of the interface (USB or Ethernet) has no bearing whatsoever on system performance - it's not transmitting step pulses, but position data. The Smoothstepper, either version, can generate step pulses at up to 4MHz - at least an order of magnitude faster than ANY hobby sytem will ever need.

Not sure where you're getting your numbers from, but they're not even close. USB 1.0 (which SmoothStepper uses) data rate is 12Mbps, not 2MHz. USB 2.0 is 480 Mbps. You'll be hard-pressed to find any Ethernet hardware these days that runs less than 100Mbps, and much of it is now 1Gbps.

Regards,
Ray L.

Sorry I might have my terminology mixed up.Their not even the same units... I was talking about the pulse rates, but mistaken on the USB version as I see its also 4Mhz. Either way you confirm my assumption that 2Mhz is way more than the drivers are capable of.

I'm still planning on the ethernet version as it seems that with the usb, if there is an error you have to re-start mach3 and reconnect. I'm somewhat undecided if I want to do smoothstepper or machforwin64. I'm still researching but hoping to figure it out and order this weekend. Anyone have experience with these?

[phomann]

Thanks for the replies guys, after some more searching I have found I can use the usb or ethernet smoothstepper with the setup above. I'm leaning towards the ethernet version for reliability. I am curious about the rated speeds of them though usb at 2Mhz and ethernet at 4Mhz. The Stepper drivers are limited up to 200khz, so it seems that even 2Mhz is way overkill. I also found winformach64, but the information is limited on this. All of my PC's are 64bit and I wonder if this might be a better option, its also ethernet.

Looks like Im gonna go with

(1) MX3660 3-axis Digital Driver $259.95
(3) KL23H2100-50-4B (3/8” Dual shaft with a flat) 570 oz-in $54.95 / $164.85
(1) KL-600-48 48V/12.5A Power Supply $129.95 or Kl-4813 48V/13A Unregulated - $139
(1) Ethernet Smoothstepper - $189

Is there anything else special that I should be looking at?

As far as steppers are concerned, yes both the USB and Ethernet Smooth Stepper pretty much drive them identically. The 4MHz max step frequency allows the Smooth Stepper to produce a more accurate (smoother) step pulse train.

The practical advantage of Ethernet over USB is that the Ethernet interface uses a differential paired wiring resulting in an interface that is more resilient to Electrical noise (EMI).

I always recommend to my customers to go for the Ethernet SmoothStepper unless their budget is really tight.

Also the Ethernet SS has 3rd parallel port which is great for pendants, tool-changers, etc

Cheers,

Peter

[ph_4570]

I went with the smoothstepper ethernet and am very pleased with its features and performance. I am currently using an old HP laptop and it works well.