[James Newton]

Very nice little CNC Mill conversion run by Linisteppers.. Smooth!!!

YouTube - ‪mill.avi‬‏

[James Newton]

Linear drive has it's advantages as this happy customer knows:

"We purchased 3 kits earlier and we have used them to replace older drives in [a very noise sensitive] system. I am very happy with the performance. Linear steppers are critical for me because of the low noise vs. PWM. The PWM noise gets into everything..."

I really enjoy hearing from people who where helped by our little kit.

[simba77eg]

Hi there....Im building my linistepper V2 from scratch but Im a little confused about RN1(the resistor network)...this is my question...Is RN1 different from RN2 & RN3?? it seems from the schematic to be a 5 built in resistors with a common (number 1) pin...unlike RN2 & RN3 in which every two successive pins form a separate resistor...if this is true what is its name exactly so i can buy it cause im not an expert or can i use a set of 5 (3k3) resistors with a commomn pin instead??? need your expert help...:drowning:thanks alot.

[James Newton]

You have it right. RN1 is a "bussed" network resistor where one side of all of the resistors are connected to the same pin. Yes, you can use 5 resistors and just hook that one side together yourself.

I love that people can DIY this driver themselves, but do keep in mind: The PCB and parts from the kit cost less than you can buy the parts individually for yourself. If you have a really good parts bin, the blank PCB and pre-programmed PIC's are also available and really make it easy to build.

ecomorder.com/techref/ecomprice.asp?p=416015

[rajshinai]

For anyone who was looking at my previous posts.

This is the completed boards that I'm currently building, will have pix soon.

The older posts had some errors so please use this one.

Includes PCB's, Schematics, Eagle files, parts lists, etc..

How do i calculate the resistors required (R1A,R1B,R1C,R2A,R2B & R2C) on the stepper circuit?
and Why are they needed to be calculated?

[simba77eg]

Hi Mr.James...i ll be driving 3 steppers with the lini driver .the motors are identical and there tags reads as follows 4.7V 1.5A 1.8deg so according to my research i guess i ll need a 9v 6A PSU. is this right?? thanks for your great support

[James Newton]

Hi Mr.James...i ll be driving 3 steppers with the lini driver .the motors are identical and there tags reads as follows 4.7V 1.5A 1.8deg so according to my research i guess i ll need a 9v 6A PSU. is this right?? thanks for your great support

That sounds about right! Good luck.

[James Newton]

How do i calculate the resistors required (R1A,R1B,R1C,R2A,R2B & R2C) on the stepper circuit?
and Why are they needed to be calculated?

techref.massmind.org/techref/io/stepper/linistep/lini_wks.htm

techref.massmind.org/techref/io/stepper/linistep/lini_tun.htm

[rajshinai]

techref.massmind.org/techref/io/stepper/linistep/lini_wks.htm

techref.massmind.org/techref/io/stepper/linistep/lini_tun.htm

hey thanks for the link..
have not been through the page yet, so hope it solves all my queries.

Also, y use a 6 pin socket to supply power to this board? i thought power was all about +,- & ground..?
(i hope my question isnt a dumb one...)

[James Newton]

only two of the pins are for power, the other 4 are motor phase... with the motor common wire shared with the power. And all of that is documented at:
techref.massmind.org/techref/io/stepper/linistep/lini_use.htm

[junaydmirza]

Hi there

I have been trying to build linistepper variation by technik mentioned in post#8 here

It may sound strange but i appear to have a touch sensitive circuit. The circuit 'almost' works when touched on the pic or xtal. I say 'almost' as the step rate is not consistent and there are many missed steps

It just stops working if i remove my finger

I have tried building it thrice fearing poor soldering or tracks but get the same result everytime

what could I be doing wrong?

Appreciate any help as I am totally stumped

[James Newton]

That board design mounts the crystal quite a way away from the PIC and with other signals near by. It isn't an ideal layout. The PCB's we supply in the kits (or separately) have the xtal right next to the PIC.

Even so, it isn't /that/ bad and should be working. My guess is that the xtal is bad, or one of the xtal caps is bad, or the PIC is bad... One way or the other, the "it sorta works when I touch it" thing is classic oscillator/xtal problems.

You might find some help on the Microchip forums (if you don't mind bullies) or on the PICList mailing list (if you don't mind grumpy old men).

[junaydmirza]

Thanks James. That was quick

Guess i'll have to bear with the bullies and the grumpy old men to get this thing working

Wish i could order from you directly but it is not that simple from where i live

[rajshinai]

only two of the pins are for power, the other 4 are motor phase... with the motor common wire shared with the power. And all of that is documented at:
techref.massmind.org/techref/io/stepper/linistep/lini_use.htm

yup thanks..

Could you also tell me what be the effect if i run a stepper motor rated 2 amps on 1.5amps?
- would it affect the torque or speed or both?

[James Newton]

Wish i could order from you directly but it is not that simple from where i live

I've shipped to Pakistan before... I can certainly ship the blank PCBs...
Pakistan No problem on my end... is there an issue on your end?

[James Newton]

yup thanks..

Could you also tell me what be the effect if i run a stepper motor rated 2 amps on 1.5amps?
- would it affect the torque or speed or both?

Torque and speed will be less, but mostly Torque, speed is more dependent on voltage. And the Linistepper can be tuned up to drive 2 amps pretty well... just use CPU fans for heatsinks.

[junaydmirza]

yeah its something on my end

I'll try to make another one with different layout

Thanks anyway James. You are really helpful

[James Newton]

yeah its something on my end

It's really sad, to me, when countries get in the way of good people; and I mean both my country and yours. Very best wishes and hope for the future.

[rajshinai]

only two of the pins are for power, the other 4 are motor phase... with the motor common wire shared with the power. And all of that is documented at:
techref.massmind.org/techref/io/stepper/linistep/lini_use.htm

Hey mr. james,
The PSU iv got has got only 2 wires...its 12v, 1amp.
how can i connect it to the 6 pin power?

also the mab6h connectors used in the linistepper variant, what are they connected to? there is one "in" and one "out" on the break out board and also one "in" on the driver...

[James Newton]

Hey mr. james,
The PSU iv got has got only 2 wires...its 12v, 1amp.
how can i connect it to the 6 pin power?

rajshinai, the fact that you are asking this question really scares me. Did you actually read
techref.massmind.org/techref/io/stepper/linistep/lini_use.htm
under the heading "Power and Motor Connector"?

There IS NO "6 pin power" connector. There IS a 6 pin combined power and motor connector. The first two pins of the combined connector are the motor power supply (ground and +), the last 5 pins are the motor leads. How can there be 2 + 5 pins on a 6 pin connector? Because the motor common lead, and the positive power supply lead share a pin.

also the mab6h connectors used in the linistepper variant, what are they connected to? there is one "in" and one "out" on the break out board and also one "in" on the driver...

We never designed a board with mab6h connectors, nor do I support one and I have no idea why those connectors are present. You would need to ask the designer of that board.

Unlike most drivers, the Linstepper is "open source" which means anyone can use the design to make their own PCB. Not all of those PCB layouts are supported, or well documented, or even very well laid out. Some are just plain wrong and don't work at all. That is one of the drawbacks to making a design publicly available, at least from the point of view of the designer. In fact, if we had this to do over again, I'm not at all sure we would choose to go open source again for exactly this reason, especially considering how little we sell the PCB and kit for.

The only PCB that is fully documented and supported by me is the one at www.linistepper.com or
piclist.com/techref/io/stepper/linistep/index.htm
or
techref.massmind.org/techref/io/stepper/linistep/index.htm
(those all go to the same place) And that documentation is very, very, very complete.

My answers above are related to official supported PCB from www.linistepper.com, so if you are asking about another board, ask the designer of that board, otherwise the answers might not apply.

Having said all that, I would guess that they carry the step and direction signals IN from the PC parallel port to the breakout board, and then OUT of that board and IN to the driver board.

Sincerely,
your unpaid support agent,
Mr. Newton.