new member...

Hi group,

Just thought I'd post a short intro, since I've been reading
a lot of your posts for the last several months… but have not had the
time to actively participate.

I'm a EE, having spent the first 15 years or so of my career
helping design stuff like disk drives, medical imaging cameras, and
assorted odds and ends such as SMPTE tape drive controllers.
Primarily digital design work, but a bit of analog here and there.
10 years I was gradually assimilated into the dark side…. as I become
a technical marketer in the IC industry. So my real "hands-on"
electronic design experience has become a bit dated, but I still own
a soldering iron… and can still find the on switch.

It looks like I may have more time going forward to pursue some of my
hobby interests, as the dramatic downturn in the communication IC
business is…. Well, let's just say is giving me an "opportunity" to
do something different.

Another quick note, I'd like to publicly thank both Chris Luebke
and Les Watts for their generous donations of information they
provided me some months ago (including pointing me to this discussion
group!), as I was "researching" the mechanical design of a large
format router. As it turns out I decided that couldn't afford the
time/funds to do all I wanted to, but I learned a lot …. And it
really stimulated my interest in the CNC hobby. Going forward
I'd like to propose a controller "project" or two to the group,
if there is interest I'll see what I can do with regard to getting
them built and available to the group.

One concept I'd like the group to consider would be a
"PC" plus "Servo to Go" functionality on a single board PCB
optimized for small machine control applications. I'm sure many on
this list would rather "build their own" from older PCs and various
parts bins (for very good reasons), but perhaps some would rather
focus on software development or machine design and would value a
stable open hardware platform. Sort of a "black box on steroids…"
approach. My thinking is that it could be made available as an
assembled board at considerably lower cost than a commercial small
machine control (and be more `open'), interfacing to your drive of
choice. If this would be of interest to members and considered
appropriate for this list (Bill??), I'd be pleased to post further
details for comment.

thanks,
Craig Edwards