Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Geckos. 201 or 210?

John wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I'm considering replacing the heap of junk that is laughingly called a controller on the lathe. It's memory depends on whether or not the control goes insane when it finishes the program and I'm beyond tired with messing around on the RS232 and magnetic tape front. I don't understand which controller would be best though.

Yes, having resurrected a 1978-vintage control, and having a lot of flakiness and 3 breakdowns
in 6 months, I definitely don't recommend wasting your time trying to keep most antique controls alive.
Aside from the still missing threading function, EMC would be my choice.

> I've kind of ignored the stepper world unipolar ones.

Unipolar steppers are quite awful, at least the way most of them are implemented.

> I am hoping I will be able to salvage the power supply etc from the control if I take it apart so I don't need to spend too much getting it all back together again. Which one does what? Also, why do Gecko prefer unregulated supplies? Lastly, is Mariss the designer and producer of Geckos?

You should be able to salvage the power supply, but it may not be in the right range
for a Gecko or other bipolar drive to perform at its best. Unipolar R-L drives
generally used the absolute minimum voltage possible to reduce the heat produced
by the big power resistors.

Some older regulated power supplies don't like loads that draw rapid pulses of current,
and may even shut down under those conditions. Anyway, the less components in
the system, the better, and a totally unnecessary regulator is just one more thing
to go wrong.

Yes, Mariss designs the Gecko drives.

Jon