Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] SloSyn motor driver

Patrick Huss wrote:

> I recently got a few slosyn 440 epi10 "indexer" motor drivers at an
> auction.
> I have found little on the web about these, although I was able to
> download
> the driver software from warner electric. Does anyone here have any
> experience with these? They seem like they would work well for driving
>
> steppers from emc -they each have a parallel port input, the software
> uses
> rs274, etc. I have a lot to learn as far as the electronics of a
> stepper
> system is concerned and I am cautious about the usefulness of these
> drivers
> mostly because of "indexer" .
> What is the difference between an indexer motor and a stepper motor?

Nothing. The box is what makes the difference. In the old days, the
indexer was a separate
box from the stepper driver. Later, they became integrated. A stepper
driver just takes step
and direction pulses, and maybe some other signals like low power and
power off.
An old indexer usually has a bunch of dip or rotary switches that set
how many steps
it is supposed to go when triggered. You would set the switches to some
value, and when
ever a switch contact was closed, the indexer would count out that many
pulses, usually with
some speed ramp up and down. Your units might also do step and
direction.

Jon