Re: Breakout board or cards - boards or seperate parts ?

Dave,
Didn't realize that you were also in NJ...What exit? LOL!

It sounds to me like you know what you are doing with the
breakout...by all means if you can get a cheaper one or make one...go
for it!

What Bob's board offers is a plug & play deal with a lot of room for
expansion. Your parallel port jacks right in, instead of a birds nest
of wires and solder connections. I think it is worth that $130 just
for that reason alone & the very helpful support that Bob provides.
What if some day you want to control the spindle? Add relays? I can
tell you his setup makes for a much neater install than components
strewn all over the place (not saying that YOURS would be that way)

For people new to Mach2 and navigating their way through all of the
mess...it's another piece of the puzzle solved ~ with support on the
other end. You're paying for convenience...if you are sharp enough to
piece your own together, great!

-Brady


--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "turbulatordude"
<dave_mucha@y...> wrote:

>
> > Hi, my setup is a 3 axis mill, Mach2 and Geckos, servos with
> > encoders, optical limits (5vdc), Pentium III @ 1Ghz.
>
>
> > Am I interpreting the specs correctly by thinking I could control

a

> > 110v/15amp power supply with the relay card along with three
> > additional circuits such as coolant and lighting.
> >
> >
> > I am thinking of getting the interface, power supply, charge pump
> > and relay board
>
> I'm curious about the system.
>
> the breakout board is one feature that ties the CNC to the PC.
>
> the power supply can be from the PC for most of the items or the
> stepper power supply.
>
> charge pump is limted to the two sources you mentioned.
>
> but the relay board ?
>
> A 25 amps SS relay is around $20.00 from the catalogues. Less if

you

> combine shipping. MPJA.com is one source.
>
> Personally, I preferr stand alone relays as if one fails, you can
> replace it easily.
>
> Dave