Once I order my servo setup from IMService, the 4-A 4-axis kit (http://cadcamcadcam.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=131), I eventually will have more money to sink into it...Hopefully.

I have to buy a board to interface the drives in the first place with the servoes and PC, so what do people suggest? It's got to be for servoes, remember. I was figuring I would buy the best one out there and use it with the Gecko drivers when I have the money to buy them. What do people suggest? I will be using Mach3 to control it.

To preface my next question, I will give some specs of my controlling PC- It is a P4 @ 3.0 Ghz with 512MB of RAM. Obviously with a parallel port.
-What servo drive from Gecko should I be buying- The G320 or the G340?

Power supply- Obviously this will depend on a) which Gecko I buy and b) which interface board I buy, so can someone make a suggestion?
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For now, I will use the servo controllers that come with the kit from IMService. I will also use whatever board people suggest, along with the Power supply

In the future I will want to buy the Gecko drives and possibly another PSU if the situation warrants a new one.

Anything else I have forgotten please let me know.

Thanks a bunch,
Burn

Bump?

Pretty much what I need to know right now is what servo board I should buy and what sort of PS I should be buying, too :D

Thanks

Once I order my servo setup from IMService, the 4-A 4-axis kit (http://cadcamcadcam.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=131), I eventually will have more money to sink into it...Hopefully.

I have to buy a board to interface the drives in the first place with the servoes and PC, so what do people suggest? It's got to be for servoes, remember. I was figuring I would buy the best one out there and use it with the Gecko drivers when I have the money to buy them. What do people suggest? I will be using Mach3 to control it.

[I'm puzzled; why are you buying drives from IMService if you want to use Geckos and Mach3? Why not get the rest of the IMservice kit and run DeskCNC?]

To preface my next question, I will give some specs of my controlling PC- It is a P4 @ 3.0 Ghz with 512MB of RAM. Obviously with a parallel port.
-What servo drive from Gecko should I be buying- The G320 or the G340?

[That's not dependent on the computer, but on the encoders mounted on the motors. If these are 250 counts per rev, you can use G320s; more than that and the 340s would be better.]

Power supply- Obviously this will depend on a) which Gecko I buy and b) which interface board I buy, so can someone make a suggestion?

[The motors dictate what power supply you use. I believe that the IMservice kits want DC output of ~30v at ~6a. ]
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For now, I will use the servo controllers that come with the kit from IMService. I will also use whatever board people suggest, along with the Power supply

[I'm not sure you really want to design your machine by committee. Get everything from the same source, and it's more likely to all work together, plus you'll be able to get help from the vendor.]

In the future I will want to buy the Gecko drives and possibly another PSU if the situation warrants a new one.

Anything else I have forgotten please let me know.

Thanks a bunch,
Burn

[Once you get it all up and running, why tear it all down again? If you really want to get into building CNC systems, why not use your Taig to build parts for a router or another larger mill where the extra power of the Geckos is required?]

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com

I was figuring that if I had the Geckos that later on, if I decided to go to a larger system I would not have to re-buy controllers, etc.

Confusing huh?

There are several differen't servo board manufacturers and this time next year there will be more.

You need to decide more about your expectations. Then you need to have a machine/motor combination that matches that. Once you have the servos/motors you will know what you need for a power supply. I.e. some servos can't handle more than 24 volts... some run on 70+ The Gecko boards go up to a max of 80 I think. Other boards can handle more.

Anyway. I'd focus on getting something simple and getting it work currently. Which is why I suggested the stepper solution in the other thread.

Once you know more about the hobby and your expectations. You will be able to make a more educated purchase. In the mean time, you just want to get to the point of making chips. = )

Hi Burn,

In answer to your question, you can check out the PMDX-122 breakout board at http://www.pmdx.com/PMDX-122/index.html. I have no affiliation with them other than I have just purchased one of these boards in the last couple of days, after spending many hours looking through the alternatives.

The board is very well documented, and you can download the docs from their website. The board even includes a "charge pump circuit" to enable/disable drives. It appears compatible with stepper and servo drives with or without opto isolators.

Hope this helps,

Pat

Neat, are you certain they handle servoes though? Throughout the documentation it only describes stepper setup.

Hi Burn,

The Gecko servo drives using the same step and direction inputs as the stepper drives. They're actually mentioned in section 2.1, (the 320's are gecko's servo drives).

For peace of mind you can drop them an email, they're pretty quick to respond.

The board provides no intelligence other than to provide a buffer between your PC and the drives themselves, be they gecko's, IMS, xylotex or home brewed drives that make use of 2 bits for control.

Pat

Neat, thanks for the clarification :D