Differences between G320 and G340?

[phantomcow2]

I am getting tempted to do a servo motor driven CNC conversion when I get my X3 mill. Seems Gecko delivers a lot of bang for the buck, I would be willing to try it.
I am a bit new to the world of servo electronics, so slightly confused. Can somebody discuss the differences between the G320 and G340?

[acondit]

The G340 has a step multiplier (like the difference between the G202 and the G212).

[kanankeban]

Originally Posted by acondit The G340 has a step multiplier (like the difference between the G202 and the G212).

Could someone explain in simple terms (for a newbie) in which cases it will be a good idea to have a step pulse multiplier? Ive readed that someone having 40ipm tavels in a minimill conversion becuse a low pc, steped to 80ipm using a step pulse multiplier instead of trynig to get a faster pc, what concepts are involved having a step pulse multiplier?
Regards,
Hector

[acondit]

Hector,

The idea behind a step multiplier was originally to allow the use of microstepping (smoother movement) with a computer that was not fast enough to generate a fast enough pulse stream for a reasonable rate of movement with microstepping.

The Geckodrive pulse multiplier can generate up to 10 steps for every step signal received from the computer.

Alan

[Burn]

Not to bring up a dead thread, but can someone give me some advice?

I would theoretically be running a fast PC- Pentium 4 @ 3.0 with HT and 512MB of RAM- Which should I spring for, the G320 or the G340?

Also, I see the G340 has a quadrature input- Is this of worth at all?

[ger21]

Both have the quadrature input, it's to connect the encoders to.

You need to determine how many steps per second you'll need to drive your motors to their maximum speed. Once you know that, can your computer output steps fast enough? If it can, use the G320. If not, then get the G340. Also, put a gig of RAM in the PC.