Stepper Motor Controllers... What do u use?

[Dman]

I am in search of stepper motor controllers. I am looking at the FET3 or SP-3 from Stepperworld. I am not very good with the electronic side of building the machine. I would like a simple hook up. I am more into the programming/woodworking end of this project. What do you use?

[ger21]

Three alternatives to the stepperworld boards, which will also give better performance, are the Xylotex bipolar and unipolar choppers http://www.xylotex.com and the Hobby CNC unipolar chopper. http://www.hobbycnc.com

All will give you much more speed, and are much more efficient, than the Stepperworld drives. A lot of people use the Stepperworld drives and are happy with them, but IMO they're not the best choice.

[coherent]

I'll second gerry's statement. the stepperworld board is a bit more difficult to set up properly in that you will need power resistors to limit the power to your motors based on their specifications. The other two have adjustable "pots" to set the motor current. I started with a stepperword, and it works but you'll be much happier with one of the other boards. And, if you have a few extra bucks, get a breakout board from bob cambell for a really nice setup.
-marc