need help new MDFLY Stepper board.

[R.H.Systems]

i bought this board from mdfly not realizing that there would be no information on the board. all i need to know is how to wire it up to the parallel posrt pins.

the pins comming out of the board read:

gnd--ckb
gnd--cwb
gnd--enb
cka--cwa
vcc--ena

that is what the lables for the pins on the board are. what do these mean and how do i know which of these attaches to which pin on the parallel adapter?

i would greatly appreciate any help with this. and would be happy to help you out in return for your time.

Robert T Haas

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll..._promot_widget

[Juka]

Originally Posted by R.H.Systems i bought this board from mdfly not realizing that there would be no information on the board. all i need to know is how to wire it up to the parallel posrt pins. Robert T Haas http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll..._promot_widget

Did you get that CD ?

>One CD includes all the documentations, evaluation software to hook up >and running quickly.

[vtxstar]

My guesses on the label meaning:

gnd - ground, 0VDC (this one was easy)
vcc - +VDC although it could be anything from 3V to 24V - you must have this correct or you will destroy something on the pcb.
ena, enb - enable the "A" motor and "B" motor respectively
cwa, cwb - clockwise direction for the "A" and "B" motor respectively
cka, ckb - counter-clockwise direction for the "A" and "B" motor respectively

The parallel port connection really depends on the software you are using though there seems to be a "gentlemens standard" on this...again it should be in the CD that the listing says will come with the pcb. I am certain the IDC (insulation displacement cable) ribbon cable with the header is intended to connect to the IDC DB25 connector. You did receive the cable and connector didn't you?

The listing does say he will have the CD, cable and connector with the pc board.

Have you inquired to the seller about the information? Perhaps they have found it easier to not send the documentation and just allow you to download it? On the other hand there are no links on their external website for information. It just links back to the eBay store.

If this is so, the seller needs to correct/modify the listing. Also, look in your packing carefully. I cannot tell you how many items were nearly thrown away because of odd or poor packing.

Let us know how this works. I have considered this for a quick and dirty interface. I enjoy "rolling my own" but time is valuable also.

[R.H.Systems]

too much dam flouride in the tap water over here for me to figure this dam thing out. im giving up on it. im going to buy one that doest require me to setup every dam pin on the parallel port. i had the hobby cnc one and it was working ok. i built this very nice cnc foam cutter and i think i had the voltage setting off for the motors i was using and burned out my hobbycnc stepper motor controller board. i dont know why i bought this one. i cant find a single person on the internet who used it. if anyone wants the one i bought i will be happy to give it to you for whatever you feel its worth. i dont have the time to figure this out. im too frustrated to continue. i have no idea what happed to the cd it came with. the company should have all that stuff posted to the internet and because they dont i want nothing to do with them.

R

p.s. Thanks a lot for the replys and trying to help me out.

[skip20]

This is what they sent to me! NO CD Don't know if attachment were attachment.
Email me at
skip20@charter.net
and I will send you the 3 PDF files

Skip20

[skip20]

This is for the Break Out Board & 3 single driver Boards.
Got the 24VDC P/S also.
Guess what, "I CAN"T GET IT TO WORK"

Skip20

[skip20]

This will be for the Break Out Board & 3 single Driver Boards.
Guess what!!!! " I CAN"T GET IT TO WORK"
R.H.Systems What do you want for yours + shipping?

Skip20

[MrFluffy]

Hmmm I just got one of the mdfly boards too... The two axis one to use with my cnc lathe project.
I bought it off a seller on ebay france, and its arrived, with a french version of the cd. I thought I was buying just a stepper motor drive card from the auction description, as I already have a buffered io breakout card from diycnc.co.uk, which it seems now is surplus to requirements as this is a all in one buffer/stepper driver card it seems...
Ive connected it how I think it should be as there are some pinouts in the doc (it mentions to feed the board with 5vdc in the docs, so that's what I did), but there doesnt seem to be any documentation on what the leds on the pcb denote, and the a1-a2 channels on both axis's are just outputing a solid dc voltage. The only guide to config is that it has a walkthrough how to configure mach3 for it, and while most of that makes sense, theres a couple of bits where my version doesnt even have the checkbox to enter the values in, that is shown in the walk through.
Theres also no mention anywhere of what the dip switches on the main board do either. So I think the french guy has just translated one of the docs of a set of 3 mentioned in the us version to sell it...
Ive mailed mdfly in the states asking them for a copy of the pdf documentation. No reply yet, but its very early days yet. If any of you guys have links to the pdf's mentioned I'd be interested in case mdfly don't respond (after all Im the customer of the french guy, rather than direct).

[skip20]

I got mine working but one drive is dead.
Download the lastest MACH3.2.61.
In the config
Setup you port to 1
setup stepper
2,3
4,5
6,7
check both active boxes
Set port to 1 on both
OUTPINS
Set Engage to pin 16 Port1
Then you can tune your motors.

[MrFluffy]

Originally Posted by skip20 I got mine working but one drive is dead. Download the lastest MACH3.2.61. In the config Setup you port to 1 setup stepper 2,3 4,5 6,7 check both active boxes Set port to 1 on both OUTPINS Set Engage to pin 16 Port1 Then you can tune your motors.

Ok, bear with me, Im a bit of a numpty when it comes to stepper motor cards.

First it seems I have a different version of mach3, 2.63. Hope its just a maintenance release, downloaded it recently. Maybe they changed lots, it looks different to the screenshots in the doc pdf...

Under Port setup and axis selection :-
Ive set port to 1 with the right hex address of the parallel io port.

Under motor outputs (2 axis only):-
setup stepper x-axis to step pin 2 , dir pin 3
setup stepper Y-axis to step pin 4, dir pin 5

Theres no OUTPINS tab?, do you mean under the "Output Signals" tab?
If so are you setting the Enable1 signal to pin16? I cant find a "engage" under any of the config tabs...

Im going to try unplugging the parallel port from the pc end, and see if the stepper connections still show +12v solid on the a-b. That at least eliminates the pc from the equation, as Id expect if you pulled the parallel motor lead both steppers should stop? Its not pulsing the feed or rotating a stepper if connected, just a jolt as volts is applied then nothing (didnt leave it powered on in case it damaged something)
Im also feeding the +5vdc on the header pins of the idc from a seperate source not the pc (didnt want to kill the parallel port with the load).

Also, do you know what the led's denote? both are lit solid when powered up, and also the DIP switch cluster near the stepper connections? Theyre not mentioned at all in the pdf I have.

tia
MrFluffy

[MrFluffy]

Originally Posted by MrFluffy Im going to try unplugging the parallel port from the pc end, and see if the stepper connections still show +12v solid on the a-b. That at least eliminates the pc from the equation, as Id expect if you pulled the parallel motor lead both steppers should stop? Its not pulsing the feed or rotating a stepper if connected, just a jolt as volts is applied then nothing (didnt leave it powered on in case it damaged something) Im also feeding the +5vdc on the header pins of the idc from a seperate source not the pc (didnt want to kill the parallel port with the load). Also, do you know what the led's denote? both are lit solid when powered up, and also the DIP switch cluster near the stepper connections? Theyre not mentioned at all in the pdf I have.

Unplugging the parallel lead resulted in 0v at the stepper driver... So, put the above values, with the enable2 set to pin 16 also, and it fired up on the roadrunner gcode demo.
Stepper whirling away happily now! Cant say I like the whistling from the stepper when its not moving mind.

Also the led's denote communications to the two steppers, they only illuminate when the instruction is going to that stepper. Still have no idea on the dip switches...

Now the real work begins, getting it all calibrated and setup...

[MrFluffy]

Well... mdfly sent over the english version of the documentation, but its just a english version of the single pdf with mach2 runthrough, no mention of any dip switches etc. Posted direct from china, which explains the crap docs...

Fitted the steppers to the card, and a stepper to the machine and it didn't even have enough torque to rotate the ballscrew, so tinkers inc, altered the dip switch and voila, horrid whisling gone, and plenty of torque to move the leadscrew round without even the now heavily heatsinked (with a fan too ) transistors not even getting warm...
More experimentation and the first two dips to the left alter the speed of the stepper1 and the right two alter stepper2. So Im guessing step increment configs or something?
So anyone else buying this card, the undocumented anywhere dip switches appear to control the steps/speed of the motors...