Hey, sorry about that. I've had a very busy month both at work and home, so I've had less project time. I am making progress though. The board is working a bit, though the software isn't reliable yet. It is somewhat more complicated than I had originally anticipated, but I am still confident I'll get it going. I expect things to settle down soon and I'll post a few more details (including pictures).
Oh, one thing I'll put out there is that I'm having a very hard time finding the 10 contact "
CH2.5" connectors I need to make these boards. I've tried all my usual sources with no luck: DigiKey, Jameco, Allied Electronics, Newark, Avnet, ...
I've got a suitable alternative for the PCB side, but the cable side pretty much needs to be the real deal to mate to the spindle drive board. My plan was to order cable assemblies from Grizzly (
P0619220-2A), which gives me two connectors with wires already installed for $10.50, but Grizzly only had a couple in stock. I've got a few more on backorder, but it doesn't seem to be a reliable supply. If anybody knows of a source that will sell me a hundred or so of these I'd love to hear about it.
If I can't get these connectors, folks will have to cut into their control cables and install other connectors. This may be fine, but I was hoping for a plug & play installation with no machine modifications required.
Cheers,
- Dean