Need break out board suggestions

[sumrnitz]

Hi, I have a CNC Shark Pro with a Xylotex 3525 3 axis board and an ncPod. The current set-up isn't Mach 3 friendly even with the firmware and driver changes and I'm wanting to get away from the ncPod altogether and put a break out board in it's place, which should add quite a bit of attachment capability and allow me to run my digitizing probe, add an E-Stop, a jog controller, etc. The Xylotex has a DB25 connector for input so I would need a break out with DB25 for interfacing with my computer and output to the Xylotex (DB25 on both ends, essentially).

Could someone make a low cost suggestion? I recently lost my job and trying to make a few bucks on the side (and possibly go fulltime) with the machine. I've seen the CNC4PC boards in the $100 range and they look very nice but I was hoping to find something much cheaper to get me back on my feet. I see all of the $30 boards on ebay but nothing has a DB25 output that will plug directly into the Xylotex.

I would GREATLY APPRECIATE if a someone could help a brother out.

Thank you and God Bless!!!!
Chris

[ger21]

Just plug the Xylotex into the parallel port, and spend $5 at Mouser or Digikey for the Molex connector that plugs into the Xylotex an gives you access to the extra pins.
You don't really need a breakout board.
I have a SuperPID, hall effect home switches, and auto zero plates wired directly to my Xylotex. The only thing I had to do was add a pull up resistor for the auto zero plates.

For jogging, try an XBox 360 controller or a Shuttle Pro. Neither need the parallel port.

[ger21]

Actually, you don't need the connector. My Xylotex is 7 years old, and doesn't have screw terminals. You can connect your probe and E-Stop right to the Xylotex screw terminals.
There's a picture here showing how to wire switches to the Xylotex with a pull up resistor.
Limit Switches~Solsylva CNC Plans