Hi, I was advised to use a gecko 540 or equivalent for my build. I like the set up but have two questions. 1, what would be considered equivalents? 2, I read and it makes some sense that separate componants are a better way to go. i.e. if a driver goes bad your just replacing one driver and not the whole board. Also would prefer USB to serial port but either would work. Regards, Rod
Lookin for help planning build It's important to add that you were not recommended the g540 out of concern for a specific build you have published or a design you went into detail about. You were recommended the G540 by someone giving you beginner advice on a broad design question you posted. They were telling you that if you went with the G540 you would be very much less likely to run into problems related to drivers and controllers at any point. Adding, they gave you a load of other good beginner advice as well.
Yes, the advice I'm referring to was not intended to uptalk the gecko or be critical of the other options. It was intended to help me avoid some of the frustration and mistakes that come with the learning curve. I also appreciate the idea of not minimalizing componants to minimize what would need to be replaced to upsize - ugrade machine later.
I would check out this forum discussion on this very topic...wealth of information from really experienced builders on all the specifics and technical aspects of the different control options. Newbie Gecko vs Keling vs Xylotex driver Another option is a dynomotion kflop/kstep combo... very powerful and customizable but is prolly overkill for where you are. Additionally you could go with a TinyG control board which will work just fine, its what i started with... good piece of gear. It has an online control interface i was never crazy about though. The reason i recommended the g540 is that it is rock solid with a huge user base for support. It also uses mach 3 software which is very rich in features that compare directly to a larger industrial setup... you will learn waaaay more in this environment than with hobby level electronics.
