On 7/18/2011 6:33 AM, Bob La Londe wrote:

I ran the MaxNC software in DOS mode briefly on a laptop to test it
when I sold the controller and motors. I did not care for it, but it
did seem to work.

Yeah, it's about as basic as it gets. Doing some poking around, I still
have a copy of TurboCNC too, which requires no special card and is a lot
more capable than the Max software.

I can see the desire for a laptop with the desire for a portable
machine though. The other alternative if you can't find the ideal
laptop is to use a Smoothstepper via USB to provide the LPT port.

Yes, still would like a portable setup if feasible, thus the laptop.
Budget is, cheaper the better, as is often the case with DIY projects...
G I just gave away a Gateway last month that had a full parallel port,
and there are cheaper alternatives than the Smoothstepper to insure full
voltage at the port.

Since you aren't dealing with cutting forces, and are just moving the
weight of a camera you could easily run your controller and stepper
motors off a couple gel cell batteries like you might find in an
alarm panel, UPS, or game caller.

Sorta what I'd hoped when I started down this road. I felt I could
likely get away with driving motors at 12v as speed and acceleration are
not the criteria. Moves might range from .0005 to maybe .020, even the
latter would go pretty quickly at a slow feedrate. Would gear the motors
down a ways too to improve resolution.


Jon