Physicist trying to do engineering. Not going well. After advice with 4 axis gantry.

[dr_rob]

If it helps, here's a rough wiring diagram that would suit a lot of break-out boards and stepper drivers. As JazzCNC says, the Enable signal is sometimes considered optional; if you leave it disconnected then the stepper driver defaults to "Enabled" anyway. The "Pulse" connection is sometimes marked "Step"; again, previous post explains why.

I've just had a quick look at the "manual" for your BOB; not very helpful, is it? However, you should be able to identify step and dir signals for each axis (=stepper driver). Doesn't appear to be an Enable output anyway but I might have misread it. All ground connections (- connections on stepper driver) go to a single common ground terminal on the BOB. The manual then tells you what pin numbers in Mach3 you should configure for each signal (Mach3>Config>Ports and Pins). However, there is still this question about whether you are running on a 32-bit Windows; the parallel port driver will not work on any 64-bit Windows version.

Hi Neale,

Thank for the diagram. Very, very handy.

Yep, the instructions for the BoB are terrible! But I'm pretty sure from your diagram and Jazz's description of the system I will be able to figure it out without too much trouble.

As for the version of Windows, I am going to source a 32bit verison of Windows. I was going to go with Windows 7, unless you think a later/earlier version is better suited to the job?

Thanks again for the help. I think the BoB was causing me the most confusion but I think I got it now!

Rob

[Neale]

Win7 is the latest that came with a 32-bit version, I believe, so that's the one to go for. Probably the best and most stable version of recent years as well.

- Dr Brian (well, everyone else is boasting about it...)

[komatias]

Win7 is the latest that came with a 32-bit version, I believe, so that's the one to go for. Probably the best and most stable version of recent years as well.

- Dr Brian (well, everyone else is boasting about it...)

Damn straight! Who says PhD' are useless :D