Gents,

I'm new to this forum having recently bought someone else's unfinished CNC router project - now quickly learning as much as I can, and keen to get it up and running in some form!

The machine is essentially complete, but uncommissioned. I had the motors running under Mach3 control for the first time at the weekend, but then saw some issues with the limit switches falsely triggering. On further investigation I realised that the BoB supplied is a totally unbuffered "wired through" Parallel Port board, which is simply not up to the job. As well as the observed noise issues, it also makes the PC I am using a bit too vulnerable for my liking! As an electronics engineer myself, I can see that this is an important part to fix before I go any further.....

So, I'm currently looking for a recommendation for a decent but inexpensive Parallel Port Breakout Board, readily available in the UK. There is of course a huge choice of BoBs out there, many of Far eastern origin, together with an equal number of horror stories about how unreliable many of them are. So, I am hoping that there BoBs on a list generally approved by users that get chosen when you just want something simple and basic that works.

In time I'll likely switch to an ethernet motion controller, as they are clearly the way to go - but I really would like to see the machine working before I invest too much more into it. Hence a good solid, simple Parallel BoB would be ideal at this stage.

Any suggestions? Am I asking too much?

Thanks in advance!
Graeme