Any USB/Ethernet controller suggestions?

[Desertboy]

What would be the point of buying 8A drivers to run 3A motors with? "Better" is a relative... is it 4-5 times better than the DQ542MA? It MUST be 4-5 times better to motivate the price difference, but I doubt that. Sure, with unlimited budget, no question about it, but I still doubt there is ANY benefit at all to use 8A drivers to run 3A motors. Also, the UC300ETH is not an "expensive" controller at all, quite the opposite, but again, even "expensive" is very relative.

Also, the OP asked about reliable recommendations, not just eBay guessing. It is pretty easy to list a bunch of expensive parts and claim they are "better" without describing what they are better at and why or how. Of course, very few really KNOWS because very few people actually tried many different drivers, controllers, bobs in all kind of combinations.

If you want to upgrade the controller and spent $5 on a BOB then you are out of pocket $5, if you want to upgrade the drivers you are out of pocket £120 for 4

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cnc-4-2A-...MAAOxyni9TFCPq

To me spend the cash on the AM882's for stall protection and use a cheap BOB then upgrade the electronics later when budget allows.

A cheap BOB is also compatible with mach 3 and linuxcnc so you can try both before locking yourself into a vendor without trying the software out.

It's basically double the cost for AM882's and then the extra cost for supplying 70v instead of 48v, you'll see most of us with 80v drivers make a PSU with transformer, rectifier and capacitors which adds another £70 making 4*AM882, PSU and BOB £320 which is to me the minimum spec for building a new router.

With a cheap PP BOB and a reasonable latency PC if you set microsteps to 8 (Or even 2 on slow PC) you'll get good enough performance to run at max speed on any home machine.

[Ger21]

You could get EM503's, which are 50V and 4.2A, but AM882's are cheaper. I've payed as little as $58 for AM882's.

[A_Camera]

If you want to upgrade the controller and spent $5 on a BOB then you are out of pocket $5, if you want to upgrade the drivers you are out of pocket £120 for 4

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cnc-4-2A-...MAAOxyni9TFCPq

To me spend the cash on the AM882's for stall protection and use a cheap BOB then upgrade the electronics later when budget allows.

A cheap BOB is also compatible with mach 3 and linuxcnc so you can try both before locking yourself into a vendor without trying the software out.

It's basically double the cost for AM882's and then the extra cost for supplying 70v instead of 48v, you'll see most of us with 80v drivers make a PSU with transformer, rectifier and capacitors which adds another £70 making 4*AM882, PSU and BOB £320 which is to me the minimum spec for building a new router.

With a cheap PP BOB and a reasonable latency PC if you set microsteps to 8 (Or even 2 on slow PC) you'll get good enough performance to run at max speed on any home machine.

I still don't understand what the benefit would be in using 8A drivers with 3A motors. In my opinion that's overkill. Also, if I would spend that much on the driver I would NOT buy a cheap BOB. I understand that the AM882 has stall protection, but come on... is it really a huge issue? After all, stall is a cause of wrong use or configuration. Also, why not the DM542T? It is more of a realistic match for the 3A motors than the AM882 and is much cheaper. Yes, the AM882 is 80V while the DM542T is only 50V, but again, if a machine is well built you will hit the speed limit anyway, even with the 50V drivers.

[m_c]

I still don't understand what the benefit would be in using 8A drivers with 3A motors. In my opinion that's overkill. Also, if I would spend that much on the driver I would NOT buy a cheap BOB. I understand that the AM882 has stall protection, but come on... is it really a huge issue? After all, stall is a cause of wrong use or configuration. Also, why not the DM542T? It is more of a realistic match for the 3A motors than the AM882 and is much cheaper. Yes, the AM882 is 80V while the DM542T is only 50V, but again, if a machine is well built you will hit the speed limit anyway, even with the 50V drivers.

Current and voltage has little to do with the reason.
DM/Q drives are older technology.
AM/EM drives are the latest technology, with the benefits of auto-tuning and anti-resonance. Both of which mean the drives have much better performance for any given power supply or motor. Stall detection is just an additional feature, which on dual motor axes, can greatly limit racking damage should a stall occur, and can also stop things on single motor axes, should something go wrong. You've got to remember, it's not just over tuning that can cause stalling, crashes can as well.

[A_Camera]

Current and voltage has little to do with the reason.
DM/Q drives are older technology.
AM/EM drives are the latest technology, with the benefits of auto-tuning and anti-resonance. Both of which mean the drives have much better performance for any given power supply or motor. Stall detection is just an additional feature, which on dual motor axes, can greatly limit racking damage should a stall occur, and can also stop things on single motor axes, should something go wrong. You've got to remember, it's not just over tuning that can cause stalling, crashes can as well.

That is not entirely right. While the DM542T is not the absolutely latest and greatest, it is actually a 2017 product and is in production (by Stepperonline), while the AM882 is obsolete, but still sold, and is advised NOT to be used in new products. At least if we look at what Leadshine is saying about their products. The DM and DQ drivers are not the same, as far as I know, DM is original Leadshine, DQ is fake copy and Leadshine still makes the DM driver. The latest is the EM-S, which probably will replace the DM drivers one day. The DM542E is made by Leadshine and is from 2016 and is in production, the AM product line is no longer in production.

http://www.leadshineusa.com/product-...stepper-drives

[m_c]

That is not entirely right. While the DM542T is not the absolutely latest and greatest, it is actually a 2017 product and is in production (by Stepperonline), while the AM882 is obsolete, but still sold, and is advised NOT to be used in new products.

That just shows how little you actually understand about the drives and the technology in them.
The DM542 is using technology that must now be well over 20 year old now, just like Gecko are still using in most of their stepper drives. The only real change to the designs has been to use modern components, but the basics of operation are still the same as 20 years ago. It's just smaller components are used.

AM drives, although officially obsolete within Europe (they were superseded by the EM series), are still an active product produced by Leadshine. They use far newer technology, and monitor how the motor is reacting to the voltage/current applied to it, which is how they implement anti-resonance, auto-tuning, and stall detection. DM/DQ drives do not have that technology in them, regardless of when they were made.

[A_Camera]

That just shows how little you actually understand about the drives and the technology in them.
The DM542 is using technology that must now be well over 20 year old now, just like Gecko are still using in most of their stepper drives. The only real change to the designs has been to use modern components, but the basics of operation are still the same as 20 years ago. It's just smaller components are used.

AM drives, although officially obsolete within Europe (they were superseded by the EM series), are still an active product produced by Leadshine. They use far newer technology, and monitor how the motor is reacting to the voltage/current applied to it, which is how they implement anti-resonance, auto-tuning, and stall detection. DM/DQ drives do not have that technology in them, regardless of when they were made.

Please, don't use "DM/DQ" as if they were equal, they are not. The DQ are Leadshine copy products, the DM are original Leadshine products. There are also many DM models, some outdated, some not, some digital, some analogue. And not all DM products use 20 years old technology, and even the AM882 is about 10 years old... so it is pretty far from the latest and most modern.

Apparently you didn't read what was stated by Leadshine on their own web page, which I linked to.

Legacy leadshine stepper drives which may have been discontinued or will be discontinued. Those stepper drives are not suggested for new applications anymore. You can contact us if you still have the needs to use any of them.

AM882 is one on that list, the DM542 is NOT on that list.

Leadshine's DM series digital stepper drives are DSP-based innovative products adopting the latest stepper control technology. Those stepper motor drives feature anti-resonance, low-speed ripple smoothing, extra-low noise, and low motor heating, therefore they can offer excellent performance for stepper motor controls.

The DM542 is on that list.

DM in itself is not equal to obsolete technology and not all DM are outdated products. The DM542 is, at least according to Leadshine, not an outdated model yet. Yes, it will probably be replaced by the EM542S and will be obsolete. The EM-S series seems to be a match of the DM series, while the EM series replaced the AM series, higher current and voltage drivers.

BTW, what is "officially obsolete" is obsolete. At least according to me. I am not saying that the AM882 is not better than my DQ542MA, of course I'd expect it to be better for that price, but it is a huge overkill for 3A motors.

[m_c]

Please, don't use "DM/DQ" as if they were equal, they are not. The DQ are Leadshine copy products, the DM are original Leadshine products. There are also many DM models, some outdated, some not, some digital, some analogue. And not all DM products use 20 years old technology, and even the AM882 is about 10 years old... so it is pretty far from the latest and most modern.

I couldn't be bothered checking the lastest spec, but all I'll say on the matter, is you continually recommend the DQ542MA, which is a copy of old technology.
It's the same technology Gecko have used for 20 years, and the same technology which Leadshine originally copied for their Dx drives.

But the key detail is, the D whatever drives, don't monitor the motor. They simply alter how they're drive the motor using various levels of micro-step morphing to avoid resonance, and allow smoother motor control, but that seems to be the point you're trying to avoid recognising by arguing over what is or isn't obsolete.