[David_AVD]

The time has come for me to choose a controller board for my long term CNC mill project.

I'd like to go with a USB motion controller as the PC I have in mind doesn't have a parallel port.

I've been looking at a couple of units on eBay. (DDUM4 v1.0 here and WiXHC (??) here)

A search here didn't find anything (good or bad) on them. Has anyone use either?

[David_AVD]

Nobody?

Is there something else I should be looking for?

[ger21]

Are you looking for something that works with Mach3, or does the control software matter?

For Mach3, there are a lot of options, both USB and ethernet.
UC100, UC300, Smoothstepper, CS Labs CSMIO, KFLOP, and a ton of chinese boards.

If you're not locked into Mach3, there's Planet CNC and Eding CNC.
And the UC100 and UC300 will also work with UCCNC software.

[David_AVD]

I was planning to use Mach3 at this stage.

I'll check out the options you listed.

Thanks Gerry.

[neilw20]

Ethernet will work more reliably than USB, with Mach3.Maybe look for ethernet cards.

[ger21]

Ethernet will work more reliably than USB, with Mach3. Maybe look for ethernet cards.

While that's true with the Smoothsteppers, I've never seen any other USB motion controllers that have known issues with Mach3.

[VICTORHERNANDEZ]

Are you looking for something that works with Mach3, or does the control software matter?

For Mach3, there are a lot of options, both USB and ethernet.
UC100, UC300, Smoothstepper, CS Labs CSMIO, KFLOP, and a ton of chinese boards.

If you're not locked into Mach3, there's Planet CNC and Eding CNC.
And the UC100 and UC300 will also work with UCCNC software.

And other option is MK3 Card from Planet CNC, run at 100Khz, but you should buy a Lincense software for each controller card, (Planet CNC).

[Khalid]

I am using UC100 for couple of years and its great. I am using it with Mach3 however you can use their software too..

[Jon.N.CNC]

I love this quote I keep seeing pop up "Ethernet will work more reliably than USB". My uc300's have never lost connection, ever which to give you an idea is around a combined length of 4 years mainly mon-fri between 8hours and the longest 96hours continuous without issue. Admittedly I don't use high emp devices like plasma near them, but for me how much more reliable can it be than 100% reliable lol.

There are some people out there that have issues, mostly down to bad or coiled leads and low quality USB ports. But if you have a recent pc there's nothing to say USB will let you down.

[OlfCNC]

One more vote for UC100 and UC300 from me. I got one-one of them and they both work flawlessly.
Also take a look at their software UCCNC, it is much more precise and reliable than Mach3.

[A_Camera]

I love this quote I keep seeing pop up "Ethernet will work more reliably than USB". My uc300's have never lost connection, ever which to give you an idea is around a combined length of 4 years mainly mon-fri between 8hours and the longest 96hours continuous without issue. Admittedly I don't use high emp devices like plasma near them, but for me how much more reliable can it be than 100% reliable lol.

There are some people out there that have issues, mostly down to bad or coiled leads and low quality USB ports. But if you have a recent pc there's nothing to say USB will let you down.

I do agree that the UC300 is VERY reliable, but mine has lost connection with the PC twice, though NEVER in a critical situation, and you are right, the environment I am having is definitely not the most optimal, so considering that, I agree that the UC300 is 100% reliable.

[Azalin]

I wonder why I keep getting notifications on this thread.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

[OlfCNC]

Because you never posted in this thread I consider this a CNCzone bug.

[Jon.N.CNC]

I do agree that the UC300 is VERY reliable, but mine has lost connection with the PC twice, though NEVER in a critical situation, and you are right, the environment I am having is definitely not the most optimal, so considering that, I agree that the UC300 is 100% reliable.

Run your lead straight and away from other wires but sounds like a pc's issue. Like I say I run 3 of them and yes I have lost connection because of a faulty port in first few hours of use, replaced the card and never has it happen since, I regularly pause the machine and resume next day without powering down connection. And I have a dell laptop running one that has an issue on one port but others are fine, i have checked device manager and they share the same hub and settings which leads me to think it could be as simple as how well the USB connector is seated in the port.