[coherent]

I have a UC400 and 2 breakout boards..one is pretty standard (C11GS) for driving the motors and charge pump, on board relays etc and another attached to port 2 that's a 12/24v open collector breakout board for proximity sensors, probe etc. Not a thing wrong with using 2 boards. The ability to select 2 different breakout boards is not only usually a little cheaper it allows you to mix and match BoB's to meed your specific hardware requirements. I consider it a positive not a negative.

[OlfCNC]

I agree. Standard printer port pinout which the UC400ETH has is the best solution. I can use 1 or 2 breakout boards. Most bobs come with standard printer port pinout. No need to buy expensive dual port ones or to find one with bidirectional pinout. And I can use 2 different bobs in case I need different functionalities.