I've got my CNC router (the one Andrew built!) running off of a very old PC. I have a much newer one I would like to use, but when I tried it I got odd results running the machine. It would only move in 1 direction in all 3 axes. This happened with MDI, jogging, and running .nc files. I tested the voltage coming from the parallel port on the newer PC and it's 3.3 Volts. My controllers need 5V TTL so my guess is that's why I can't get it to change direction.
Is there any way to fix this other than buying a PCI parallel port expansion card in the hopes that it is 5 Volt TTL? Can anyone recommend a particular make/model of ppt expansion card that they know to be 5 Volt TTL? Or is there anything I can put in between the new ppt and toe controller to do a step-up DC-DC conversion?
Lance