[kreutz]

I went to Granite Devices' web page just for curiosity. Their posted lower price for students or hobbyist is 188 Euros per unit, at today's exchange rate that price is equivalent to 279.49 US Dollars. Definitively not fair comparison, taking into account that the granite's device is limited to 10 amperes continuous and 15 Amperes absolute maximum current (Nevertheless it is a pretty fair price for a brush-less AC servo motor controller, great work! Xerxes).

I am completely sure Irfan and Paul will get a lot better prices on the components and PCBs if they had adequate sales volume. I will also do my best to help them get better quotes from the distributors, but is is your support what is going to make the difference.

Guys, reading datasheets, looking up part numbers, getting quotes, ordering parts, putting together kits, packing, and shipping take a lot of time and financial resources. I don't think those guys will even reach minimum wage by selling those kits, at least not until they get in the few hundreds of kits/month. I will post the B.O.M. and schematics, so you can look for yourselves if you can do it cheaper (without stripping all the safety features, at the end, it is your life/health what is in play...). I am just waiting for the test results from Paul's and Irfan's drives before posting them.

Thanks,

Kreutz.

[contactirfu]

OOPS I bummed

Thanks for your support Kreutz! I am looking forward for the test myself on myself

RGDS
Irfan

[spotlite]

Hi guys,

just to say, that recently I bought 2 controllers from GRANITE DEVICES.
For me the price is pretty good for what they do.
I succeed to install them on my plasma cutting CNC table, and all the things run nice and smooth.
Easy installation, can accept STEP/DIR signals from MACH3 and so on.

Great job GRANITE DEVICES!

Soon I am planning to build WOOD (MDF) ROUTER, so I will order 3 kits from them for sure.

Regards:
S. Kartalov

[HJozsi]

Hi All,

After all the work me and Paul came to a figure of Approx 150USD per kit un-assembled. Though it may sound big for a hobby DIY board, thats our best we could have in offer.

.
.
.

Do let us know your reactions.

Irfan

U still need to get the UHU's from ULI!

Hi Irfan,

some questions :

- Is the original UHU firmware used for the HP-UHU or a modified one and is it in kit included? ( ah sorry, I have the answer "U still need to get the UHU's from ULI!" )

- Do you plan to offer PCB only ?

The reason of my question is well... yes ... the price and my budget... I have some chips from ULI, also several komponents like FETs ...
When a pocket is coming from outside EU and it cost higher than 50 USD , we have to calculate about + 25% cust.clr/VAT ...
Locally most of the components are available on reasonable price...

On the other hand your effort and added value to the UHU DIY s controller is great and is not 100% paid by 150 /kit ...

Yesterday I suceeded my tests with 1kW (85V 15A ) motor on 120V with original UHU board. But well, some safety and other features are missing, that are in HP-UHU included. ...

Regards,

Jozsef

[HJozsi]

Or a 'limited kit' only with geometrically critical komponents, like filter, cabel conn ...

[kreutz]

Or a 'limited kit' only with geometrically critical komponents, like filter, cabel conn ...

It could be as simple as offering the critical components and the PCB. The availability of the rest of the components depends on the part of the world the user lives in, so the word "critical" has a wider meaning for those living on third world countries.

It would also be necessary to do some research on exactly which parts would be offered as "critical" to gain general consensus (this is my opinion only and I have nothing to do with Paul and Irfan's kits). Meanwhile, that would leave some relief on the parts' investment, but can be detrimental to the cost of the kit because of the lower total amount involved on the buying (not enough "punch" to negotiate a package deal from a distributor).

I would vote for assembled boards at kit prices , but that would require a minimum starting volume (that could be solved by creating a waiting list), and also a re-design of the PCB for automatic assembly (using SMD components), and believe me, it is a lot of extra work. At the end that extra work will reduce the price of the board only if some sales momentum is created, otherwise is just a waste of time and money.

My recent personal experience with "kit" offering is that it generates a lot of empty offers to jump on the wagon, but when the work is done, and everything is ready, nobody jumps on it, and you simply realize that everybody prefers the assembled product (and you have lost your time and investment). That is probably why DIY kits are a "rare" find elsewhere.

[vrsculptor]

$150-200 per drive may seem high to some but is still a great value. The lowest cost high voltage/amperage drive I could find was over $400. The granite drive is nice but just won't cut it if you need a 20 AMP drive. The now defunct Rutex drives were in the $250 range and had problems. People with big mills really have no reasonable alternative.

Put me down for three.
:rainfro:

[HJozsi]

I would vote for assembled boards at kit prices ,

YES, that sounds interestig ....

Well, ... understand...

However to define a PCB only price could help people who can't afford the kit price ... The PCB price could be of course higher than the average in order to ROI...(e.g USD 20 - 30 ,- ...)

It's just an idea, a feedback for your survey...

And waiting for Irfans weekend video...

Jozsef

[contactirfu]

Hi Irfan,

some questions :

- Is the original UHU firmware used for the HP-UHU or a modified one and is it in kit included? ( ah sorry, I have the answer "U still need to get the UHU's from ULI!" )

- Do you plan to offer PCB only ?

Nope... reason being we dont want failures in the first batch.

The reason of my question is well... yes ... the price and my budget... I have some chips from ULI, also several komponents like FETs ...
When a pocket is coming from outside EU and it cost higher than 50 USD , we have to calculate about + 25% cust.clr/VAT ...
Locally most of the components are available on reasonable price...

Believe me the saving you will incurr will be very minimum. however I will discuss with paul and PM you.

On the other hand your effort and added value to the UHU DIY s controller is great and is not 100% paid by 150 /kit ...

Yesterday I suceeded my tests with 1kW (85V 15A ) motor on 120V with original UHU board. But well, some safety and other features are missing, that are in HP-UHU included. ...

Regards,

Jozsef

About the video, I dont think it will be this weekend or the next, I am travelling to US next week and will be in the US for the next 3 months.

However I will be helping out paul on his machine (probably) and we will have results soon.

I apologize all for this huge delay to see my router working. However I will try to connect the 110v supply to the drivers and check them next week (before travelling) as i still dont have the timing pulleys.

lets see how things turn out to be!

RGDS
IRfan

[duzallcnc]

Hi,

!50 ish per board is reasonable, put me down for 2

Thanks!

[H.O]

Hi,
I've expressed my interest before and I'll hereby offically doing it again.

$150-200 for a drive of this size sounds very reasonable to me, even in kit form. Although, for me, as Jozsef also pointed out, that price will be %25 higher if the kit is sold from outside of the EU - still acceptable. As long as it works to it's specs. If it's supposed to handle xxxV and yyyA then I'm expecting it to do so.

With that being said I'm following up on various options as I'm still rebuilding my machine. It IS getting close for me though so if the HP-UHU is several months away I will probably have to find something else.

Here's the deal... My motors are fairly large Indramat DC-servos, 170V(max), the X- and Y is rated at 19A cont. and the Z at 24A cont. At the moment I'm concidering the HP-UHU, the Viper200, the VSD-A and the Mammut. If it wasn't for the 10A limit on the VSD-A I would have three lying on my bench already.

Of cource, money is an object but I'd rather pay $600 for something that I know will work than $500 on something that might. However, to be completely honest, I've ordered one Mammut to try with. It's rated 180V/40A so it 'should' have 'no problems' driving my motors but needless to say I have my doubts.

[tenmetalman]

Hello All,
With any luck at all I will do some basic testing @ 135vdc this weekend. with Kreutz's help We have a amperage ramping cycle planned out.
The investment for this series of boards just keeps going up & up. I purchased 15 inductors @ $2.33us each for the the first build.
Now the vendor has raised his minimum to 100pcs @ a discount, but still right close to $200.00. Times that investment required by eighty plus components even with Irfan & myself doing all we can to shave costs on each & every part we're getting into a large cash outlay.
Sense starting this my Visa card has been maxed out or close to it everytime I check. We are committed to making the drive available and will have a limited amount of kits ready shortly. Because of the costs involved & the number of critical parts we've have to purchase in quantity we will not be selling bare boards at this time. The UHU chip & crystal will NOT be in the kit, nor the Heatsink & miscellaneous bolts, nuts, standoffs. I've been in this project of getting axis drives at a hobby level for in excess of three years now. I have something like thirteen various boards of different generations. I have a large baggy of smoked components & have had some heavy conversations with the wife over this issue.
In retrospect if I had known what was going to be involved to get to this point I would have had the original boards rebuilt years ago. If Kreutz had not stepped in when he did I'd have sold my two CNC type machines a year ago for some peace in my home. I'm truly sorry for the length of this post & it's some what rambling nature but wanted eveyone to understand why it's so important to Hugo, Irfan & myself that the drives we sell will do as stated !!!
Paul

[kreutz]

Can anybody, please, point me to the links of comparable Brushed DC servo drives?

I have been around the CNCzone and found Larken's web site. He sells assembled 160V 20 Amp drives over $200.00. Are there any other options?

Thanks,

Kreutz.

[MrWild]

Guys, I wasn't meaning to sound like the wooden stake to the heart on this. I understand being tapped out. I get $1,000 a month to live on. I just got a $6,000 bill from the hospital. Some things for me are just too far out there at this time. When creditors bang on your door(figuratively) something has to give. Putting out the $350 already and then adding $450 to that is even less of an option for me. I'd still need Mach3. I didn't sell my drives to China or any other dubious place because I do have scruples. I just can't bleed more money for some time to come. Heck if I could sell these off for $300, I'd be half way there. Doubt that will happen though. Like I said, I appreciate all of your efforts. Just not an option until I get some breathing room.

[GuntisK]

Hi! Im too lazy to read all posts... Did anybody built a high current and voltage version of UHU servo drive? I have 105v, 32A MT4 servos from DYNAMO (Bulgaria) and Im thinking about new driver (old triac controlled drives is living their last days).

[kreutz]

Guys, I wasn't meaning to sound like the wooden stake to the heart on this. I understand being tapped out. I get $1,000 a month to live on. I just got a $6,000 bill from the hospital. Some things for me are just too far out there at this time. When creditors bang on your door(figuratively) something has to give. Putting out the $350 already and then adding $450 to that is even less of an option for me. I'd still need Mach3. I didn't sell my drives to China or any other dubious place because I do have scruples. I just can't bleed more money for some time to come. Heck if I could sell these off for $300, I'd be half way there. Doubt that will happen though. Like I said, I appreciate all of your efforts. Just not an option until I get some breathing room.

MrWild;

Don't worry. I don't speak for Paul and Irfan, as stated before, I am following the thread mostly to help when I can, and to learn from all of you.

I sincerely appreciate your opinion. It is because of people like you, who sincerely say what come to their minds, that we get the required feedback to do it better the next time. I will help them to make the HP board better and cheaper.

Try E-bay for selling the UHU drives, I firmly believe your luck is about to change for the better.

Thanks,

Kreutz.

[tenmetalman]

Kreutz, are you on line

[kreutz]

Can anybody, please, point me to the links of comparable Brushed DC servo drives?

I have been around the CNCzone and found Larken's web site. He sells assembled 160V 20 Amp drives over $200.00. Are there any other options?

Thanks,

Kreutz.

Found also a Rutex 200V/40A drive priced at $456.00. I wonder how many of you would require higher than 20 Amps output current.

Kreutz.

[vroemm]

Found also a Rutex 200V/40A drive priced at $456.00. I wonder how many of you would require higher than 20 Amps output current.

Kreutz.

Are the GECKO drives comparable ?

[kreutz]

Are the GECKO drives comparable ?

To the original UHU, Yes, to the HP modified UHU, No. The Geckos are designed for 80V/20A, the HP modified UHU for 150V 25 Amps (tested up to 185Volts). There are other features in the HP not available on the Geckos.

Regards,

Kreutz.