Understanding control boards

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configuration

jbloggz wrote: That's good to hear.
So something like this would be fine?

I've used a few of those boards, and they seem to work OK most of the time, but I've had a little less than reliable results from the inputs pins on one of mine, and I had to add some pull ups to another one to work with an obstinate parallel port card..

Todd Zuercher wrote: If you don't have a PC with a parallel port or need two a PCIe dual parallel port card that may or may not work with Linux costs about 2/3 the price of a dual DB-25 port from Mesa

I Just had a look and it turns out the old PC I was planning to use doesn't have a parallel port (I just assumed that it would have one). So perhaps the parallel route is not the best option.
Any recommendations for a (hopefully cheapish) Mesa board (or equivalent) that would work with a standard LEAD CNC? I dont need any fancy features. The only thing I'd like to be able to do is use a joypad (I have a spare PS3 controller if that works).
I'm in Australia, so I dont know if that changes/limits my options.

The DB25 Mesa Cards can be used in the same places as an ordinary parallel port card. Only the configuration in Linuxcnc is a little different. There is the 5i25 (PCI) for $89(US) the 7i92 (Ethernet) for $89 or the $6i25 (PCIe) for $109. All 3 of these are pretty much the same except for how they plug into the PC. You can connect them using an ordinary parallel port breakout board or buy a nicer BOB with more features from Mesa if you need them. Then there are boards like the 7i96 ($119) which is like a 7i92 with the break out board already built in,with 5 step/dir outputs, 11 3-36v isolated inputs, 6 isolated 36v 2a outputs, a DB25 header (with 17 additional ttl io points) and a Smart Serial expansion port.

However I know shipping to Oz can be costly.

I've never tried myself, but I know I've seen post here about people using such game pads for contol pendants, I think it works.

Thanks, of those options, it seems like the 7i96 is probably the best value. I might look into getting one of those. Any recommended places to buy them?

jbloggz wrote: Thanks, of those options, it seems like the 7i96 is probably the best value. I might look into getting one of those. Any recommended places to buy them?

forum.linuxcnc.org/27-driver-boards/34979-mesa-suppliers