Testing a Step motor

R

Thread Starter

Rick@cae

Hi guys,

First time here. I need a simple way to test a step motor. Basically, I have access to the motor and its driver (serial connector on the driver), and would like to know how to connect it to the PC and what software to use (hopefully without having to program lenghty codes). Is there a program already written that could move the motor so many steps in either direction?

Can the motor be plugged in straight into the serial port or do I need some type of converter?
 
First of all you need to see which driver is connected to the motor, then see the protocol to communicate with it. It can either be as simple as 2 signals or a lot fussier...

And another thing I didn't undertand was if the motor had a power supply of its own or not. Because there is no way a PC port can supply enough current for a stepper motor. Also, Google has some good examples for stepper motors! ;)
 
Thanks for your reply. I do have a power supply for the motor/driver. My problem is more on the physical connections from driver to PC and then how to "communicate" with said driver. I'd like to run some basic experiments but would not want to damage said arrangement.

Here's some more info on the units:
Pacific Scientific
MOTOR
model M21NSHS-LNN-NS-02 3.5A 24V 47W
DRIVER
Model 6410 (105-641003-01)

POWER SUPPLY is a variable XANTREX
model HPD 60-5 (0-60v 5A regulated DC power supply)

I'd like to test this on a regular PC (Pentium IV 3GHz).

Hope this helps.
 
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