Hi guys.

I'm a complete novice at electronics, but pretty savvy with computers. My dad is the total opposite, and it would be great to do a little stepping motor device with him, where I can learn something about the motors and he can do some coding.

What we want is simply a board to connect to a PC, power supply and pair of stepping motors and to be able to issue commands to it (via a linux terminal or windows console?).

The EiBotBoard seems like it would do the trick, but it's a little steep! Is there something you can think of alternatively? The issue I have is some say "Stepping motor controller" and some throw in the word "driver" there too, so I don't know which boards contain everything I need, and which don't! For example, would this do the job?

Finally, these things say they use 9-24V supplies (for example). Does this mean so long is the plug fits, the voltage will be appropriately regulated down?

If you're fine with using an arduino as your motor 'brain', maybe try this : [arduino.cc]

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What we want is simply a board to connect to a PC, power supply and pair of stepping motors and to be able to issue commands to it (via a linux terminal or windows console?).

That's exactly what all the RepRap electronics do. Most RepRap firmwares (FiveD, Teacup, Sprinter, Marlin, SJFW,...) talk G-code, easily commandable from a terminal.

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Generation 7 Electronics	Teacup Firmware	RepRap DIY

Start with an arduino, you'll be glad you did.

I did a couple of projects with a Parallax Propeller board too

[www.backyard-workshop.com]

[www.backyard-workshop.com]

That looks good and in the right price range!

I'm still struggling to see exactly what I'm going to need here though. I see the Uno board controlling a stepper which looks great, except that we want to control a pair! Does this mean upgrading to the Mega board, or does the Uno have enough I/O for that?

The Mega is really more than I'd like to spend

For controlling a set of four steppers, an vintage Arduino Duemilanove is entirely sufficient. Just watch out for any of the RepRap electronics. RAMPS, Sanguinololu, Gen7, depending on how much you want to make yourself: [reprap.org]

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Generation 7 Electronics	Teacup Firmware	RepRap DIY

Cheap Stepper motors on eBay.
Search Nema 17 stepper
sort by lowest price
Less than $7.00 each and $5.00 shipping for each group

Does that motor with 13.5 mm shaft length work? is the shaft too short?

[www.ebay.com]