Why not use this stepper driver?

Hi on ebay you find several cheap l298n stepper driver modules. These are complete around 5-8 usd some with free shipping. I tried finding out about them but it seems no one is using them. Can anyone explain to me why these are not used?

here is an example of a driver
[www.ebay.com]

... mostly because they're only halfstepping while commonly used are microstepping drivers ...

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Viktor
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An L298 by itself is just the high current switching part of a stepper driver: it takes inputs of the form "winding 1 forward voltage, winding 2 off", not the "take a (micro)step on each pulse" that RepRap motherboards send, and doesn't have any built-in constant current control.

There are designs that combine the L298 with another chip to make a complete stepper driver (with the microstepping level determined by that other chip), including two in the L298 datasheet itself, but I don't know if any of them can be purchased ready-assembled. The item you link to is NOT a constant current driver, as pins 1 and 15 are shorted to 8 without sense resistors, and hence is not suitable.

... ah, yes - misread (or misinterpreted) the question, as i commonly used only complete drivers with the 297/298-combo

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

Quote

There are designs that combine the L298 with another chip to make a complete stepper driver

For example the Generation 2 Electronics stepper motor driver

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Generation 7 Electronics	Teacup Firmware	RepRap DIY