Hi there all,
currently I am in the very middle of retrofitting my Chinese ZX30 Mill, currently I am waiting 3-4 weeks for the nuts for the Zero Lash Ballscrews I bought, not happy over that, no body in South Australia has M12x1mm, they all say they do then look sorry nope.
Anyway I also have one of these XHC USB breakout pod things, only thing I can say is if it states 5 volts on the input make sure you do not go to much over it, otherwise smoke, the tracks in the voltage regulation area are small, I smoked mine up on 5.18 volts DC, I also repaired it now it has a LM 7805 5 volt regulator inside so now more surprises.

Some of what I am doing, the ZX30 normally has ACME screws they have been removed and new ball screws installed, well up to a point, BTW the table is very heavy, I have a bad back and being stupid, stupid me moved it and twisted my back, still very sore three weeks now.
This gave time to play with the USB breakout box, ok some help for others, yes I said about the supply very important, now it does power up on the usb power from the computer, BUT it does not supply the 5 volts on the input pins and allow the output to work, so if it has the flashing led that is cool, but if the software states it can communicate even better, but you need the 5 volt supply to make any of the inputs and outputs to work, just a friendly helping hand.

With the ZX30 mill I am going to remove the single phase drive motor and replace with a 3 phase 1.1 Kw D90S frame motor, about three times the torque sort off, I will be using a 1.5 Kw Variable Speed Drive using the 0-10 volt output from the breakout box, has anybody had luck with this?
I will have a RPM  hall sensor measuring the RPM of the spindle.

A question regarding the USB breakout box, has anybody used the inputs marked START and STOP, what are these in relation to ?

Currently I am doing a proof of concept on the lounge room floor, as the shed is very busy at the moment.

People please do not worry about me and mains voltage I am an electrician by trade and have worked in the commercial / industrial area for many years, this project has been in the parts collection phase for about 7 years now, only thing I currently do not have is the motor.

I would like to ask a question to the public, this is regarding input devices, as I am going to be using hall effect to detect the speed of the spindle, has anybody played with using industrial hall effect units, is it better than mechanical limit switches or are the hall units better for home positioning, it would be interesting to hear what people think .

Cheers for now

Paul