Hi,
I personally use an Ethernet SmoothStepper and it works well. There are
six seven US and European manufacturers
that ALL make quality devices and they ALL have great customer support.
https://warp9td.com/The Ethernet SmoothStepper is the model of choice. It has both Mach3 and Mach4 plugins and a company supported forum.
Warp9 is days away from adding realtime THC support to its Mach4 plugin meaning that all the commonly required realtime
functions are now available in both Mach3 and Mach4 plugins, things like backlash comp, lathe threading and THC. Costs
about $190US. Needs to be partnered with one (or more) parallel BoBs, for which there is a wide choice. C10's are $23 each
whereas the MB2 from CNCRoom with all three ports developed is about $200. The ESS has a total of 51 inputs and outputs
up to 4Mhz pulse output rate.
https://www.poscope.com/products/pokeys-devices/PoKeys do two devices that may interest you. The 57CNCdb25 is a USB connected device that converts the USB data
form Mach into pulse streams in parallel and presents them to the real world in the form of a db25 (aka the parallel port)
plug. It has 12 outputs and 5 inputs. Costs about $120. Good for a simple (one ports worth of IO) machines.
The other device is the 57CNC. This device is optionally Ethernet connected and has a total of 57 inputs and outputs.
Some of the inputs can be analogue, a nice feature. Has both Mach3 and Mach4 plugins. Max output pulse rate is 125kHz,
so not fast but usable and quicker than any parallel port! Cost about $150. Note that the 57CNC is based on the same core
as the 57E and 57U which could be used for CNC and it an attractive proposition because they are under $100 BUT they
are not really fully developed for CNC use and you have to add other circuitry to take advantage of all its features. In short
I would recommend spending the extra and get the 57CNC from the outset.
https://www.cncdrive.com/CNCDrive do three models of interest to Mach users. The venerable UC100 is still very popular at about $120. It is USB connected
and has one db25 plug output much like the 57CNCdb25 I described above. It has one ports worth of IO, that is 12 outputs
and 5 inputs. If you like the idea of such a device don't buy a Chinese ripoff from Amazon or Ebay, buy direct from CNCDrive
or their nominated distributor. Other models are the UC400 which has two ports, about 34 inputs and outputs or the UC300
which has five ports for 85 inputs and outputs. Both are Ethernet connected and about $150. Note than CNCDrive make
their own software called UCCNC and it is apparently pretty good too. The UC100, UC300 and UC400 all have Mach3 and Mach4
plugins. Max output pulse rate is 125kHz, not blazing fast but useful. CNCDrive has just (fortnight ago) released a new model
AXBB but at this stage is for their own UCCNC software only. It may well at some time in the future has Mach plugins as well
but not yet.
http://www.vitalsystem.com/portal/index.phpThe Hicon Integra is the model of choice, costs about $600 without extras. It is a high quality Ethernet connected device which
supports all the common realtime functions. It has both Mach3 and Mach4 plugins. The are extra modules that allow the use of
analogue servos, a Machh4 ready THC feature, an onboard API feature....all extra to the base price. No breakout board required
as all IO is 24V tolerant. Pulse output rates of up to 12MHz, so blazing fast.
https://www.pmdx.com/PMDX has two models of external controller, the PMDX-411, a USB connected db25 plug output device at about $120 and
the PMDX-424, a two port (34 input and outputs) device with onboard power supply and no breakout board required, at $250.
PMDX has a great reputation for quality and, especially, backup. These are Mach4 devices only.
https://en.cs-lab.eu/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwj9LkBRDnARIsAGQ-hUceuDpuI7xnofziZ6ULmGY2Y02GyukLySQ3L1RWU7b-kNQpQ6AxhngaAsQnEALw_wcBCsLabs have a couple of models, a step/direction model and an analogue model, both about 600 Euro, so not cheap.
They are good quality and have a loyal support base especially in UK and Europe. They also enjoyed a good reputation
for support. That reputation has tarnished somewhat of late....may be some change within the company. They have both
Mach3 and Mach4 plugins but the Mach4 plugin is buggy and they have done nothing about it for months. Given the price
of the device I hesitate to recommend it despite the high quality and innovative design. Without top notch support I wont
be parting with my money.
http://www.galilmc.com/Galil is the last word in professional quality motion control. Has a Mach3 plugin and just recently a Mach4 plugin. The Mach4
plugin is written and supported by one of the Mach4 developers so it will be just like Galil.....rock solid. Downside is that
a moderate entry level three axis controller is about $2000. You get what you pay for. Just as a matter of interest the top
model, the 40 series, accepts encoder inputs up to 22MHz and step outputs up to 6MHz.....you want Ethercat....we got Ethercat,
and the list goes on and on and on.
Craig