Driving stepper motors smoothly?

First of all, what is the appropriate newsgroup for questions about
stepper motors? On with the actual question:

Is there a reasonably priced option for driving stepper motors
smoothly, i.e., not having them stop and start every 1.8 (or 0.9)
degrees? I have some 200 step/rev motors that I would like to drive
at speeds ranging from 0.1 to 4 RPM in one application and 0.4 to 16
RPM in another. I would prefer a system that has already been
designed by someone who knows what they are doing, though I would not
mind doing some kit assembly.

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On Thu, 13 Dec 2007 16:58:43 +0000 (UTC), (E-Mail Removed) (Paul
Ciszek) wrote:

>First of all, what is the appropriate newsgroup for questions about
>stepper motors? On with the actual question:
>
>Is there a reasonably priced option for driving stepper motors
>smoothly, i.e., not having them stop and start every 1.8 (or 0.9)
>degrees? I have some 200 step/rev motors that I would like to drive
>at speeds ranging from 0.1 to 4 RPM in one application and 0.4 to 16
>RPM in another. I would prefer a system that has already been
>designed by someone who knows what they are doing, though I would not
>mind doing some kit assembly.

I like Ocean Controls stuff. It's attractively priced, it comes with
nice graphic control software for a PC. It's an Aussie shop.
They know what they are doing. Take a look


<http://www.oceancontrols.com.au/motor_controller/stepper_motor_controllers.htm>

[There are plenty of others....]

I would say you don't fill an intending helper with confidence if you
can specify max and min rates, step size but not power requirement. or
torque or some such....

Brian Whatcott Altus OK