Has anyone used their Micro Dual Serial Motor Controller with success?
After I spent more money shipping back the first one for which a proper RMA# was obtained, they sent me a replacement only after I called them and spent considerable amounts of time talking with their technical person named Jan Malasek who started giving me "ideas" about how to solve the problem with proper power supply design, signal ripple content considerations, voltage regulator flucuations, oscilloscopes and all sorts of advanced measuring and engineering concepts. No where on their website or in the datasheet will you read anything like this, not that these things are foreign to me, but if I had wanted to reinvent the motor controller I wouldn't have purchased theirs.
The replacement did the exactly the same thing even with a different small motor and separate dedicated power supply. This time they refused to accept a return claiming "I broke the first one and they generously gave me another" and "We have thousands of these things out there and don't really have any problems". Incidentally when I first spoke with Jan, he said that he believed that maybe their product just doesn't have the amperage capability I'm looking for. Hmm, let me see, how about not even a fraction of the claimed amperage?
Neither of the two that I had were capable of driving a motor anywhere near their claim of 1A per channel or 2A in single motor mode even with a big heatsink and a fan, not surprising since this thing is about the size of a penny but it is their claim, bogus as it is.
So nearly $30 dollars and several wasted hours later I'm back at square one with my next robot design, finding a suitable serially controlled motor controller. Any suggestions on some controllers that work as advertised? Maybe the solutions cubed stuff, or maybe I should just make my own.
Caveat emptor if you're thinking of buying any electronics from these people.
-Dave