So all the talk of 32Bit processors and rearm being the easiest upgrade path apart from availability. So till that becomes viable Ive been looking at whats available locally here.
there seem to be 2 options one is a smoothie derivative / clone and the other is called MKS 32-bit v1.3 base with the most 1st glaring difference being one runs the 1768 and the other the 1769 ( essentially it seems 100 vs 120 MHz)
I’d like some 401 grade input on the differences and if someone has used the MKS boards are they worth the money.
We hear a lot of complaints about the MKS boards. If you’re looking at an inexpensive all in one board that runs Smoothie you can check out my Cohesion3D Mini: http://cohesion3d.com/cohesion3d-mini/
It does not cut corners and will run a single extruder 3D Printer with heated bed like an i3 or delta.
I priced it as close as I could to the SBASE, it is a bit more, but you are supporting a U.S. company and getting proper quality and support.
Shippping to SA is the problem ( as Pieter vd walt will attest) weeks to wait for reasonable shipping and usually as much as $60 for dhl and customs will hammer you what ever they feel like on the day they seem to no be consistent at all. I have nightmares of ending up with a $500 bill for a controller. Friend of mine got a $150 customs bill for a T-Shit 6 months ago. ( He declined to pay that )
So it leaves me with what I can find locally which up to now this has been ramps with original Arduino boards and ramps with clone arduino boards, a spattering of rumba and others. ( mostly out of stock anyway)
More bad news here is that the only person it seems was manufacturing the smoothie derivative here has sadly all but given up as he feels he’s fighting cheap china machines.
It seems I’m in a situation where there is only one 32bit board available locally and its not cheap, hearing that they are possibly rubbish doesn’t help.
I may just the them and test, how bad can it really be.
But I’m not all that exited.
Ill look at importing, but I should see if I can find a local manufacturer and have a few dozen made and hope I can find enough people here who’d want to pitch in and buy.