>>I need some advice on how to communicate and control a stepper or servo motor through VB of VFP.
>>
>>Are there any Activex controls which I may purchase from a third party customer that will allow me to acheive this?
>>
>>Do I need any interface cards, or can I send signals directly through a parallel and/or serial port to to be used as a clock signal for a counter IC (Integrated Circuit)? The second method is the preferred method.
>>
>>I would also like to control the frequency of this pulse signal.
>>
>>Again, I need a simple solution, which does not require the need to buy expensive hardware and software. Presently I have the stepper motor, and a board for the phase sequencing, which does not plug into a computer slot or any controller. I need to simply send pulses directly to the board using only my serial and/or parallel port, which will be connected to this board via cable, whih in turn connects to the motor.
>>
>>If this doable, do I need to boost the signal coming from the computer, or is the signal strong enough as is.
>>
>> I am consulting a manufacturing company, and this is the project I have accepted. Personally, I do not have much experience with this. so any advice is strongly appreciated.
>>
>>Thank you very much.
>>
>>John Vlahos

I think Sheridan offers VB controls just for this type of application. There is a special interface card that is used to communicate with the controlled devices.
We have some people doing similar work at another facility. I'll try to contact them and see exactly what their setup is if you're interested.