Fig. 1 TB6600 stepper motor controller.

Connection-Operation TB6600 Stepper Controller with PC Parallel Port

by Lewis Loflin

The TB6600 is a cheap stepper motor controller available in Ebay for about $10. It is single axis and operates bipolar stepper motors from 9-volts to about 40-volts at about 4 amps.

I did two videos and a webpage on using the TB6600 with an Arduino microcontroller. Here I will use this with a PC parallel or printer port.

See the links below for the earlier videos and Arduino.

Using the TB6600 with Arduino:

The goals are as follows:

1) a deeper look at the wiring and connections of the TB6600;

2) demonstrate the use a the parallel port a true 8-bit hardware port;

3) demonstrate the bit manipulations using bitwise operators under C.

Fig. 1 above illustrates the TB6600. It has three control connections (enable, count, direction), four connections for a bipolar stepper motor, and six setup micro switches.

Three of the setup switches select the current limit. The other setup micro-stepping. These will be explained next three slides.

Fig. 2 TB6600 stepper motor controller micro-stepping switches.

Micro-Stepping Setup, Common Ground Connections

Let's look at Fig. 2. Note the three control connections for micro-stepping. S1, S2, and S3 are step multipliers for 360 degrees.

For example my motor in the video was 7.5 degrees per step or 48 steps for 360 degrees. A 1.8 degree per step motor requires 200 steps for 360 degrees.

Setting the switches divides the step angel, not the number of steps. Using 4 as an example, dividing 7.5 degrees by 4 = 1.875 degrees per step or 196 steps for 360 degrees.

In the case of the 1.8 degree per step motor, 800 steps are required for 360 degrees.

Fig. 3 TB6600 stepper motor controller current limit switches.

Current Limiting

The TB6600 also has built in current limiting which makes motor voltage easier to deal with.

For example I have 5-volt 1-amp stepper motor. Setting switches S4, S5, and S6 to 0.5 amp or 1 amp assures say a 12-volt power (with the correct current rating) can drive the 5-volt motor.

Fig. 4 TB6600 stepper motor controller basic electrical connections.

Fig. 5 Home built parallel breakout board.

Connections and Operation

Fig. 5 is my parallel port breakout board. The actual electrical connections I use is Fig. 2. Or you can buy a CNC parallel port breakout board to do much the same thing.

Power (5-volts) in both cases is derived from a USB port.

See the following:

Hacking MACH3 Parallel Port Breakout Board

PC printer port base address is 0x378. This is 8-bit bi-directional. Buffered by 74LS245 set for output. 74LS245 DIR pin 1 HIGH, enable pin 19 OE LOW.

PPORT pins 2-9 (DB25 connector) to 74LS245 pins A1-A8. Output B1-B8 is D0-D7. See spec sheet. Wired with common ground.

T6600 stepper motor controller: PUL+ to PPORT D0, PUL- GRD; Pulse is LOW-HIGH-LOW.

DIR+ to PPORT D1, DIR- GND. D1 HIGH CW; D1 LOW CCW.

ENA+ to PPORT D2, ENA- GRD. D2 HIGH motor off, D2 LOW motor on. If ENA not connected motor on all times. Motor will be locked, can get hot. Thus ENA LOW locks motor until pulse.

Test Software

Download test software tb6600.txt

View all of my You Tube Videos
Also visit and subscribe to My YouTube Channel