open source hardware driver boards

I am all for your idea, and i was thinking about it when i started using and building cnc's more often about 7-8 years ago, but the price of parts and the time required and the troubleshooting of problems etc. etc. was way beyond the price of ready made systems.
I would love to be able to use the MESA cards since they are versatile and very reliable, but atm i can not buy them where i live and i do not have valid credit cards anymore, so i am scr......d for the time being. With that said, if anyone has a sudden urge to send me a say 5i25 or 6i25, god forbid being attached to a 7ixx, i would not complain at all !!!

The price of MESA cards is so low that it is insignificant on the price of the machine. 89$ for 5i25 is a very low price for what it can do !!! 34 I/O ports that you can configure to your hearts desire and capable of MHz impulse rates gives a lot of possibilities.
Tom

There is a chap in Bulgaria making his own Mesa-card clones, using the Mesa firmware (which is open-source).

It would probably cost more to make your own OS boards than to buy a Mesa board, though it might well not be about cost

jtc wrote:

Didn't know that the firmware is open source, where can I find it, and it's documented?

git.linuxcnc.org/gitweb?p=hostmot2-firmware.git;a=summary

Files here:
git.linuxcnc.org/gitweb?p=hostmot2-firmw...9d6b451b72d4ceff6372

How to compile:
wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?Editing_MESA_Bitfiles