Spindle encoder wiring check

Power Supply: 8-30V

You need 5VDC

Stupid question but not possible to use an external power supply instead of the power on the mesa board? ( i have 12v and 24v in my controls).

Mesa encoder input is 5V so you need 5V encoder not 8-30V.
You supply 5V from Mesa board to encoder

ah ok, the search continues haha

Just a thought but the encoder might be putting 5V out even if the input is 8-30v.

It might, or perhaps open-collector or similar. But the data sheet simply does not say.

There are some 24V NPN output encoders on eBay, those might work, if the encoder inputs have pull-ups.

eBay also has lots of very cheap 5V AB-only encoders for about £7. At that price using a keyway on the spindle for the Z-phase looks tempting.