how to provide position feedback for stepper motors with a rotary encoder

Yes, you can use encoders for feedback, even with a parallel port, but normally only 2 of them and at very slow speeds, depending on the encoder resolution/PPR.
There should be an attached working config here, although it does have added stuff for the BOOST feature, so if you can do some soldering you could wire the drive current DIP switch to raise the current when it gets the BOOST signal from the PC, it uses the Mesa 7i92 as is, it can be made to work with parallel port but to much trouble, so better add the requires stuff about encoder feedback to your existing config, after you have backed up your existing config.

I am not sure, but probably the StepConf created config will not work, but then again it might, forgot it is possible to link feedback from encoders without a PID loop, back when i used it, it did not use a PID loop.
PncConf always creates pid loops and probably can be used to create a parallel port configuration as i am sure there is a selection for it.
Sorry for the messy answer but i always hand edited config files for whatever i needed.

Yeah, that will not be 20-30 bucks for sure...

PCW wrote:

Not too much more though
(StepperOnline lists the CL86 at $43.94, and a matching motor at $42.04 so $85 total)

Still cheap!
How the hell do i get those here??? Last drives i got were DM556 i think, 54 Euro a piece in Germany from amazon.de !

Mecanix wrote:

tommylight wrote:

Yeah, that will not be 20-30 bucks for sure...

Yeah you're prolly right, 12~15 bucks huge max...

The only drives costing 12$ are those wrongly named TB6600, the original TB6600 are 18 and up, and in this cases the wrongly named ones are better and cheaper, albeit about 1A less current.