UPAN LPTNew
ENSL
Describe your project
UPAN LPT main screen in a browser: G-code, coordinates, feed rate, spindle, Cycle Start, Feed Hold and Stop
Screenshots from the simulator; the board is not made yet.

UPAN LPT

Coming soon

For machines that ran on Mach3 through a PC’s LPT port. UPAN LPT plugs into the DB25 socket of your breakout board instead of the PC cable. Wiring, drivers, power supply and spindle stay as they are; you run the machine from a browser on your phone or PC, over Wi-Fi, without internet.

€49excl. VATPRELIMINARY≈ €60 incl. VAT (SI) · preliminary

Preorder for €9.90 — it counts toward the price. When UPAN LPT ships, you pay only the rest; we write first with the final price. Changed your mind? We refund the deposit.

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Not ready to pay? Notify me when it ships

Stays as it is
Breakout board, drivers, power supply, spindle, wiring, your G-code files
Not needed
A PC with an LPT port, Mach3, internet
Status
The software runs on a simulator; the board is in design. The price is preliminary.
Order code
UPL1

Who it is for

Hobby mills, routers and plasma tables built around a 5-axis breakout board with a DB25 port. The old PC is wearing out, and new computers have no LPT port. UPAN LPT keeps the machine running without rewiring it.

How it works

  1. Unplug the PC cable and plug UPAN LPT into the DB25 socket of the breakout board.
  2. Join its Wi-Fi from a phone or PC and open the machine screen in the browser. No app, no internet.
  3. The agent on upan.tools sets it up for your machine: pinout, steps per mm, speeds, limits, homing. Importing your Mach3 settings file is planned.
  4. Run G-code from the microSD card. Motion runs on its own chip, so if Wi-Fi drops, the cut goes on.

The screen

Screenshots from the simulator; the board is not made yet.

Specifications

Draft: the board is in design, details may change.

Connector
DB25 plug, into the PC port of the breakout board
Motion
STM32 with grblHAL, open-source firmware (GPLv3)
Screen and Wi-Fi
ESP32-S3; the screen opens in any browser on a phone, tablet or PC
Programs
microSD card with G-code; the job runs from the card
Outputs
Buffered, kept off until the firmware has started
Updates
One package for both chips
Boards
Common 5-axis breakout boards with a DB25 port; pinouts differ, the agent sets yours

Questions

Do I still need a PC or Mach3?
No. The screen runs in a browser on any phone, tablet or PC on the same Wi-Fi; there is nothing to install.
Will it work with my board?
If the board takes a PC parallel cable on a DB25 socket, most likely yes. Pinouts differ between boards; the agent sets yours. We test on several popular boards before shipping.
What if Wi-Fi drops mid-job?
The job keeps running: motion, inputs and e-stop run on a separate chip, from the microSD card.
Is it open source?
The firmware is grblHAL (GPLv3), and the board design will be open too.

Mach3 is a trademark of its owner. UPAN LPT is not affiliated with it; the name is used only to describe compatibility.