I am a hobbyist and recently bought a MK1 controller board on eBay to see if I could successfully build a 3-axis CNC for PCB. I tried a few CNC Software Demos with the board and liked the PlanetCNC the best, so purchase a license. No where on the purchase site did it say that the license would be tied to one board forever.
My intent was to learn on the cheap eBay CNC board and buy a better one later when I became more efficient at using the CNC and software. At the correct speed to make a 3.5 inch by 5 inch PCB, the control board began giving buffer errors about 1/3 through almost at the same place every time. After some research, it was apparent that the cheap eBay CNC board is not fast enough for what I want to do.
I just found out I will have to rebuy a new license for a faster (say MK3) board, even if purchased for PlanetCNC. This is just wrong.
PlanetCNC need a warning on their site explaining this, or only sale their software with a board. What happens when a CNC is hit with a power surge and is unusable?? This sounds like a great way to cheat a consumer. And is very unfriendly to hobbyist, who make mistakes on a regular bases.