I was thinkng I could tone as a generic freq generator? When I connected it to 13 with code tone(10); I expected to se it flash, but no.
Am I right in thinking it could be used as a generic squarewave generator?
My plan was to set the freq to say 500hz for 1 sec and move the stepper with this.
I know there is a stepper lib, but just wondered if this would work?
When I connected it to 13 with code tone(10); I expected to se it flash, but no.
Anything over 30 Hz and you will not see a flash.
My plan was to set the freq to say 500hz for 1 sec and move the stepper with this.
Yes this will give you a burst of pulses. You need a stepping motor driver in the hardware to turn these pulses into the sequence for driving a motor. That is you need a step and direction type of motor controller.
Am I right in thinking it could be used as a generic squarewave generator?
Yes, as long as you recognize its limitations, and don't expect it to perform as precisely as a $5000 (or even $500) function generator.
Whether you can use a square wave to control a stepper depends on what driver circuit you're using. Most drivers used with Arduinos require a more-complicated, multi-pin sequence of signals. And 500Hz will probably be too fast for most steppers.