Basic Stamp 2 carrier board

Fnordcorps

Hi, I am using a basic stamp 2 carrier board and have a few questions about it. I have looked for some datasheets on it but I can only find a wiring schematic.

1/ The board has a built in 9v pp3 socket and a serial input. If I plug a battery in and plug the serial cable in is this ready to program straight off or do I need to
wire any of the connections to the socket to start programming? Also am I supposed to put a 5v regulator circuit on there as well to protect the basic stamp 2 chip or will it run
fine off the 9v battery alone?

2/ What is the difference between Vss and Vin. I notice there is A Vss on the left top corner and also a Vin and a Vss on the top right corner of the socket?

3/ I would like to power two servo motors and the chip off this carrier board with one 6v battery pack. Would this need to be regulated in any way before going into the basic stamp such as regulating to a certain voltage? I know its best to have two seperate supplies but would like to stick to one if at all possible. I would like to run them off the chip as you can on the BOE board. What pins would the servos power be wired to in this case?.

thanks in advance, I have already benifited greatly from the wealth of knowledge available on this board! Hope to share in the future.

Project5k

I dont really know about the carrier board that you are talking about, but as a general rule, when you start mixing inductive loads (motors) with logic and digital parts, you need to be careful about back emf. the voltage that the motor could potentially inject into the board if its spun by hand or the like when theres no signal being sent to it.

I would suggest having a voltage regulator, and or some kind of filtration between the battery and the stamp to try and cut down on the noise that the motors will cause on the power lines going to the battery.

also, you might want to consider the motors that you are going to be using, vs the capacity of the batteries. Will they last long enough? what will happen, and what kind of weird faults and quirks will the stamp experience or cause as the supply voltage falls off or is pulsed low when the motors are running and or the batteries are going dead.

Just my thoughts on some things to consider.

sylvie369

Fnordcorps said...
1/ The board has a built in 9v pp3 socket and a serial input. If I plug a battery in and plug the serial cable in is this ready to program straight off or do I need to
wire any of the connections to the socket to start programming? Also am I supposed to put a 5v regulator circuit on there as well to protect the basic stamp 2 chip or will it run
fine off the 9v battery alone?

Is it just the regular carrier board? Bare bones - just a BS2 socket, DB9 connector, 9V battery connector, reset button, coupla capacitors, two rows of connector pins?

www.parallax.com/Store/Microcontrollers/BASICStampDevelopmentBoards/tabid/137/CategoryID/9/List/0/SortField/0/Level/a/ProductID/121/Default.aspx

You should be ready to program once you connect a serial cable and a 9V battery. The BS2 modules have voltage regulators built in - the board supplies 9V to the Vin pin, which gives the chip the 5V it needs, and also supplies 5V to the Vdd pin.

www.parallax.com/Portals/0/Downloads/docs/prod/schem/BS2revJSchematic.pdf

Fnordcorps said...
2/ What is the difference between Vss and Vin. I notice there is A Vss on the left top corner and also a Vin and a Vss on the top right corner of the socket?

Vss is ground, Vin is the voltage input I described above. Vdd is regulated 5V.

Fnordcorps

Thankyou, very helpful