Cheap propeller programmer...

Bamse · 2009-10-22 03:19

Howdy...

This is cheap Propeller programmer that came out of the discussion in the Propeller Forum...
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=845658

I used the Nokia cable from the thread, you can find the link right here,
cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370185543289
This is a Data Cable for Nokia 6101 6102 6102i 6103(CA--42).

Take it apart and add a 2N2222 or similar NPN Transistor, 2x10K (Brown Black Orange) resistors and a 10nF (103) cap.
The case comes apart pretty easy, cut the cable on the inside and pull out the cable to get the blue "cap".

Put a header on the ribbon cable and mark the "up" side.
On the programming header, the top one is the Ground, followed by Reset, Tx and Rx.
Note that I marked the ground wire with a black marker.

Flat side up, solder the two resistor to the Base and Emitter on your transistor.
Try to use as short leads as possible if you want the whole thing to fit in the case.

Hook up the ribbon cable. The bottom connection is the ground, unfortunately you cannot see the black marking I did on the cable.
The rest goes as in the picture, use the reference above to hook up the ribbon cable.

Collector goes to Reset on ribbon cable and add a ground wire to Emitter. The ground wire is kind of hard to see but it is the small blue wire in the picture.

Add cap to the resistors and the DTR on the plug. Notice that I lay the Transistor on the side and bent it a bit, I had to do that to make it fit in the case. Be careful not to disconnect the little red wire from DTR, I don't know if it works without it, but better safe than sorry.

Make it fit in the case, it can be a bit tricky but keep in mind that the transistor is laying on it's side.

Don't squeeze the lid on, it should snap on without a problem.

Hook up to Propeller.

Test it. I put some electrical tape around the plug to hold it together...

Have fun a and keep in mind that these are so cheap that you can make a few and give to your friends so they can get started with the Propeller...

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Living on the planet Earth might be expensive but it includes a free trip around the sun every year...

Experience level:
[noparse][[/noparse] ] Let's connect the motor to pin 1, it's a 6V motor so it should be fine.
[noparse][[/noparse] ] OK, I got my resistors hooked up with the LEDs.
[noparse][[/noparse]X] I got the Motor hooked up with the H-bridge and the 555 is supplying the PWM.
[noparse][[/noparse] ] Now, if I can only program the BOE-BOT to interface with he Flux Capacitor.
[noparse][[/noparse] ] I dream in SX28 assembler...

/Bamse

RobotWorkshop · 2009-10-22 14:39

Very cool project Bamse! Thanks for sharing it. One thing I have found useful is to keep some 103 caps, 4.7K, 10K resistors, and other assorted surface mount parts (1206 package) for projects just like this. They are a lot smaller and make it easier to squeeze in tight places like this. If you haven't tried them yet you may way to pickup some (they are cheap) and try it if you make another adapter.

Robert

WBA Consulting · 2009-10-22 21:43

Nice instructions, convinced me to buy a couple to try it out.

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Andrew Williams
WBA Consulting
WBA-TH1M Sensirion SHT11 Module
Special Olympics Polar Bear Plunge, Mar 20, 2010

Unknown · 2009-10-23 13:26

Digikey sells USB enclusures.

Why do we need a Nokia cable?· Why can't it just be built from scratch?

It is a great idea but $6 for shipping·plus a·cable and another $6 shipping or so for a transistor and resistors adds up.

Why not just either make it in a batch or buy a programmer for the prop?

Bamse · 2009-10-23 14:20

Thanks guys...

@Chuckz,
The cable was $3.39 including shipping last time I checked the link, hard to beat.
I understand that if you don't have the components, it might not be such a great deal.

Personally I'm not interesting in putting together a kit or making a batch, but if anyone else is, please do...
Could this be something for Gadet Gangster to pick up ?

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Living on the planet Earth might be expensive but it includes a free trip around the sun every year...

Experience level:
[noparse][[/noparse] ] Let's connect the motor to pin 1, it's a 6V motor so it should be fine.
[noparse][[/noparse] ] OK, I got my resistors hooked up with the LEDs.
[noparse][[/noparse]X] I got the Motor hooked up with the H-bridge and the 555 is supplying the PWM.
[noparse][[/noparse] ] Now, if I can only program the BOE-BOT to interface with he Flux Capacitor.
[noparse][[/noparse] ] I dream in SX28 assembler...

/Bamse

hover1 · 2009-10-23 14:25

There seems to be additional electronics in the Nokia cable that would have to be purchased also.

Chuckz said...

Digikey sells USB enclusures.

Why do we need a Nokia cable?· Why can't it just be built from scratch?

It is a great idea but $6 for shipping·plus a·cable and another $6 shipping or so for a transistor and resistors adds up.

Why not just either make it in a batch or buy a programmer for the prop?

RobotWorkshop · 2009-10-23 17:20

Chuckz said...
Digikey sells USB enclusures.

Why do we need a Nokia cable? Why can't it just be built from scratch?

It is a great idea but $6 for shipping plus a cable and another $6 shipping or so for a transistor and resistors adds up.

Why not just either make it in a batch or buy a programmer for the prop?

Because this is probably one of the cheapest ways to get a USB to Serial conversion cable. It is much more than a USB connector, housing, a couple resistors, and transistor. There is also a chip onboard that is handling the USB to Serial conversion. To do something similar you would have to at least get one of the FTDI chips which costs more than this whole cable. From the looks of it you could easily just ignore the DTR portion and just wire the GND, RX, and TX to any Propeller pin (or BASIC STAMP pin) and use this as a way to use any microcontroller to talk to a PC (or MAC) using a USB port for data logging, etc. This is a very good find.

Unknown · 2009-10-24 01:04

Thank you for the advice.· I will attempt this project.· The best way is to research the search terms and then enter it into Amazon.

I found a new one on Amazon for less than $3.00 and they also have a used one.· Shipping was about $3.00.· I don't know if I could do better than that but I'm not dissatisfied with this price when it comes to experimenting.

·

Propability · 2009-10-28 00:08

Got some in that are identical ( black blob ) but am having trouble trying to get a driver to work. Which driver did you use to get it working?

Bamse · 2009-10-28 01:06

The USB to serial boards worked fine without any drivers...

I'm running Ubuntu and Brads Spin Tool...

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Living on the planet Earth might be expensive but it includes a free trip around the sun every year...

Experience level:
[noparse][[/noparse] ] Let's connect the motor to pin 1, it's a 6V motor so it should be fine.
[noparse][[/noparse] ] OK, I got my resistors hooked up with the LEDs.
[noparse][[/noparse]X] I got the Motor hooked up with the H-bridge and the 555 is supplying the PWM.
[noparse][[/noparse] ] Now, if I can only program the BOE-BOT to interface with he Flux Capacitor.
[noparse][[/noparse] ] I dream in SX28 assembler...

/Bamse

Propability · 2009-10-28 01:43

Using windoze so maybe will have to wait and see if someone gets theirs working on a win system. Not familiar with linux systems but does the Make or Manufacturer show up if one needed to know ? Might find the driver that way but for now I'm about done trying. So if anyone gets this working using windoze please respond.

Thanks for the reply.

Bamse · 2009-10-28 02:55

Both the Nokia and "Green with Silver cable" USB ports show up as Prolific Technology, Inc. PL2303 Serial Port...

Hope that helps...

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Living on the planet Earth might be expensive but it includes a free trip around the sun every year...

Experience level:
[noparse][[/noparse] ] Let's connect the motor to pin 1, it's a 6V motor so it should be fine.
[noparse][[/noparse] ] OK, I got my resistors hooked up with the LEDs.
[noparse][[/noparse]X] I got the Motor hooked up with the H-bridge and the 555 is supplying the PWM.
[noparse][[/noparse] ] Now, if I can only program the BOE-BOT to interface with he Flux Capacitor.
[noparse][[/noparse] ] I dream in SX28 assembler...

/Bamse

Propability · 2009-10-28 03:25

Yeah - I already tried the Prolific stuff which you would think was the right one from the Hack site. Although I only used the latest driver so maybe tomorrow I'll look into what else is out there for Prolific . Tried loading the Nokia software too but no luck.

There was no shipping charges for the ones I got and they arrived pretty quick. Once this windoze thing is resolved these will be nice usb interfaces.

Propability · 2009-10-28 18:26

Ok got it working. The latest drivers from the Prolific site just did not work on my winxp or win2000 systems. After some looking around found an older driver and it works on both. So I'm going to see about getting this working.

Again thnx.

Propability · 2009-10-28 19:50

Well it all works now but since the DTR line is already sitting at 3.3V I did away with the transistor and resistors and just used a cap between DTR and the Prop reset line.

Fixed the DSR typo.

Post Edited (Propability) : 11/3/2009 5:22:09 PM GMT

mikediv · 2009-10-28 20:20

Propability Your a genius! thank you sir it took me 3 seconds to get my cables to work I did exactly what you said I had my doubts about leaving out the transistor but it works fine with XP, Vista and 2000 THANK YOU..
and thanks Bam for all the time you spent helping me, I think in the end I was having a problem with the circuit acting weird with stray capacitance, I edited my post but like I said my cables only worked if I had my scope probe attached so it had to be in the capacitance,
but with Propability way I just used the one capacitor I have 6 cables working fine thanks guys I am going to build one for every prop board I have
Oh if anyone wants a copy of the driver sI am using just ask.

Post Edited (mikediv) : 10/28/2009 9:04:24 PM GMT

Bamse · 2009-10-29 04:05

I redid my first programmer with just the cap, looks and works great...

To be on the safe side, I put a .1 cap between Gnd and Rx as mike suggested...

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Living on the planet Earth might be expensive but it includes a free trip around the sun every year...

Experience level:
[noparse][[/noparse] ] Let's connect the motor to pin 1, it's a 6V motor so it should be fine.
[noparse][[/noparse] ] OK, I got my resistors hooked up with the LEDs.
[noparse][[/noparse]X] I got the Motor hooked up with the H-bridge and the 555 is supplying the PWM.
[noparse][[/noparse] ] Now, if I can only program the BOE-BOT to interface with he Flux Capacitor.
[noparse][[/noparse] ] I dream in SX28 assembler...

/Bamse

mikediv · 2009-10-30 22:56

Bamse I have 2 cables the way you initially built your design with the transistor . Its a very good design and the reset comes in handy its a very stable solid way to go I only did the single cap as a quick and dirty way to get a bunch of cables going all at once

the 2 I have built using your circuit with the reset are permanently soldered to a project for controlling a ditch digger , they have a desktop system that services all there equipment mostly Can and I needed a reliable way to access the prop portion of the digger I hard wired the cable becuase they would loose it in a day plus you would not believe all the different cables they already have this way it stays with the machine , Bamse the reset is very nice I could never imagine how handy it would be until I needed it.
Thanks again guys I now have 12 cables built and working , which ever way you build one this can not be beat . The company does not charge for shipping so for 3 bucks you get a prop programmer not to many deals in life this is one.
Bamse just a thought have you ever thought about sending this to gadget gangster ?????? or selling them yourself just imagine a USB prop programmer for $8.00 dollars and you would still make a buck LOL
Thanks Guys

OakGraphics · 2009-11-03 17:32

Just a quick note - look at the cables you buy from ebay carefully. If you see four 'holes' in the connector, that is a mold injected hood and can not be easilly taken apart or put back together. ordered 3 by mistake myself. Still useable but much harder to manipulate. unfortunately - the item I bided on did not have the same picture as what was received, so I could not tell until they arrived. So - with that in mind, don't get from this vendor: "Seller info: topvshonw"

Bill Henning · 2009-11-03 21:05

I got five of those in today, and not only are they difficult to take apart, the PCB is different - six pads on each side. GND, TX and RX are easy, but I'll have to buzz out which connections are DTR and/or RTS

OakGraphics said...
Just a quick note - look at the cables you buy from ebay carefully. If you see four 'holes' in the connector, that is a mold injected hood and can not be easilly taken apart or put back together. ordered 3 by mistake myself. Still useable but much harder to manipulate. unfortunately - the item I bided on did not have the same picture as what was received, so I could not tell until they arrived. So - with that in mind, don't get from this vendor: "Seller info: topvshonw"

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www.mikronauts.com Please use mikronauts _at_ gmail _dot_ com to contact me off-forum, my PM is almost totally full
Morpheusdual Prop SBC w/ 512KB kit $119.95, Mem+2MB memory IO board kit $89.95, both kits $189.95
Propteus and Proteus for Propeller prototyping 6.250MHz custom Crystals run Propellers at 100MHz
Las - Large model assembler for the Propeller Largos - a feature full nano operating system for the Propeller

OakGraphics · 2009-11-04 05:23

Bill Henning said...
I got five of those in today, and not only are they difficult to take apart, the PCB is different - six pads on each side. GND, TX and RX are easy, but I'll have to buzz out which connections are DTR and/or RTS

If you figure it out - let me know. Would love to use these silly cables if possible. It was cheap enough for me to order another three from the supplier that was listed above in the original post. So either I will have 6 cables for 3$ish or 3 cables for 6$

Daniel

mikediv · 2009-11-04 20:33

Guys if you bought eh blue cables with the molded plastic end RS-232 to USB they work just fine but its a mother to take apart I took a razor blade and slowly shaved down the plastic until I could pull it apart the DB9 comes off and you will see all the markings on the circuit board RX, TX, DTR, they are all labeled clearly you do not have to take the whole thing apart just the end dont be afraid to pull the DB9 connector end off it pulls right off and you only need access to the end of the circuit board I can take some pictures if you guys want to see
then I did the 1 cap mod the only problem I ran into is like Bam said I had to add a cap to Gnd and RX I had to do this for all my cables to work right

RobotWorkshop · 2009-11-04 22:17

Keep in mind that if you just want to use this to connect a Propeller to a PC or MAC just to do serial data logging or communications then you don't have to worry about the DTR pin. Just cut of the end for the phone and use the GND, RX, and TX to connect to the prop. It is an extremely cheap way to enable a serial link like this.

Robert

OakGraphics · 2009-11-05 00:43

mikediv said...
Guys if you bought eh blue cables with the molded plastic end RS-232 to USB they work just fine but its a mother to take apart I took a razor blade and slowly shaved down the plastic until I could pull it apart the DB9 comes off and you will see all the markings on the circuit board RX, TX, DTR, they are all labeled clearly ...

Not quite - these ones are slightly different - they have 6 pinouts on each side and have no markings for RX, TX, but rather 1 through 12.
I can tone-out what the 3 soldered connections are, but where that darn DTR pin is, I might be at a loss.

Post Edited (OakGraphics) : 11/5/2009 12:52:36 AM GMT

Propability · 2009-11-05 01:44

To find the ground of course would be the first thing to do and most likely it is the low resistance path to the metal sheild of the USB connector.

How to find DTR? Well first of all the device should be recognized by your system so the drivers need to be installed and the device recognized with no errors.

For windows I use Brays terminal which allows me to toggle the DTR line. Of course you must have the correct comm port selected (device manager knowledge very helpful).

So plug in the adapter ( I used a USB extender for easier access to the pads) and then I would toggle the DTR button in Brays and look for the change of state with the voltage setting on my ohmeter.

When I did mine I noticed DTR was sitting at about 3.3V when first plugged in so I knew that the cap only would work since the pupose of the transistor in the prop plug was as a signal inverter.

A high to low tranistion on the cap is what causes the reset to happen for simplicity sake.

Hope this helps.
Duck

Bill Henning · 2009-11-05 23:11

That is exactly what I got!

With the PCB tabs labeled as Pin 1-6, 7-12 on other side.

OakGraphics said...

mikediv said...
Guys if you bought eh blue cables with the molded plastic end RS-232 to USB they work just fine but its a mother to take apart I took a razor blade and slowly shaved down the plastic until I could pull it apart the DB9 comes off and you will see all the markings on the circuit board RX, TX, DTR, they are all labeled clearly ...

Not quite - these ones are slightly different - they have 6 pinouts on each side and have no markings for RX, TX, but rather 1 through 12.
I can tone-out what the 3 soldered connections are, but where that darn DTR pin is, I might be at a loss.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
www.mikronauts.com Please use mikronauts _at_ gmail _dot_ com to contact me off-forum, my PM is almost totally full
Morpheusdual Prop SBC w/ 512KB kit $119.95, Mem+2MB memory IO board kit $89.95, both kits $189.95
Propteus and Proteus for Propeller prototyping 6.250MHz custom Crystals run Propellers at 100MHz
Las - Large model assembler for the Propeller Largos - a feature full nano operating system for the Propeller

mikediv · 2009-11-06 01:21

OakGraphics I see that is not like any of the 2 different kinds of cables I have , the closest thin is this one it has 5 connectors on one side and 4 on the other but they are clearly marked
I can strip one all the way down if you think that will help you out let me know maybe the other side is of this is closer the what you need?

Bamse · 2009-11-06 03:04

I'm glad you guys putting this hack into work...

An earlier post asked if I was interested to put this programmer together for Gadget Gangster and the short answer is no...
However if anyone is interested in doing that, please go ahead, it would be a nice addition to Gadget gangster...
Just one disclaimer, I didn't design the reset circuitry, I found it in an earlier post in the original thread...

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Living on the planet Earth might be expensive but it includes a free trip around the sun every year...

Experience level:
[noparse][[/noparse] ] Let's connect the motor to pin 1, it's a 6V motor so it should be fine.
[noparse][[/noparse] ] OK, I got my resistors hooked up with the LEDs.
[noparse][[/noparse]X] I got the Motor hooked up with the H-bridge and the 555 is supplying the PWM.
[noparse][[/noparse] ] Now, if I can only program the BOE-BOT to interface with he Flux Capacitor.
[noparse][[/noparse] ] I dream in SX28 assembler...

/Bamse

OakGraphics · 2009-11-06 04:44

mikediv said...
OakGraphics I see that is not like any of the 2 different kinds of cables I have , the closest thin is this one it has 5 connectors on one side and 4 on the other but they are clearly marked
I can strip one all the way down if you think that will help you out let me know maybe the other side is of this is closer the what you need?

I wouldent worry about it. Because the driver came on a mini-cd, I can't install the driver till I transfer it to a flash drive. (I have a slot loading laptop)
Once I put the driver over, I will be able to try some more testing to find out where the DTR pin is.

OakGraphics · 2009-11-06 06:10

Propability said...
To find the ground of course would be the first thing to do and most likely it is the low resistance path to the metal sheild of the USB connector.

How to find DTR? Well first of all the device should be recognized by your system so the drivers need to be installed and the device recognized with no errors.

For windows I use Brays terminal which allows me to toggle the DTR line.

Thanks for the pointer. I downloaded Brays ·terminal and was able to find the DTR pin very quick!

PIN-OUT of the "12 PIN" type:

USB Board wire color  function                nokia plug
PIN 06    ORANGE      GND                     pin 8
PIN 04    RED         RS232-3v phone TX data  pin 7 
Pin 12    blue        RS232-3v Phone RX Data  pin 6 
Pin 11                DTR
PIN 10                RTS

I noticed that DTR and RTS are about 3.3v when not active, and go to 0V when I toggled them on.
I guess this version only needs the two caps.

Propability · 2009-11-06 17:12

Glad to help.

I'm still wondering why the need for the cap on the data (RX) line. Mine work fine without. If something is buggy and probing it with a scope makes it work then there is something else wrong. Just try it first without the cap on the data line.

I've also got one that I put a 1K resistor in series with the data(RX) line and used it to communicate with a 5volt device (mega168) and was able to do a reset of it ( a la arduino) with the reset line . Don't know if the chips used are 5volt tolerant so I didn't want to risk it. This also allowed me to use it for comm's with my SX's. Just marked it with a big "5" so I knew which one to use.

Cheap propeller programmer...

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