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Can a BT dongle be used in a place of a BT modem to hook up to Basic Stamp? — Parallax Forums

Can a BT dongle be used in a place of a BT modem to hook up to Basic Stamp?

KashifKashif Posts: 15
edited 2010-03-27 02:05 in Accessories
Hi,

Can I use Bluetooth dongle (which has a USB connector and used with a PC/laptop) in place of Bluetooth Modem to connect it to my microcontroller?

I was just wondering that what's the difference between the two?
The price difference is huge though. The BT modem is about $50 to $60 while I can get the dongle @ less than $5. :-)

Thanx & Regards.


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Comments

  • FranklinFranklin Posts: 4,747
    edited 2010-03-24 21:06
    The BT dongle is a slave device and Parallax products are not masters (yet) You need a master to talk to / control a slave.

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    - Stephen
  • KashifKashif Posts: 15
    edited 2010-03-26 10:23
    Hi Franklin,

    Sorry to contradict with you, I doubt this is the case.

    If a BT dongle can make my laptop communicate with other BT devices (like mobile phone), why I cannot use·a BT dongle·with my BS Stamp or any other microcontroller like Arduino etc to talk to other BT devices.?

    I still think that it would be possible but don't know how?
    Any thoughts please...

    Thanx & regards,
    Kashif.

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    Mind is not a vessel to be filled;

    It's a fire to be ignited.
  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2010-03-26 13:54
    The reason you can't use a BT dongle has to do with the complexity of the BT protocol. A BT dongle is a USB client device and has to be used with some kind of processor that acts as a USB host. The USB host has many tasks to perform to be able to communicate with one or more clients and the Stamps are neither fast enough nor have enough memory (program or data) to do the job. A Stamp can control a USB host controller like the Vinculum chip (used in the Parallax Memory Stick Datalogger) which can act as a USB host for several different kinds of USB clients. Whether a Vinculum chip can act as a host for a BT dongle depends on what kind of USB protocol the dongle uses. If it appears as a generic serial device, you may be in luck. If it appears as a HID (Human Interface Device like a keyboard or mouse), you also may be in luck. In the same way that Windows or the MacOS has to have USB drivers for the device you're using, another USB host like the Vinculum chip has to have built-in drivers for the classes of devices it can work with. The Vinculum can handle mass storage devices, serial ports, printers and HID-type devices. It's not a general purpose USB host controller.
  • KashifKashif Posts: 15
    edited 2010-03-26 14:05
    Dear Mike,

    Thanx a lot, you made great sense.
    I am planning to use a plug-n-play BT dongle. Since it doesn't require any driver installation, I suppose chances are high that it will work.

    Surely, will try it in conjunction with Vinculum, now I know the 'thing' :-) ... great help ... much appreciated.

    Warm Regards.


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    Mind is not a vessel to be filled;

    It's a fire to be ignited.
  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2010-03-26 14:27
    That's not quite what I meant. A Plug-N-Play USB device just means that the driver is already included with the operating system. It doesn't mean that the device will work without a driver. NO USB devices will work without some kind of driver in the USB host.

    To restate: Your BT dongle cannot be used with just a Stamp. The Stamp is not capable of acting as a USB host for it. A Vinculum chip (like that in the Parallax Memory Stick Datalogger or Vinculum's VMusic2 or VDrive2) can act as a USB host for a Stamp, but whether the Vinculum's built-in drivers can handle your BT dongle is unknown and depend on details of the BT dongle that are generally not provided by the BT dongle's manufacturer.

    Recommendation: Don't waste your time. If you just want to learn about USB or BT, there are more productive ways.
  • KashifKashif Posts: 15
    edited 2010-03-26 14:43
    Mike Green said...
    That's not quite what I meant. A Plug-N-Play USB device just means that the driver is already included with the operating system. It doesn't mean that the device will work without a driver. NO USB devices will work without some kind of driver in the USB host.
    Bundle of thanx, concept is clear now.
    Mike Green said...
    To restate: Your BT dongle cannot be used with just a Stamp. The Stamp is not capable of acting as a USB host for it. A Vinculum chip (like that in the Parallax Memory Stick Datalogger or Vinculum's VMusic2 or VDrive2) can act as a USB host for a Stamp, but whether the Vinculum's built-in drivers can handle your BT dongle is unknown and depend on details of the BT dongle that are generally not provided by the BT dongle's manufacturer.
    I had gotten your point from the previous reply already, but still wanted to try it out, but now thinking of dropping the idea.
    Mike Green said...
    Recommendation: Don't waste your time. If you just want to learn about USB or BT, there are more productive ways.
    Thanx, point taken.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Mind is not a vessel to be filled;

    It's a fire to be ignited.
  • WarrlokWarrlok Posts: 77
    edited 2010-03-27 02:05
    Iogear GBS301 Bluetooth Serial Adapter as i remember we had this working ,,,better check for info ,,,i remember u had to short cts and rts or something

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