Support for those DISCONTINUED products.
John M Bond
Posts: 29
Hey guys
Please make it easier for both clients of the main website and users of this forum to retrieve EXISTING! INFORMATION on the older AND DISCONTINUED products. I have a Demo tomorrow which may have included using a Ping)). I only have those original 5 pin Pings)) sold prior to about 1995. You've removed ALL the information on this product so I can't show what a Ping)) can do and you can't sell me any new Ping))s
I am frustrated, you loose sales, but the information is there somewhere...
Not the greatest business practice for a company with such an amazing (AND COMPLETELY DESERVED) reputation for support and customer service.
Please make it easier for both clients of the main website and users of this forum to retrieve EXISTING! INFORMATION on the older AND DISCONTINUED products. I have a Demo tomorrow which may have included using a Ping)). I only have those original 5 pin Pings)) sold prior to about 1995. You've removed ALL the information on this product so I can't show what a Ping)) can do and you can't sell me any new Ping))s
I am frustrated, you loose sales, but the information is there somewhere...
Not the greatest business practice for a company with such an amazing (AND COMPLETELY DESERVED) reputation for support and customer service.
Comments
The problem with keeping old/discontinued documentation on our web site needs to be resolved - I agree with that point. It's on our to-do list as soon as the Marketing Manager returns from an extended absence.
However, I'm pretty sure the problem you pointed out with the "5-pin Ping" is actually the Devantech SRF04. Our sensor has only had three pins for the whole duration of manufacturing. Prior to designing our Ping))) Ultrasonic Sensor Parallax sold the SRF04 from Devantech. You can find the documentation for that product here:
http://www.acroname.com/robotics/parts/R93-SRF04.html (we actually purchased them from Acroname).
Does this help you or is it too late?
Ken Gracey
WOW!!! Service!!! Thanks
The device IS the SRF04 and it seems to be a poor substitute for your current PING)) but it'll handle the demonstration admirably... I may get a second go this Friday.
It also occurred to me after I sent that message that you don't want to make it too easy to access old inaccurate information where the product configuration has changed. I can imagine how mad I would've been if I got old documentation for an upgraded product. "Yes, I know I clicked on the wrong icon but it is still Parallax's fault..."
The company would like to know when the operator is NOT standing in the correct position in front of his machine while it is running. There is a product quality issue and CCTV records show that he/she tends to wander off and chat to friends while the machine is blasting away in full production. If we could just stop the machine the moment he leaves his station...
Have a great week and thanks again.
I've got one of these Devantech rangers - I'm finding I can't make the damn thing work even when I cut and paste the code example from their page into the BS2 any chance you could share your code with me ??
I assume your name is associated with England. "Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves, Britain never never never will be slaves...". Words from an Anglican/Episcopalian hymn that the English taught those they colonised in Africa. You can see I was a choir boy in the Anglican church, Even though I'm an African!
I used the Ping in an SX circuit. I quickly did some trials on a Stamp 2P 40 before programming in SXBasic. and this was my Stamp code. Note that timing will be different for the standard Stamp 2. I hope this helps you...
Sorry I took some time to respond but I've been busy and didn't check my mail.
' ==============================================================================
' {$PBASIC 2.5}
'
' Program Listing 84.1
' File...... SONIC SIGHT.BS2
' Purpose... Devantech SRF04 Ultrasonic Range Finder
' Started... Cribbed from John Williams Program
' Updated...
'
' {$STAMP BS2p}
'
' ==============================================================================
'
' Program Description
'
'
' This program uses the Devantech SRF04 to measure the distance between the
' unit and a target. Display is a row of LEDS
'
' Conversion formulas:
'
' inches = echo_time / 73.746 (use 7.3746 for tenths)
' centimeters = echo_time / 29.033 (use 2.9033 for tenths)
'
' Revision History
'
'
' I/O Definitions
'
Trigger CON 0
Echo CON 1
Led1 CON 9
Led2 CON 10
Led3 CON 11
Led4 CON 12
Led5 CON 13
Led6 CON 14
Led7 CON 15
'
' Constants
'
MoveTo CON 2 ' cursor position control
'
' Variables
'
pWidth VAR Word ' pulse width from sensor
rawDist VAR Word ' filtered measurment
distance VAR Word ' converted value
blips VAR Nib ' loop counter for measurement
temp VAR Word ' value for RJ_print
digits VAR Nib ' used by RJ_Print
'
' EEPROM Data
'
'
' Initialization
'
Init:
PAUSE 250
DEBUG CLS
DEBUG "Devantech SRF04 Demo", CR
DEBUG "
", CR, CR
DEBUG "Raw........... ", CR
DEBUG "Inches........ ", 34, CR
DEBUG "Centimeters... cm", CR
'
' Program Code
'
Main:
GOSUB Get_Sonar ' take sonar reading
DEBUG MoveTo, 15, 3
temp = rawDist
GOSUB RJ_Print ' display raw value
DEBUG MoveTo, 15, 4
distance = rawDist ** 8886 ' divide by 7.3746
temp = distance / 10
GOSUB RJ_Print ' display inches
DEBUG ".", DEC1 distance
DEBUG " ", DEC temp/8
AUXIO
LOW LED1
LOW LED2
LOW LED3
LOW LED4
LOW LED5
LOW LED6
LOW LED7
IF temp < 12 THEN
HIGH LED2
ELSEIF Temp < 16 THEN
HIGH LED2
ELSEIF temp < 25 THEN
HIGH LED3
ELSEIF Temp < 35 THEN
HIGH LED4
ELSEIF Temp < 50 THEN
HIGH LED5
ELSEIF temp < 80 THEN
HIGH LED6
ELSE
HIGH LED7
ENDIF
MAINIO
PAUSE 100 ' delay between readings
GOTO Main
END
'
' Subroutines
'
Get_Sonar:
rawDist = 0
FOR blips = 1 TO 5
PULSOUT Trigger, 5 ' 10 uS trigger pulse
PULSIN Echo, 1, pWidth ' measure distance to target
rawDist = rawDist + (pWidth / 5) ' simple digital filter
PAUSE 10 ' minimum period between pulses
NEXT
RETURN
RJ_Print: ' right justify
digits = 5
LOOKDOWN temp, <[0,10,100,1000,65535], digits
DEBUG REP " "\(5 - digits), DEC temp
RETURN
Not quite an episcopalian Hymn - Thomas Arne 1740 - patriotic words by James Thompson I believe - now much sung at the last night of the proms ! _ actually the tag comes from my other passion history and classics - Britannicus was the son of the Emperor claudius named after the province he gave a good Kicking.
I'm a regular anglican myself - and I've never heard it in church - how interesting - maybe it's a "for export only" thing. :-)
I've not been checking my older postings for a bit - so sorry not to have responded - - I'll have a go at teh Devantech code you've got here
cheers