operation of starter kit
martech
Posts: 9
I have just received my started kit. It has the Propeller manual, USB cable and demo board. No directions on the demo board. I have downloaded the USB drivers and installed them. How do I find a manual on this?
Thanks
Peter
Thanks
Peter
Comments
I am not familiar with the demo board but I just had a look at the schematics. Unfortunately I cannot point you to a manual for PropTool or the USB connection - perhaps others can help here.
Firstly, I presume you have downloaded PropTool. Since you have installed the USB driver. Have you connected the USB cable to the demoboard? If so, you should be able to locate the demo board by pressing F7. Once you have found that, I suggest you follow the Propeller manual through the exercises. There is one that flashes a LED and this is good for starters. You have a number of Leds on your board. Perhaps you can download the schematic and print it as it will provide you with a good reference as to what is on your board.
Once you have a basic understanding of the prop we can quickly get you up to adding a keyboard and a screen (TV using composite video or VGA screen - both are on your board.)
Oh, I forgot. There is a "sticky" thread at the top of this forum that has lots of intros for people starting out with the prop.
Perhaps you might like to give us a little background on yourself so we know what you are familiar with e.g. other micros, electronics, programming. None is fine, just as long as we know where to start.
If You have downloaded Propeller Tool and installed it.
You can find all needed manuals IN Propeller Tool menu- Help.
The closest you'll get is the book Programming & Customizing the Multicore Propeller Microcontroller: Official Guide, which bases the projects on the demo & proto boards. You can also download any of the Parallax Propeller material, and even the Basic Stamp manuals, and adapt them to the demo board, or use them for learning ideas.
Thanks
This page:
http://www.parallax.com/PropellerEducationKit/tabid/845/Default.aspx
has resources for the PE Kit, which is a breadboard learning lab for the Propeller. Go down to Downloads & Resources, and get the v1.2 version of the fundamentals book. They do sell a printed version of this book, but the PDF is perfectly usable.
This page:
http://www.parallax.com/tabid/832/Default.aspx
has general downloads and is a good page to bookmark for general Propeller things (you've probably done this already).
The Demo board is basically a breadboarding platform for the Propeller, with the most popular accessory breakout boards already attached. Saves you from buying the breakout boards separately. So if you go to the accessory pages you'll often find useful additional information, plus example SPIN code. Example: on the page for the RCA breadboard adapter (item 28050), they've got several SPIN objects you can try out if you're interested in the composite video output capabilities of the Propeller. Same for the PS-2 breakout board for connecting a mouse and keyboard.
The book mentioned above is also good, and I imagine lots of folks get the new packaged starter kit deal, which has the book, Demo board, and the a printed version of the Propeller manual.
Not quite as good as one big download, but it's there.
-- Gordon
You can add an SD card to this Demo Board version. There's a description of the wiring required in the documentation included. That will allow you to store programs and data on the SD card in PC compatible form.
If you want to see it (somewhat) online, google books has it here: http://books.google.com/books?id=3MEAXiZtQuEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=propeller+official&hl=en&ei=zFy_TcCvHoiugQfUgsHQBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
The C3 has a fairly decent ebook available for download at the bottom of the C3 product page: http://www.parallax.com/Store/Microcontrollers/PropellerDevelopmentBoards/tabid/514/CategoryID/73/List/0/SortField/0/Level/a/ProductID/721/Default.aspx
Another good download from the Parallax site is the complete Hydra manual. I'ts obviously specific to the Hydra, but it's still a good source of info: http://www.parallax.com/Store/Books/Propeller/tabid/171/CategoryID/45/List/0/SortField/0/Level/a/ProductID/474/Default.aspx
I believe you already have all the material you are asking for. I started with the demo board start kit, and have not purchased any of the other books (although I mean to, if I ever get extra money and extra time). Other materials are tangential.
At first I also looked for more material specific to the demoboard, but it turns out that the chip is prop chip iteslf is the relevant item.
The printed manual and the tutorials in the propeller tool help section, and the examples, were all I needed. The material are wirtten for the popeller chip in general. The demo board is the same as any other propchip, it simply has some passive parts pre-wired.
In particular, start with the examples on SPIN programming to flash an LED and you will learn ALL about spin programming. Move on to the example code for which ever peripheral you are interested in. It is much simpler than posts 5, 6, and 7.
Hope this helps. Cheers!
You might want to start with this book:
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?131143-New-Book-Getting-Started-With-the-Propeller
You should ask how compatible the Demo board is with this book. The author(s) are on the forum here and pretty active so you should get a response in the above link.
The demo board is meant for people who started with "What is a Microcontroller?" which is available through Parallax.
You might be able to get some help from the Quickstart which may be available in June:
http://www.parallax.com/tabid/768/ProductID/748/Default.aspx
It seems there is some programming help here for the newer product:
http://www.parallaxsemiconductor.com/quickstart2
If you haven't downloaded and installed the PropTool, you should. From within the tool, the Help menu will launch a number of different PDFs, including the "Quick Reference", "Propeller Manual", and "Propeller Education Kit".
The tool also installs a number of samples and demos in a sub-folder of the installed location for the tool. Browse to Program Files / Parallax Inc / Propeller Tool / Examples. Much of the code in there is pre-set for the DemoBoard, so you can load a file, hit F10 and watch it go. In the Examples folder is a sub-folder called "Help". In there you'll find a file called "Propeller Help.exe" It's basically a compiled help document that includes info on the Prop, PropTool, a tutorial on the Spin language, and a few other bits. The code for the Spin tutorial is included in the folder as well.
The Spin lessons are a decent place to start as they'll walk you through the basics of using the Prop Tool, interacting with the chip, a few of the key registers, program structure, etc.
Jason
I think it would be interesting to comprehend what your steps in searching was.
I would be interested in this with all the details. Would you mind to describe that?
Where did you start searching? what where the keywords you used to search? In which search-function?
what where the results?
You mentioned that the quality has dropped down. Can give some examples of the (old) good quality and the dropped down one?
I think Parallax is highly interested to keep up and even improve the quality of the support of the propeller-chip.
Some people from parallax are watching the activites on the forum closely and from time to time they chime in.
You seem to be - if I'm aloowed to speak this way - a prototype of an EE they want to reach with the new division parallax-semiconductors
and your feedback will help to adjust to the habits and needs of professional EEs.
best regards
Stefan
To all other newbees: I think it is highly appreciated from parallax to receive feedback how the support can be improved