I haven't gotten mine yet, but I wonder why Parallax would sell so many things at such a low price. Is it just because they're really nice, or is there a subtle marketing technique hidden beneath all of this?
Ahh, well, we appreciate our customers and consider them a key ingredient to making a business operate. Without you, there's no us.
Consider it a sign of appreciation and thankfulness. Guess we're also feeding an addiction of some type.
Doc, their store shouldn't even offer First Class if the weight is over 13 oz. (which is the limit for a domestic First Class Package). I'm guessing you had yours shipped Priority Mail.
Media Mail is for books and other media items, and is much slower (similar to Parcel Post but cheaper) and Parallax probably doesn't make enough qualifying shipments to fool with it.
Not quite sure but, but Ithink I have heard that somewhere before?????
I don't mean to offend. If we can't laugh at ourselves then we can't laugh at all. Unless of course you mean someone has made a similar parody on these boards before then I can't claim original humor. In fact, I'm pretty sure I stole the idea, regardless.
There are still 40 Mystery Bags in stock... I waited a while to give others a chance to get 'em, but did order more today. I'm surprised they didn't get snatched up quickly once word got out.
Hmm, I don't really need any more Basic Stamp stuff, but now that I think about it, I know a couple of people that might appreciate a Basic Stamp as a Christmas gift. Has anyone gotten a bag that was different? With no BS2 or carrier board?
There are still 40 Mystery Bags in stock... I waited a while to give others a chance to get 'em, but did order more today. I'm surprised they didn't get snatched up quickly once word got out.
I got mine today and it contained the standard stuff already described by others here. I'm sort of wondering why I ordered it now since it is mostly BasicStamp stuff and I've never used the BS2 before. I guess this is my chance! Thanks Parallax!
The sticker was on the outside of the box, maybe you just didn't notice it. I had to use hot air to peel it off without too much damage.
I got my second Mystery Bag yesterday, exactly the same stuff as the first one right down to the yellow LED and CdS photoresistor in with the Propeller chip.
That's ok - maybe I'll get one with my NEXT 2 BAGS!!! Yup! Couldn't resist picking up two more BS2s at half-price!!!
Are you proud of me Erco???
I now have two BS2 modules and a BS2 Homework board. What do people do with these things? I remember thinking about buying one when they first came out until I noticed that they only have 32 bytes of RAM. What sorts of applications do people use them for?
...only have 32 bytes of RAM. What sorts of applications do people use them for?
Thirty-two bytes of RAM, but 2K of EEPROM to hold your program. This equates to 500-ish lines of code.
Use? Anywhere you need a simple-to-program controller that provides a robust language & capabilities along with 16 I/O pins.
My latest use was to hack a Defender | Frontline home security system with a BS2, in which it interrupts the zone detection signal and handles the reporting/displaying.
My past major use was in an eleven-channel musical instrument signal-switcher.
The best thing about a Basic Stamp is that it's so easy to use. Back in 2005, about just a few months after buying a "What's a Microcontroller" kit (which was my first experience ever with programming a microcontroller), I built a sort of temperature logger for the company I worked for.
It was used to profile finish drying/curing ovens used in kitchen cabinet manufacturing. We needed to know the time/temperature profile because we were making (and trying to sell) the finish materials and wanted to be sure that what we were offering would work properly for potential customers. The ovens used for that purpose are typically fairly low temperature, because the wood and the glue joints won't tolerate much heat, but there are ridiculously wild variations in finishing equipment from one cabinet manufacturer to another. One may have a long 30 minutes at 120 degrees, another may be a quick 5 minute ramp up to a peak of 180 degrees but little to no dwell time.
Anyway, the device I built used a BS2 to record temperatures from an LM34/ADC0831 combination to an I2C EEPROM and could later upload the data to a PC (using StampPlot Lite). It had an LCD display and three buttons which provided a rudimentary user interface. You could choose to either record or playback and select an interval between readings from 1 to 15 seconds in 1 second increments. The heat would often cause the LCD to be unreadable until it cooled down and every time it was used I worried that the batteries were going to blow up, but the Stamp always worked perfectly. The company closed down in 2008 and I took my little toy with me when I left. I dismantled it shortly thereafter, but still have the BS2 module and use it often for experimenting.
... I noticed that they only have 32 bytes of RAM. What sorts of applications do people use them for?
Quite a while ago there was a thread asking what the largest projects people used the Basic Stamp for. I think the largest application involved something to do with grain and conveyors. I tried to search for it but could not find it. Instead I found this;
BS1 apps: Back in the 1990's, my company got several contracts to redo state highway scales. The scale part was no problem, but each installation also had a christmas tree (a vertically arranged row of signal lights) arranged to tell the truck drivers to STOP, PULL UP, BACK UP, GO AHEAD, or REPORT INSIDE. There was also an over-height detector which had to sound a silenceable alarm. On the first job we specced it out to one of our manufacturers and for the light controls they came up with a box that held 28 industrial relays and about four light-years of wire, every single run of which was the same color. It was a nightmare to maintain and troubleshoot.
So on the next job I assembled two BS1's. (I had to use two because the BS2 wasn't around yet, and I had 14 I/O lines; one BS1 was a master doing the logic, and the other just drove outputs based on serial commands from the master.) The master BS1 did the light switching logic, read and debounced the switches, and all the wiring was super simple. We used two 4-module OPTO boards to drive the 110 volt Christmas tree lights.
Several instances of that system are still in service.
Recently, after a long hiatus, we were asked to do another and the solution I came up with involved a Propeller and an I2C to parallel board which plugs into an 8-module OPTO board. It seems hideously overcomplicated but all the components are on-shelf because we use them for other more complicated jobs. I had no problem with the BS1's but after factoring in the labor to hand-solder wires to the Basic Stamp modules and the service implications of such a one-off design, my boss decided to offer them the stuff we were using everywhere because our techs recognize it in case there's a problem.
Thirty-two bytes of RAM, but 2K of EEPROM to hold your program. This equates to 500-ish lines of code.
I think part of my problem is always wanting to write programming languages and 32k is a bit small for an on-chip language. That's especially true for my favorite language, Lisp. :-)
I need to start thinking in microcontroller terms I guess.
Be sure to show us the magic that you will do with your two shiny new BS2s, davejames. Mine came in today!
I have to admit that the BS2 is a beautiful design. I'm surprised though that the SpinStamp which seems to be its successor doesn't seem to be talked about at all. With Bean's PropBasic I would think it would be attractive to BS2 users.
Comments
Ahh, well, we appreciate our customers and consider them a key ingredient to making a business operate. Without you, there's no us.
Consider it a sign of appreciation and thankfulness. Guess we're also feeding an addiction of some type.
Media Mail is for books and other media items, and is much slower (similar to Parcel Post but cheaper) and Parallax probably doesn't make enough qualifying shipments to fool with it.
Not sure what I'm going to do with it though.
Me: Hi, I'm Paul and I'm a Parallaxian.
Me: <sits down>
Everyone: Hi Paul.
Group Leader: Welcome to PA, Paul. Thank you for joining. Would you like to share with the group today?
Me: Sure. I first realized I had a problem after staying up all night when I first opened my new BOE-Bot.
Not quite sure but, but Ithink I have heard that somewhere before?????
Who among you can resist? DaveJames? Whit? Tommy?
http://www.parallax.com/tabid/768/txtSearch/mystery+bag/List/0/SortField/4/Default.aspx
Come on, the BS1 Starter Kit is $60! http://www.parallax.com/Store/Microcontrollers/BASICStampProgrammingKits/tabid/136/CategoryID/11/List/0/SortField/0/Level/a/ProductID/295/Default.aspx
I miss the BS1 Project Board back when it was $15. Should have stocked up! http://www.parallax.com/StoreSearchResults/tabid/768/List/0/SortField/4/ProductID/119/Default.aspx?txtSearch=project+board
...my two bags arrived today (grins).
BS2s at essentially half price, with all them other goodies!
Update: no book, and no nifty sticker like RDL2004 received.
The sticker was on the outside of the box, maybe you just didn't notice it. I had to use hot air to peel it off without too much damage.
I got my second Mystery Bag yesterday, exactly the same stuff as the first one right down to the yellow LED and CdS photoresistor in with the Propeller chip.
...nope, no sticker.
That's ok - maybe I'll get one with my NEXT 2 BAGS!!! Yup! Couldn't resist picking up two more BS2s at half-price!!!
Are you proud of me Erco???
Thirty-two bytes of RAM, but 2K of EEPROM to hold your program. This equates to 500-ish lines of code.
Use? Anywhere you need a simple-to-program controller that provides a robust language & capabilities along with 16 I/O pins.
My latest use was to hack a Defender | Frontline home security system with a BS2, in which it interrupts the zone detection signal and handles the reporting/displaying.
My past major use was in an eleven-channel musical instrument signal-switcher.
Other Forum members will chime in, I'm sure!
Come on in David! The water's fine!!!
"Well I was lying, and that's been absolved too."
Love that movie!!
Sorry Doc - you lost me on that one.
It was used to profile finish drying/curing ovens used in kitchen cabinet manufacturing. We needed to know the time/temperature profile because we were making (and trying to sell) the finish materials and wanted to be sure that what we were offering would work properly for potential customers. The ovens used for that purpose are typically fairly low temperature, because the wood and the glue joints won't tolerate much heat, but there are ridiculously wild variations in finishing equipment from one cabinet manufacturer to another. One may have a long 30 minutes at 120 degrees, another may be a quick 5 minute ramp up to a peak of 180 degrees but little to no dwell time.
Anyway, the device I built used a BS2 to record temperatures from an LM34/ADC0831 combination to an I2C EEPROM and could later upload the data to a PC (using StampPlot Lite). It had an LCD display and three buttons which provided a rudimentary user interface. You could choose to either record or playback and select an interval between readings from 1 to 15 seconds in 1 second increments. The heat would often cause the LCD to be unreadable until it cooled down and every time it was used I worried that the batteries were going to blow up, but the Stamp always worked perfectly. The company closed down in 2008 and I took my little toy with me when I left. I dismantled it shortly thereafter, but still have the BS2 module and use it often for experimenting.
Quite a while ago there was a thread asking what the largest projects people used the Basic Stamp for. I think the largest application involved something to do with grain and conveyors. I tried to search for it but could not find it. Instead I found this;
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?80250-Industrial-truck-dumper
So on the next job I assembled two BS1's. (I had to use two because the BS2 wasn't around yet, and I had 14 I/O lines; one BS1 was a master doing the logic, and the other just drove outputs based on serial commands from the master.) The master BS1 did the light switching logic, read and debounced the switches, and all the wiring was super simple. We used two 4-module OPTO boards to drive the 110 volt Christmas tree lights.
Several instances of that system are still in service.
Recently, after a long hiatus, we were asked to do another and the solution I came up with involved a Propeller and an I2C to parallel board which plugs into an 8-module OPTO board. It seems hideously overcomplicated but all the components are on-shelf because we use them for other more complicated jobs. I had no problem with the BS1's but after factoring in the labor to hand-solder wires to the Basic Stamp modules and the service implications of such a one-off design, my boss decided to offer them the stuff we were using everywhere because our techs recognize it in case there's a problem.
I need to start thinking in microcontroller terms I guess.
YUP! With the emphasis on "controller".