PropStick USB discontinued or just out of stock?

Kerry S · 2013-12-15 11:06

Just noticed that the PropStick USB has disappeared from all of the product lists. A site search for the part name takes me to the product page which lists it as not available.

Is this a stock issue or has it been discontinued?

I have a board design nearly completed that was based on using them so I can avoid needing to surface mount critical parts (Prop, USB, Mem, power filters, etc.).

Duane C. Johnson · 2013-12-15 12:18

Hi Kerry;

Digikey has the PROPSTICK USB.
They have 11 of them.

Duane J

Kerry S · 2013-12-15 12:41

Hi Duane,

Thanks for the reply.

My main concern is if they have discontinued the item. The board system that I have designed around the PropStick USB is for use in 4 new systems that I also hope to sell. If it is gone then I will have to redesign my main board or figure out how to make a compatible module. I was hoping to avoid having to do surface mount work. We are a specialty manufacturer and machine shop and while I can easily have the thru-hole boards done in house I don't have the setup for surface mount work.

Kerry S

Duane C. Johnson · 2013-12-15 13:14

Hi Kerry;

I here you.

I too like the DIP-40 format.
However I have never had a "Store bought" PropStick. I have made several from scratch using the 40 pin Prop and 2 40 pin DIP sockets, technically these are more like the serial port PropSticks. I rarely need to have the small size afforded by the surface mount parts.

I sure hope parallax doesn't discontinue the PropStick.
All is not lost though. There are several guys that make a board that has the same, or close, pinout.

Duane J

cavelamb · 2013-12-15 18:08

Will there ever be another smorgasbord board?

WBA Consulting · 2013-12-16 09:50

Kerry, How tightly around the PropStick USB is your board designed? Does it use it for the power source or just the IO? Depending on your answer, a couple ideas:

Make an adapter board out of some perfboard and build an equivalent Propstick USB setup on it.
Make a small adapter board for another available setup like the
- Propeller Mini
- Quickstart
- One of the boards on this thread, including my M44D40+ module
- etc......
Design your own board that gives you all of what you need. This thread has a cleaned up version of the QuickStart made in DipTrace that has a lot of open real estate.
Source your own, the Propstick USB is open source (would be painful probably)

Jessica Uelmen · 2013-12-16 11:34

Hi Kerry,

We are planning another production run of the PropStick, not to worry. However, I cannot speak to the long-term availability of the product. Currently monthly sales are just enough to save the product from EOL, but discontinuation may loom in its future should sales drop any lower.

We were planning an update to the board, but after a cost and sales analysis it was determined that it was better to keep the product as-is. Hence the reason for the slight inventory hiccup.

Just want to be completely transparent, since you're planning to use the PropStick in your product.

Jessica

Kerry S · 2013-12-16 12:34

Jessica Uelmen wrote: »

Hi Kerry,

Currently monthly sales are just enough to save the product from EOL, but discontinuation may loom in its future should sales drop any lower.

Just want to be completely transparent, since you're planning to use the PropStick in your product.

Jessica

Jessica,

Thank you very much for the information and heads up.

That board is such a nice professionally made multilayer brain board for my setup that even with the added cost it is worth it just for the peace of mind.

If my products take off then hopefully that will add enough to the sales to keep it being viable. If they don't, well then I guess it is all a moot point anyway.

WBA Consulting wrote:

One of the boards on this thread, including my M44D40+ module

Andrew, that M44D40+ module of yours looks nice. Do you still sell those? I have been using the raw DIP chips + extras on a breadboard for prototyping. Those would be great for fast start stuff where USB is not needed!

Unfortunately my product relies on USB for the user interface connection since the P1 does not have the graphics capabilities I need.

Kerry S.

shimniok · 2013-12-17 10:16

@Duane - I like DIP too but ended up making my own board for myself.

WBA Consulting · 2013-12-17 16:02

Kerry, yes, I do still sell the M44D40+ module. I just sold my last 2 a week ago and don't plans to build anymore until the first weeks of January. However, shoot me a PM with your address and I will send you two of the PCBs. They can be used in a full though-hole version as shown in this post. Paired with a PowerTwig, it's a slam dunk setup.

Octahedron · 2014-02-01 09:14

Is there an ETA for stock Jessica? I find it handy for my R&D work as an all-in-one controller. If I break it, I just swap it out and reprogram. It is great for site work where my resources are lean. That said, my volumes are low because they work so well and are rugged enough to use again and again.

I appreciate your candour about the product. If it comes to it's EOL what kind of warning can I and others expect?

jmg · 2014-02-01 13:18

Jessica Uelmen wrote: »

We are planning another production run of the PropStick, not to worry. However, I cannot speak to the long-term availability of the product. Currently monthly sales are just enough to save the product from EOL, but discontinuation may loom in its future should sales drop any lower.

The form factor of USB Propstick should have broad appeal, but I suspect it is more the high price point, than the design that is pushing the low volumes.

FTDI give some good examples of what prices small-modules can be supplied for.

The pins on the current USB Propstick look labour intensive, perhaps an alternative could help lower the price ?

I've seen some modules with both DIP-holes, and SMD edge-style lands, which allows both forms of mounting.
They are supplied with stick-pins, not soldered. That removes a lot of cost, and expands user choices.

oscar4 · 2014-02-04 10:44

I too favour the Propstick configuration (USB + Propellor) & would buy a couple immediately if they were available
Jessica, any idea when they might be re-stocked?

jmg · 2014-02-04 11:31

A useful form factor for compact usb-stick devices can be seen here
http://www.freetronics.com/products/leostick
Having the USB as part of the board saves more money. ( it does need 2.0mm thick PCB material.)

jazzed · 2014-02-04 14:33

jmg wrote: »

A useful form factor for compact usb-stick devices can be seen here
http://www.freetronics.com/products/leostick
Having the USB as part of the board saves more money. ( it does need 2.0mm thick PCB material.)

Attached is a picture of a prototype USB dongle I'd like to sell. I need more testers, and have 5 more PCBs. Any takers?

I see it as part of a Propeller travelling dev kit with the SD preloaded with PropellerTool, SimpleIDE, and other packages. It also makes for a sensible extension to an RPi or other "real computer" board with a USB HUB for robotics control applications.

The dongle has a DIP-32 footprint, FTDI, SD Card, a 400mA regulator, and allows adding 2 dual channel ADCs or a mix of QuadSPI flash or SRAM. I'm going to great lengths to make it a standard 5MHz crystal offering.

If the volume is high enough, I could get rid of the USB connector, but I think there is a certain utility to having through-hole 5V to 3.3V regulation. As it stands, using special material and adding gold fingers just ain't worth the cost.

jmg · 2014-02-04 15:15

jazzed wrote: »

I see it as part of a Propeller travelling dev kit with the SD preloaded with PropellerTool, SimpleIDE, and other packages. It also makes for a sensible extension to an RPi or other "real computer" board with a USB HUB for robotics control applications.

Looks cool. Last time I checked I think the Micro-usb connectors were cheaper than the older ones, and are now the standard on Power supplies (which is why RPi changed to Micro-USB on their power )

I was mainly meaning 'PCB as USB' for Parallax production volumes, where the tooling is worth it.

Cluso99 · 2014-02-04 15:23

jazzed wrote: »

Attached is a picture of a prototype USB dongle I'd like to sell. I need more testers, and have 5 more PCBs. Any takers?

I see it as part of a Propeller travelling dev kit with the SD preloaded with PropellerTool, SimpleIDE, and other packages. It also makes for a sensible extension to an RPi or other "real computer" board with a USB HUB for robotics control applications.

The dongle has a DIP-32 footprint, FTDI, SD Card, a 400mA regulator, and allows adding 2 dual channel ADCs or a mix of QuadSPI flash or SRAM. I'm going to great lengths to make it a standard 5MHz crystal offering.

If the volume is high enough, I could get rid of the USB connector, but I think there is a certain utility to having through-hole 5V to 3.3V regulation. As it stands, using special material and adding gold fingers just ain't worth the cost.

Nice board. Love the case - looks like a standard with microSD at the end - would you mind telling me where you get them and pcb size?

jmg · 2014-02-04 15:47

Cluso99 wrote: »

Nice board. Love the case - looks like a standard with microSD at the end - would you mind telling me where you get them and pcb size?

I think it is this one
http://www.findchips.com/avail?part=USB-7201

jazzed · 2014-02-04 17:10

Yes, the enclosure in my picture is the BUD industries case. I have clear and grey here. PCB recommendations are in the spec listed in this link.

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Bud-Industries/USB-7201-C/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMsrGrAVj6eTveSYJQndvkYpOtKeNipBqaQ%3d

Yes, the SD Card is on the bottom and end. The clear part is out of stock at Mouser, but they usually have them.

mindrobots · 2014-02-04 17:10

Pedward has a very nice usb stick, I think he called it a Propkey. It's a circuit board with the gold fingers and a little pad/tape to make it a bit thicker. Works like a champ. I use it a lot when i just want to play wigh code. Certainly the most portable propeller I have. I'll try and find the link when I'm not on my tablet.

Steve, your dongle looks real good! (Ummm, that just sounds wrong) Anyway, I like the protection it has with the casing......um, yeah.....
Plus having an SD is a big bonus! Well done!!

Duane C. Johnson · 2014-02-04 20:17

Hi Andrew;

WBA Consulting wrote: »

Kerry, yes, I do still sell the M44D40+ module. I just sold my last 2 a week ago and don't plans to build anymore until the first weeks of January. However, shoot me a PM with your address and I will send you two of the PCBs. They can be used in a full though-hole version as shown in this post. Paired with a PowerTwig, it's a slam dunk setup.

I really like the PropSticks or their clones.

Their super flexible to use for experimentation

Here, Andrew, is a picture of one of your M44D40+ Props on a plugboard.

There is a lot of stuff on there:

1. 3.3V regulator with 5V input from a 500mA wall wart.

2. The PC interface is a PropPlug with about 2 feet of 4 wire ribbon cable extension.

3. TX/RX activity light using a pair of yellow LEDs with pulse stretchers monitoring the serial pins at 115kbaud.

4. Flashing a Bi-Colored LED in 7 ways with 2 prop pins using the CTRA counter.

5. SD-Card program and data storage.

6. 2 coil latching relay experiment in making an auto-zero chopper amplifier for thermocouples.

7. PCA9554 8 bit Expander with I2C buss driving some LEDs.

8. And a way cool XProtoLab O-Scope by GaboTronics.

Thanks Andrew for them.
(Sorry about not getting back to you sooner, been very busy.)

Duane J

WBA Consulting · 2014-02-04 23:59

Duane, thanks for the update, that breadboard sure is packed full!

Sir Gawain · 2014-02-05 22:18

I like the PropStick - super handy and quick;
a little more EEPROM would be nice (it's kinda
what I've been waiting for...)

PropStick USB discontinued or just out of stock?

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