Which Propeller board??

twm47099 · 2013-12-21 12:05

I have an Activitybot and want to keep that for 'mobie computing' primarily with C.

I'd like to get a second board for doing some non-moving (initially) experimentation, primarily to learn Spin and to learn propforth.

There are three boards I am considering - Quick start (least expensive, but requires more hardware), Activity board (also inexpensive, and the board used on my Activity bot) and BOE board (significantly more expensive, and I'm not sure what the advantages are over the Activity board - some additional leds and built in microphone).

While, I'd like to get something different from the Activity board (although when I blow up the one on my bot, I'd have a simple replacement), I'm not sure that the BOE board is that different. I assume that I can use Spin and propforth with either board? (Is that correct?)

Why should I buy a BOE board (instead of another Activity board) assuming I am just a general experimenter?

Thanks
Tom

RickInTexas · 2013-12-21 14:10

Your question is answered below:

http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php/148321-Differences-between-Propeller-Activity-Board-Prop.-Board-of-Education

As for other options; on the following page:

http://www.parallax.com/catalog/microcontrollers/propeller/boards

I like:
Propeller Project Board USB
(#32810)
$22.49

If you are at all interested in Prop/Camera experimentation (robots!) I would consider:

PropCAM-DB
(#28320)
$69.99

WITH

Propeller Backpack
(#28327)
$39.99

The PropCAM is a one off build that just became available.

Duane Degn · 2013-12-21 15:59

It's hard to bet the QuickStart as an easy way to experiment with the Propeller. I have a bunch of them and they control my robots and LED displays.

Since the QuickStart recently went up in price, my new favorite inexpensive board is the Project Board Rick mentioned.

The PropBOE has some added features like VGA. One nice thing about the PropBOE is it has a lifetime warranty. So no matter how you blow it up, Parallax will replace it (they're already replaced mine).

I hope you check out my index (see my signature). Post #3 has links to various Propeller tutorials. I've also collected links to my various projects in post #2. You'll see there are lot of projects involving the QuickStart Board.

Nwco · 2013-12-21 18:54

I have the 32810 project board. It is a nice board for the money but not as convenient as the Activity Board. Course the Activity Board is twice as much. Specifically the 32810 does not come with a 5 volt regulator but has the pads to add your own. There is no power switch like on the Activity board but again can be added. My biggest complaint about the project board is the reset button. Not very usable if you have big fingers.

Question - what 5 volt LDO regulator do you guys recommend I purchase and install on the project Board?

Thanks in advance.

Duane Degn · 2013-12-21 21:26

Nwco wrote: »

Question - what 5 volt LDO regulator do you guys recommend I purchase and install on the project Board?

I was about to ask where the pads where since I couldn't find them on my board. I saw on the product page there's a new revision of the board. Sure enough the pads are there between the power connection and the pads for the uSD card holder.

My initial guess was to use the same regulator as used by the Propeller Proto Boards but I was wrong. The LM1086's pads wouldn't work with the pads on the Project board.

Looking through some regulator datasheets, I see the LM7805 has the right pin configuration to use with the Project Board.

How much current to you need at 5V? The LM7805 is good for 1A if you add a heat sink.

These switching regulators are so inexpensive now, I'm not sure if I'd bother with a LDO regulator. The switching regulators shouldn't get as hot as the LM7805 or other LDO regulators.

The switching regulator claims to be able to handle up to 3A of input current.

Nwco · 2013-12-22 11:36

Thanks Duane for the regulator suggestion. Given the choice between the LM7805 and heat sink and the switching supply you referenced I think the switching supply is the way to go. Either would have plenty of capacity. I only need the 5 volts for an LCD display. The switcher has A lot of flexibility and if I could use it for other projects. At first I was concerned about the size of the board but it is very small. They sure pack a lot of stuff on a board for under $2.
BTW, have you tried to order from Chip_Partner in the last few days? When I try to order I get an error message that C_P can't accept payments right now and the order doesn't go through. Maybe he violated some Ebay policy or something. I hope it gets worked out. I have ordered a bunch of stuff from him.

Duane Degn · 2013-12-22 13:31

Nwco wrote: »

have you tried to order from Chip_Partner in the last few days? When I try to order I get an error message that C_P can't accept payments right now and the order doesn't go through.

No, I haven't ordered anything from them lately.

I think things kind of shut down in China around the New Year. I think everyone heads home for a few weeks of parties so a lot places don't have the normal numbers of employees working. Maybe C_P's problem is related to this seasonal labor shortage?

There are lot of places on ebay selling those regulators. You might want to try a different vendor.

One thing to keep in mind with switching regulators is they can produce a lot of RF interference. I've had switching regulators cause me trouble in several different wireless projects (including GPS).

prof_braino · 2013-12-22 16:01

Propforth will run on any prop board that can load a spin program. That is as long as it has 32k of eeprom, any kernel will boot and run. To use the EEprom file system kernel, it must have at least 64k of EEprom. To use the SD file system you have to add SD. It will aslo run on anyof the expanded prop offerings, but might not have sufficient drivers for the external ram etc.

I use the quickstart for most projects these days, since most of my stuff needs to be compatible with the little robot configurations.

rosco_pc · 2013-12-22 16:09

Duane Degn wrote: »

I think things kind of shut down in China around the New Year. I think everyone heads home for a few weeks of parties so a lot places don't have the normal numbers of employees working. Maybe C_P's problem is related to this seasonal labor shortage?

Wrong season, that's only with Chinese new year, about 1 month later

Duane Degn · 2013-12-22 18:02

rosco_pc wrote: »

Wrong season, that's only with Chinese new year, about 1 month later

Thanks. Good to know.

dMajo · 2013-12-23 09:05

rosco_pc wrote: »

Wrong season, that's only with Chinese new year, about 1 month later

There is also the "Moon" festival almost one month long in september

twm47099 · 2013-12-23 10:53

Thanks for all the information, but I have another question.

I was looking at the Propeller BOEboard tutorials. They start with an obj nickname of system = Propeller Board of Education. When I looked at the spin code of that object, it has to do with setting up the clock. That seems like board specific code (I'm really new at this so excuse the dumb statements). Does that mean that I should not use that obj with my Activity board? I couldn't find a similar obj for the Activity board, and I'm too new to Spin to know how to modify it, or if the Activity board even needs that type of code at all.

Thanks for your help, and I assume there will be more of these pre-novice questions.

Tom

Duane Degn · 2013-12-23 11:11

twm47099 wrote: »

Thanks for all the information, but I have another question.

I was looking at the Propeller BOEboard tutorials. They start with an obj nickname of system = Propeller Board of Education. When I looked at the spin code of that object, it has to do with setting up the clock. That seems like board specific code (I'm really new at this so excuse the dumb statements). Does that mean that I should not use that obj with my Activity board? I couldn't find a similar obj for the Activity board, and I'm too new to Spin to know how to modify it, or if the Activity board even needs that type of code at all.

Thanks for your help, and I assume there will be more of these pre-novice questions.

Tom

It's been a while since I've looked at the files you're referring to but the clock setting portions should be the same for the ActivityBoard.

The main difference I've seen between the two boards is the I2C buses are different between the two boards. So the ADC and DAC objects would need to be modified a bit between the two boards.

If you provide a link to the object in question, I'll take a look at it. It generally it's really helpful to link to whatever device of software you're asking a question about.

I'll often follow a link to help answer a question but I'm too lazy to also search for the item in the first place.

twm47099 · 2013-12-23 12:24

Duane Degn wrote: »

It's been a while since I've looked at the files you're referring to but the clock setting portions should be the same for the ActivityBoard.

The main difference I've seen between the two boards is the I2C buses are different between the two boards. So the ADC and DAC objects would need to be modified a bit between the two boards.

If you provide a link to the object in question, I'll take a look at it. It generally it's really helpful to link to whatever device of software you're asking a question about.

I'll often follow a link to help answer a question but I'm too lazy to also search for the item in the first place.

The section of the tutorials (with the download link to the code and libraries) is here: http://learn.parallax.com/node/85
The next page shows the propeller tool with part of the code for "Hello from your Propeller" that shows the nickname assignment.:
http://learn.parallax.com/node/87

I'm not sure how to point to the "Propeller Board of Education" object in the library.

Thanks again,
Tom

Duane Degn · 2013-12-23 12:56

twm47099 wrote: »

The section of the tutorials (with the download link to the code and libraries) is here: http://learn.parallax.com/node/85
The next page shows the propeller tool with part of the code for "Hello from your Propeller" that shows the nickname assignment.:
http://learn.parallax.com/node/87

I'm not sure how to point to the "Propeller Board of Education" object in the library.

Thanks again,
Tom

That helped a lot. Thanks.

I took a quick look at all the tutorials in the download and they should all work just fine on the Activity Board.

I think they're work on most of the Propeller boards Parallax sells. The exceptions would be boards that don't have 5MHz crystals (Hydra, Propeller Backpack, and Laser Range Finder).

These other boards would require a small mod to the code in order to work correctly.

prof_braino · 2013-12-24 09:23

FYI - if you get arround to trying propforth, if should not matter what crystal you use. Propforth knows the clock frequency (from compile time) and adjusts. If you use no crystal, it will only be able to do the slower baud rates. If you use sleep mode, it can notice activity and wake up, but it has to throw away the first few characters that get grarbled when the clock is coming up.

Publison · 2013-12-24 09:31

twm47099 wrote: »

I'm not sure how to point to the "Propeller Board of Education" object in the library.

Thanks again,
Tom

I went looking for "Propeller Board of Education.spin" myself, and have not found it. It was referenced in "Prop BOE ADC.spin".

So you are not alone.

Duane Degn · 2013-12-24 09:54

Publison wrote: »

I went looking for "Propeller Board of Education.spin" myself, and have not found it. It was referenced in "Prop BOE ADC.spin".

So you are not alone.

It's in the zip file on the page Tom linked to.

I'm not sure if I like the notion of the separate config file. I think I'd prefer just to set the clock constants in the parent object. I'm sure my preference has much to do with how I first learned to do things.

Publison · 2013-12-24 10:04

Dang! Don't know how I missed that!

Thanks!

twm47099 · 2013-12-24 19:10

The power (or is it affliction) of impulse buying took over. While out last minute shopping, I wandered into Radio Shack and saw the Quickstart board. So I bought it.

Also, Amazon Claus brought a copy of "Programming and Customizing the Multicore Propeller Microcontroller".

Tom

Duane Degn · 2013-12-24 19:32

twm47099 wrote: »

The power (or is it affliction) of impulse buying took over. While out last minute shopping, I wandered into Radio Shack and saw the Quickstart board. So I bought it.

Also, Amazon Claus brought a copy of "Programming and Customizing the Multicore Propeller Microcontroller".

Tom

I really like the QuickStart board. It's just so easy to test some code on it.

For a while I was trying to keep a list of QuickStart related links. These links can be found in this thread.

I personally think my QuickStart servo tester program is kind of cool.

Which Propeller board??

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