Palm Pilot and datalogging and interfacing

Archiver

Hi All,

This subject has gotten my attention a little more.

I have a multichannel data logger that connects to a PC for storage. What I am
thinking
about is using a PALM to make it more portable.

That said, what I am wondering is if anybody else is doing something with a
Stamp and
Palm, (or wants to) and what pitfalls to watchout for, or what options are
desired.

As I see it now, all I need to do is poll the BS2, retrieve the data and store
it.

or have the BS2 originate to the PALM, send the data and then have the PALM
store it.

Any comments would be welcome.

Dave

Archiver

The easiest way to communicate with the Palm is using the Serial Port.
You can use Code Warrior Lite which is available free to program it.
On the Stamp side you can use the standard Serial port code to
communicate with the Palm. I guess there will be more work to be done
on the Palm side, designing the GUI and organizing the memory for storage.

- Johari

--- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, "Dave Mucha" <davemucha@j...> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> This subject has gotten my attention a little more.
>
> I have a multichannel data logger that connects to a PC for storage.
What I am thinking
> about is using a PALM to make it more portable.
>
> That said, what I am wondering is if anybody else is doing something
with a Stamp and
> Palm, (or wants to) and what pitfalls to watchout for, or what
options are desired.
>
> As I see it now, all I need to do is poll the BS2, retrieve the data
and store it.
>
> or have the BS2 originate to the PALM, send the data and then have
the PALM store it.
>
> Any comments would be welcome.
>
> Dave

Archiver

Dave Mucha wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> This subject has gotten my attention a little more.
>
> I have a multichannel data logger that connects to a PC for storage. What I
am thinking
> about is using a PALM to make it more portable.

Are you set on the PALM because you already own one? If not you
might want to consider the HP95/100/200 units instead - they
are essentially portable DOS boxes that can have 100s of megs of
memory in non-volatile storage cards. Interface would be a snap
because the can talk RS-232 or even log straight from their
built-in terminal emulator programs. They can now be had for as
little as ~$50 on Ebay.

Michael

Archiver

> > That said, what I am wondering is if anybody else is doing something
>with a Stamp and
>> Palm, (or wants to) and what pitfalls to watchout for, or what
>options are desired.

We've used NSBASIC/Palm <http://www.NSBASIC.com> for this purpose,
not to program the Stamp, but to change data logger configurations
and to look at and offload data. For example, we made a program for
a botanical garden, where they carry the logger from plant to plant,
enter location id information on the palm, or select the location
from a drop-down list, and then allow the logger to take a series of
measurements, store them in a Palm database, and then move to the
next location.

We transfer the database to the PC or Mac or Linux through the
standard hot-sync operation. We have never gotten into writing our
own conduits. Conduits are still a great mystery to me and I don't
like to program the PC side of things. We import the database
directly into Excel for analysis/archiving. The downside of not
having our own conduit is that the standard database file comes
across with a line of Palm-related "garbage" at the beginning, but
that is easy to strip off. (The Onset HOBO and new microStation
products do have their own nice conduit, but in my opinion their Palm
software is brain-dead when it comes to looking at field
data,re-configuring the loggers, or doing anything unusual.)

One more point about the Palm serial interface. It does have a
couple of pins on the interface that are called "DTR" and "RTS" but
they are not really handshaking lines. As far as I know, you cannot
set them from a program. They do go to a high level when the serial
port is activated. You can attach one of those lines to the ATN input
on a Stamp, via the standard capacitor network, to allow the Palm to
get the attention of the Stamp. But be forewarned, put a resistor to
ground, because, when the port is closed, those pins float. The
resistor brings them back to ground so the next port open operation
can again reset the Stamp. That is one of those things we
discovered after some head scratching. The txd line goes to -5 volts
when the port is opened, and floats when the port is closed. I have
never been able to figure out how to generate a BREAK signal on the
txd line, so if anyone knows, please let me know!

The fact that the program cannot control DTR and cannot generate a
BREAK make it unsuitable for programming the Stamp. (However, it
would be possible with an external hardware adapter to generate those
signals.)

The recent low end Palms do not have a serial port, only a USB port.
People sometimes suggest using that USB port to control external
instruments, either directly or via a USB-RS232 adapter,. However,
the USB implementation is slave-only (AFAIK), designed for hot-sync
with a PC as master. It cannot act as a master to control or
communicate with external devices. I have heard rumors that there is
a hack, does anyone know?

The Palm's that have internal lithium batteries and the 16-pin serial
port, also have 3 volts at a respectable amount of current available
on that connector. 3v won't run a Stamp, but it can run SX
circuitry. The physical connector is a disaster though, for any kind
of demanding service. It falls off when you look at it! Better to
use the hot-sync cradle. If you look inside the USB cradle, there is
a little circuit board by the connector that has pads for both the
USB and for the serial port.

-- regards
Thomas Tracy Allen
electronically monitored ecosystems
http://www.emesystems.com
mailto:tracy@e...






>The easiest way to communicate with the Palm is using the Serial Port.
> You can use Code Warrior Lite which is available free to program it.
>On the Stamp side you can use the standard Serial port code to
>communicate with the Palm. I guess there will be more work to be done
>on the Palm side, designing the GUI and organizing the memory for storage.
>
>- Johari
>
>--- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, "Dave Mucha" <davemucha@j...> wrote:
>> Hi All,
>>
>> This subject has gotten my attention a little more.
>>
>> I have a multichannel data logger that connects to a PC for storage.
> What I am thinking
>> about is using a PALM to make it more portable.
>>
>
> > That said, what I am wondering is if anybody else is doing something
>with a Stamp and
>> Palm, (or wants to) and what pitfalls to watchout for, or what
>options are desired.
> >
>> As I see it now, all I need to do is poll the BS2, retrieve the data
>and store it.
>>
>> or have the BS2 originate to the PALM, send the data and then have
>the PALM store it.
>>
>> Any comments would be welcome.
>>
>
> > Dave

Archiver

I can't find the code warrior lite on the Palm site.

Do you have a link for downloading?


Johari Aziz wrote:
>
> The easiest way to communicate with the Palm is using the Serial Port.
> You can use Code Warrior Lite which is available free to program it.
> On the Stamp side you can use the standard Serial port code to
> communicate with the Palm. I guess there will be more work to be done
> on the Palm side, designing the GUI and organizing the memory for storage.
>
> - Johari
>
> --- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, "Dave Mucha" <davemucha@j...> wrote:
> > Hi All,
> >
> > This subject has gotten my attention a little more.
> >
> > I have a multichannel data logger that connects to a PC for storage.
> What I am thinking
> > about is using a PALM to make it more portable.
> >
> > That said, what I am wondering is if anybody else is doing something
> with a Stamp and
> > Palm, (or wants to) and what pitfalls to watchout for, or what
> options are desired.
> >
> > As I see it now, all I need to do is poll the BS2, retrieve the data
> and store it.
> >
> > or have the BS2 originate to the PALM, send the data and then have
> the PALM store it.
> >
> > Any comments would be welcome.
> >
> > Dave
>
> To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
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of the message will be ignored.
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

Archiver

--- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, Don Denhardt <dondenhardt@y...>
wrote:
> I can't find the code warrior lite on the Palm site.
>
> Do you have a link for downloading?
>
>
Try the metrowerks site for purchase or demo version 8.0
http://www.metrowerks.com/MW/download/default.asp

Archiver

Hi,
I would get a copy of nsbasic for palm and write it in
that. If you want I can write you a little program for
free if you give me some info about what data you want
to aquire. You can then run it with the free nsbasic
runtime.
Curtis

--- Don Denhardt <dondenhardt@y...> wrote:
> I can't find the code warrior lite on the Palm site.
>
> Do you have a link for downloading?
>
>
> Johari Aziz wrote:
> >
> > The easiest way to communicate with the Palm is
> using the Serial Port.
> > You can use Code Warrior Lite which is available
> free to program it.
> > On the Stamp side you can use the standard Serial
> port code to
> > communicate with the Palm. I guess there will be
> more work to be done
> > on the Palm side, designing the GUI and organizing
> the memory for storage.
> >
> > - Johari
> >
> > --- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, "Dave Mucha"
> <davemucha@j...> wrote:
> > > Hi All,
> > >
> > > This subject has gotten my attention a little
> more.
> > >
> > > I have a multichannel data logger that connects
> to a PC for storage.
> > What I am thinking
> > > about is using a PALM to make it more portable.
> > >
> > > That said, what I am wondering is if anybody
> else is doing something
> > with a Stamp and
> > > Palm, (or wants to) and what pitfalls to
> watchout for, or what
> > options are desired.
> > >
> > > As I see it now, all I need to do is poll the
> BS2, retrieve the data
> > and store it.
> > >
> > > or have the BS2 originate to the PALM, send the
> data and then have
> > the PALM store it.
> > >
> > > Any comments would be welcome.
> > >
> > > Dave
> >
> > To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> > basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> > from the same email address that you subscribed.
> Text in the Subject and Body of the message will be
> ignored.
> >
> >
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
> To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> from the same email address that you subscribed.
> Text in the Subject and Body of the message will be
> ignored.
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>


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Archiver

I believe it is a MetroWerks product.

--- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, Don Denhardt <dondenhardt@y...>
wrote:
> I can't find the code warrior lite on the Palm site.
>
> Do you have a link for downloading?
>
>
> Johari Aziz wrote:
> >
> > The easiest way to communicate with the Palm is using the Serial
Port.
> > You can use Code Warrior Lite which is available free to program
it.
> > On the Stamp side you can use the standard Serial port code to
> > communicate with the Palm. I guess there will be more work to be
done
> > on the Palm side, designing the GUI and organizing the memory for
storage.
> >
> > - Johari
> >
> > --- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, "Dave Mucha" <davemucha@j...>
wrote:
> > > Hi All,
> > >
> > > This subject has gotten my attention a little more.
> > >
> > > I have a multichannel data logger that connects to a PC for
storage.
> > What I am thinking
> > > about is using a PALM to make it more portable.
> > >
> > > That said, what I am wondering is if anybody else is doing
something
> > with a Stamp and
> > > Palm, (or wants to) and what pitfalls to watchout for, or what
> > options are desired.
> > >
> > > As I see it now, all I need to do is poll the BS2, retrieve the
data
> > and store it.
> > >
> > > or have the BS2 originate to the PALM, send the data and then
have
> > the PALM store it.
> > >
> > > Any comments would be welcome.
> > >
> > > Dave
> >
> > To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> > basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> > from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the
Subject and Body of the message will be ignored.
> >
> >
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/