Surelink RF transmitter
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Posts: 46,084
Is it possible to have serial control via a visual basic program
using the Surelink transceiver and the QuickLink demo board? I
would like to connect a PC with a serial servo controller using the
Surelink transceiver and Quicklink setup. Any insight would be
appreciated.
Chris
using the Surelink transceiver and the QuickLink demo board? I
would like to connect a PC with a serial servo controller using the
Surelink transceiver and Quicklink setup. Any insight would be
appreciated.
Chris
Comments
not just use the Surelink transceiver itself? Anyone have the answer?
-Dave
--- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, "cwkoehler2004"
<cwkoehler2004@y...> wrote:
> Is it possible to have serial control via a visual basic program
> using the Surelink transceiver and the QuickLink demo board? I
> would like to connect a PC with a serial servo controller using the
> Surelink transceiver and Quicklink setup. Any insight would be
> appreciated.
>
> Chris
is it possible to program a stamp over the wireless connection?
is it possible to replace a serial cable in a situation where everything is
talking at 19,200bps (with 2 demo boards and transceivers) ?
anyone else notice the stuff parallax is selling lately is increasing in
price quite a bit? Makes me worried the stamp3 (if there will ever be one)
won't price itself out of market without some incredible features above the
current catalog.
-Rob
Original Message
From: "cwkoehler2004" <cwkoehler2004@y...>
To: <basicstamps@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, January 17, 2004 10:33 PM
Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Surelink RF transmitter
> Is it possible to have serial control via a visual basic program
> using the Surelink transceiver and the QuickLink demo board? I
> would like to connect a PC with a serial servo controller using the
> Surelink transceiver and Quicklink setup. Any insight would be
> appreciated.
>
> Chris
>
>
>
> To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
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Body of the message will be ignored.
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>
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>
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>
>
>
> A few other questions:
>
> is it possible to program a stamp over the wireless connection?
>
The byte codes -- the tokens that is -- are stored in the eeprom, which the
Stamp itself can overwrite, so it is possible to code a small loader stub
that will re-program the Stamp as required. Personally, this sounds like a
pain in the you-know-what to attempt on anything except an SX or a 2P where
you could have one or more of the secondary slots reserved for dynamic
loading of different code as circumstances required. Unless you've coded a
compiler and link-loader before, you can't imagine the issues that arise if
you're talking about code that lives in the same slot. On the other hand,
each slot is a fully independent program, so dynamically changing the
program in one of the slots is a fairly benign goal.
To do that, you would code normally each of the programs that you intend to
swap later, in slot seven let us say. Then copy the code space of that slot
to the code server that will supply the swap code on demand at run time. Now
code the second program in slot seven, copy that, and so forth.
All that would happen with the serial cable connected. When you want to swap
a new routine into slot seven, sending the byte codes over the wireless
connection would be like sending any information over such a link, so it
obviously could be done. (Just don't forget about error correction
coding...)
On the other hand, if you meant could you use the wireless connection for
original programming and debugging, then the answer would be no. Parallax
would have to change a lot of things to make that happen, and it doesn't
sound like a recurring need. Personally, I have enough challenges debugging
my code without wondering about interference having scrambled some of the
byte codes. I'll stick to a hardwired connection for code development.
> anyone else notice the stuff parallax is selling lately is
> increasing in price quite a bit?
>
Actually, no. I've been very impressed with how much capability you can buy
in their $50 to $150 price range. And I got a handful of BS-1's for five
bucks a copy by being on this list and catching one of Eric's on-line sales
notices. I still gloat about those everytime I glance at the power supply
I'm building.
Of course, I've only been a Parallax customer for a few months, so my time
reference is short. On the other hand, I've been buying stuff like this from
other people for forty years now, and I've never gotten so much for so
little. I've bought a couple of items from Parallax for $100 to $150 that
used to be considered $1K to $4K modules only a couple of years ago. (And
$10K to $40K not long before that.) This is hobbyist's heaven if you ask me.
Maybe Parallax used to sell all this stuff for $5 to $15 in the good old
days and I missed out... but somehow I doubt it<g>.
Gary
new SureLink transceivers will allow wireless reprogramming of Stamp
modules. Keep in mind, however, that programming the Stamp 2 series is
hard coded to 9600 baud and cannot be changed. Once your program starts
running you can, of course, change the baud rate to 19.2K and use the
programming port as a serial link.
As to your other comments...
Of course there will be more Stamps, but unlike so many other companies,
we actually work at innovation (since we're the leader we have nobody to
copy like the others do). When the next Stamp is released you will
understand why it wasn't an overnight project. I've seen what it can do
-- IT ROCKS! But just because we have things working in our lab doesn't
mean it's ready for release; not by a long way (another thing we work
very hard NOT to do -- unlike some companies -- is to release product
too early and burden our customers with problems). My point is don't
ask for availability because we're not ready to announce and probably
won't be for a while.
As far as pricing, the prices of third-party products that (we don't
manufacture) are beyond our ability to control (the prices on our own
products have held pretty steady for the last several years). And just
because we don't make it, doesn't mean we won't support it -- and
keeping folks on the phones and on the web to provide support costs
money. I'd bet it's fair to say that we spend more on customer support
and training (did you know we have two on-staff trainers that go all
over the country teaching teachers and others to use BASIC Stamps -- and
that doesn't include myself and others on the technical staff that take
occasional trips as well) than our biggest competitor does on its whole
operation?
Setting prices is always an agonizing process, especially for
third-party devices. My point is that we can't afford to loose money,
otherwise the doors on the whole operation will eventually close. You
don't want that, do you? I certainly don't....
-- Jon Williams
-- Applications Engineer, Parallax
-- Dallas Office
Original Message
From: Robert Staph [noparse]/noparse]mailto:[url=http://forums.parallaxinc.com/group/basicstamps/post?postID=-pCihyl_UYwx4ZLvuDCcBBlouBI7TWj84LOxRXoTDOwyg32RLeMNoF8t4TJI_BJMibwqC_Ye4OnEzF0z5X4x]rstaph@d...[/url
Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2004 8:39 PM
To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Surelink RF transmitter
A few other questions:
is it possible to program a stamp over the wireless connection?
is it possible to replace a serial cable in a situation where everything
is talking at 19,200bps (with 2 demo boards and transceivers) ?
anyone else notice the stuff parallax is selling lately is increasing in
price quite a bit? Makes me worried the stamp3 (if there will ever be
one) won't price itself out of market without some incredible features
above the current catalog.
-Rob
still enjoy it. I have 'Tinkered' with tons of stuff (modding consoles,
other micro's, serious computer stuff, etc. etc.) But the basic stamp
is the one I always stay in contact with. There are always solid
answers to be had (unlike just about everything else in this world it
seems)... Name one other micro that people directly from the
manufacturer answer your questions in a forum like this as fast as
Parallax does? I think Jon usually averages <1 hour. And I personally
doubt he gets paid for much of the time he spends here. I for one
appreciate it a great deal.
/rant off
-John
My point is that we can't afford to loose money,
otherwise the doors on the whole operation will eventually close. You
don't want that, do you? I certainly don't....
-- Jon Williams
-- Applications Engineer, Parallax
-- Dallas Office
Absolutely;
Remote Stamp programming via RF http://www.electrowave.com/index.shtml
Remote Stamp programming via infrared
http://www.rentron.com/Products/SI-Combo.htm
Regards,
-Bruce
tech@r...
http://www.rentron.com
effort to create an environment like that. I'm just hit smack in the face
every time I try to use the stamp2p. For everything I want to do that needs
something like the stamp, I also require seamless, no effort, 32bit floating
point math, buffered serial, and background PWM. So I end up with 100 work
arounds, about 200$ in extra supporting chips/modules just to support the
basic requirement of my design. By then I don't have enough free cycles
left to actually do what I want. I've already had to eliminate the stamp in
every one of my projects. The stamp really makes it easy to get things
started but it runs so short so fast. I love the stamp for proof of concept
work, but on all occasions so far, the right way to complete the project has
been to remove the stamp and find something else.
I just really wish the next version of the stamp was out. Because I'm
really starting to like the rabbit micros and soekris SBCs. They require
work arounds too, but normally only a few. (and the rabbits are cheaper
than the stamps, with more features)
Original Message
From: "Jon Williams" <jwilliams@p...>
To: <basicstamps@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2004 10:44 PM
Subject: RE: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Surelink RF transmitter
> While I haven't had the opportunity to try it personally, I'm told the
> new SureLink transceivers will allow wireless reprogramming of Stamp
> modules. Keep in mind, however, that programming the Stamp 2 series is
> hard coded to 9600 baud and cannot be changed. Once your program starts
> running you can, of course, change the baud rate to 19.2K and use the
> programming port as a serial link.
>
> As to your other comments...
>
> Of course there will be more Stamps, but unlike so many other companies,
> we actually work at innovation (since we're the leader we have nobody to
> copy like the others do). When the next Stamp is released you will
> understand why it wasn't an overnight project. I've seen what it can do
> -- IT ROCKS! But just because we have things working in our lab doesn't
> mean it's ready for release; not by a long way (another thing we work
> very hard NOT to do -- unlike some companies -- is to release product
> too early and burden our customers with problems). My point is don't
> ask for availability because we're not ready to announce and probably
> won't be for a while.
>
> As far as pricing, the prices of third-party products that (we don't
> manufacture) are beyond our ability to control (the prices on our own
> products have held pretty steady for the last several years). And just
> because we don't make it, doesn't mean we won't support it -- and
> keeping folks on the phones and on the web to provide support costs
> money. I'd bet it's fair to say that we spend more on customer support
> and training (did you know we have two on-staff trainers that go all
> over the country teaching teachers and others to use BASIC Stamps -- and
> that doesn't include myself and others on the technical staff that take
> occasional trips as well) than our biggest competitor does on its whole
> operation?
>
> Setting prices is always an agonizing process, especially for
> third-party devices. My point is that we can't afford to loose money,
> otherwise the doors on the whole operation will eventually close. You
> don't want that, do you? I certainly don't....
>
> -- Jon Williams
> -- Applications Engineer, Parallax
> -- Dallas Office
>
>
>
Original Message
> From: Robert Staph [noparse]/noparse]mailto:[url=http://forums.parallaxinc.com/group/basicstamps/post?postID=BecN9lva79qoXhgXH8Kmryn4L466C7dOXfhu6nY98JyLWW2F6SvqeQmbWSLlboIvYOEpRt1VFdUAvBXIue4Zd4cY]rstaph@d...[/url
> Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2004 8:39 PM
> To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Surelink RF transmitter
>
>
> A few other questions:
>
> is it possible to program a stamp over the wireless connection?
>
> is it possible to replace a serial cable in a situation where everything
> is talking at 19,200bps (with 2 demo boards and transceivers) ?
>
> anyone else notice the stuff parallax is selling lately is increasing in
> price quite a bit? Makes me worried the stamp3 (if there will ever be
> one) won't price itself out of market without some incredible features
> above the current catalog.
>
> -Rob
>
> 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.
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
> To visit your group on the web, go to:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/basicstamps/
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>
>
> I'm just hit smack in the face every time I try to use the
> stamp2p. For everything I want to do that needs something
> like the stamp, I also require seamless, no effort, 32bit floating
> point math, buffered serial, and background PWM.
>
Best of luck with your projects, Robert, but since everything from guiding
rockets to controlling satellites was done on processors without 32-bit
floating point, it may be you're running out of creativity rather than
money.
Gary
too hard to something that served me well. It might just be time to write
off parallax and move on to the other companies that are into technical
growth, not just keeping themselves employed. (not that its a bad goal,
just not what I'm looking for). There are plenty of other companies out
there that have no trouble keeping their doors open AND producing products
that have more capability than the last on a cycle that matches my growth.
Original Message
From: "Gary W. Sims" <simsgw@c...>
To: <basicstamps@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, January 19, 2004 12:34 AM
Subject: Re: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Surelink RF transmitter
> From: "Robert Staph" <rstaph@d...>
> >
> > I'm just hit smack in the face every time I try to use the
> > stamp2p. For everything I want to do that needs something
> > like the stamp, I also require seamless, no effort, 32bit floating
> > point math, buffered serial, and background PWM.
> >
> Best of luck with your projects, Robert, but since everything from guiding
> rockets to controlling satellites was done on processors without 32-bit
> floating point, it may be you're running out of creativity rather than
> money.
>
> Gary
>
>
>
> 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.
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
> To visit your group on the web, go to:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/basicstamps/
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>