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BS1 PCI (pin 4) pin to power LED — Parallax Forums

BS1 PCI (pin 4) pin to power LED

ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
edited 2004-06-16 17:23 in General Discussion
When a BS1 is hooked up to a pc's parallel port, which pin of the
stamp are debug statements transmitted through? PC-in I assume (pin
4 on the BS1). So if I hooked an LED (and resistor in series to
ground) up to the BS1's PC-in pin, wouldn't the LED light up, and
stay lighted if coded an infinite loop of debug statements? I guess
I would do 'debug 255', since that would send a string of all 1's,
right? Thanks

Comments

  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2004-06-16 16:47
    You should NOT be connecting to those pins (PCI and PCO). And the BS1
    DEBUG statement is more complicated than you imagine; it actually
    transmits a very large packet (about 80 bytes) that provides module
    status and other information.

    Again, the programming pins on the BS1 are not to be used for anything
    but programming, and you risk damaging your BASIC Stamp or computer by
    creating a problem connection.

    -- Jon Williams
    -- Applications Engineer, Parallax
    -- Dallas Office


    Original Message
    From: Sam [noparse]/noparse]mailto:[url=http://forums.parallaxinc.com/group/basicstamps/post?postID=j6MIweGq4riLTKlU4Ha7q24bDgVTCWzZ4fQ_DyQ6yTYSZeZdBmO6F6SMj10xyZC42-1Z1LPRhuAktTdeFg]hard-on@t...[/url
    Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2004 10:36 AM
    To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
    Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] BS1 PCI (pin 4) pin to power LED


    When a BS1 is hooked up to a pc's parallel port, which pin of the
    stamp are debug statements transmitted through? PC-in I assume (pin
    4 on the BS1). So if I hooked an LED (and resistor in series to
    ground) up to the BS1's PC-in pin, wouldn't the LED light up, and
    stay lighted if coded an infinite loop of debug statements? I guess
    I would do 'debug 255', since that would send a string of all 1's,
    right? Thanks
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2004-06-16 17:23
    >When a BS1 is hooked up to a pc's parallel port, which pin of the
    >stamp are debug statements transmitted through? PC-in I assume (pin
    >4 on the BS1). So if I hooked an LED (and resistor in series to
    >ground) up to the BS1's PC-in pin, wouldn't the LED light up, and
    >stay lighted if coded an infinite loop of debug statements? I guess
    >I would do 'debug 255', since that would send a string of all 1's,
    >right? Thanks

    Clever idea! I think that the output from the BS1 to the PC is
    actually pin 3, labeled "PCO". That connects to the "busy" input on
    the standard PC parallel port.

    I see that Jon has recommended strongly against messing with the
    programming pins, and caution is certainly in order. Some stones are
    best left unturned, but some of us can't help it! Check your idea
    with a voltmeter or 'scope first. If it looks like it might work,
    then buffer the output with a transistor or something like that just
    to be safe.

    -- Tracy
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