Welcome

Jim Ewald

Parallax has created this forum based on customer request so you can share your projects with other forum users and provide feedback to contributors regarding improvements to your design. Our intent is to keep project-based threads active and accessible as a reference library. Prior to creating this forum, many useful projects have been posted in other forums only to get lost deep in discussion threads.

We hope to make our customer’s project postings more accessible to our customers.

steve_b

So is this where you would like the "finalized" material?· Or like a running diary on a project?

I could see these project posts getting thick with discussions too, but would be found a lot easier than in the other forums.

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Steve
http://members.rogers.com/steve.brady
"Inside each and every one of us is our one, true authentic swing. Something we was born with. Something that's ours and ours alone. Something that can't be learned... something that's got to be remembered."

Jon Williams

Yes, please post completed projects here -- WIP projects should go into the appropriate forum. By placing finalized projects (along with appropriate support --·schematics, listing, photos, drawings, etc.)·here, this forum will serve as a library for other customers -- especially newcomers who might get lost in a long development thread.

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Jon Williams
Applications Engineer, Parallax
Dallas, TX· USA

Post Edited (Jon Williams) : 1/16/2005 6:34:39 PM GMT

David B

I have a suggestion. It seems that the most useful Projects entries include pictures, schematics, and often use PC boards.

What about creating a few of those "sticky at top" entries in "Projects" showing good ways to

1. draw a schematic
2. design and have a PC board made
3. photograph a project and include it in the Projects entry

for non-professionals, with a limited budget.

I've seen tips for this sort of thing floating around on other threads, and these would be useful things for the amateur part-timer who wants to know how to create a nice Projects entry.

For example, I've taken zillions of photos, like most people, but when I recently tried to photograph a project, I kept getting it out-of-focus and had glare problems. That sort of close-up photography turned out to be much harder than a typical family picnic photo, and any tips for how to best do this would be nice to see listed for all project makers.

David

valentine

David, it seems counter-intuitive but, I have had some success starting with LOW resolution photos, long exposures with no flash in increased ambient light, high contrast backdrops, etc. (and certainly a tripod).

To embellish David's points: I'm a new parallax member, an avid 'Radio Shack/Newark/Digikey' junkie and curcuit development hobbyist for many years, I would be grateful to find any basic schematic layout drawing software without paying hundreds of dollars for a complete professional circuit development and analysis (Spice, etc.) software package. For now, I'm simply scanning hand-drawn circuits and converting to PDFs.

Are there a few available (downloadable?) tools you could suggest using as 'standards' to simplify these project posts (schematics, connection diagrams, etc.) to avoid getting bogged down into long-winded circuit description threads? This would also serve well to simplify suggestions to other members with "can anyone suggest how to . . .?" inquiries.

Thanks for this forum.
-Valentine

Max Wooden

Valentine,
Eagle seems to be a popular choice in the hobbyist community. I personally use it and have never had any problems. You can download the free version from the developers, CadSoft.

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Max Wooden
Reedley, California

Chris Savage

Hello everyone,
·
·· Lately there have been several submissions to the Completed Projects Forum which do not include much for a description and often no code or pictures. ·Sometimes it is simply a link to another site.· I’d like to encourage forum members who post completed projects to try and include the following items in their posts:
·
1.················· Complete description of the project, what it does, how it works, any design information you can share including any pitfalls you hit in completing it.
2.················· Any pictures you have, especially those that show the project in use.· Pictures of the project in progress are nice too.
3.················· Source code, attached (not pasted) in the appropriate format for the microcontroller used.· For example, BASIC Stamp 2 code should have a .bs2 extension, not .txt or something else.
4.················· Supporting videos or links to videos to show the project in action if it’s something that really needs to be seen in action to be appreciated.
·
Remember that other forum members often see Completed Projects and want to build their own version of it so they will want to have the resources available to do so.· Many have indicated they don’t ask for additional resources such as source code because they figure if the poster didn’t publish it they don’t want to share it.
·
I would like to thank those that have shared their unique completed projects on this forum.· Take care.

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Chris Savage
Parallax Tech Support

steve_b

I haven't seen too many Propellor projects posted in here, yet the Prop forum seems teeming with great ideas....Guess all those Propellor heads are super busy with all the neat things they're doing, that they don't have time to write up a nice report!

As soon as I learn the manual I'll be in there as well!

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<FONT>Steve



What's the best thing to do in a lightning storm? "take a one iron out the bag and hold it straight up above your head, even God cant hit a one iron!"
Lee Travino after the second time being hit by lightning!

Chris Savage

Steve,

There are a few Propeller Projects on here. Propeller projects (completed) are more than welcome here, as are projects built around the SX or any BASIC Stamp. I would just like to see more content/resources related to the projects. Take care.

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Chris Savage
Parallax Tech Support