OEM BS2 Awesomeness
CJ
Posts: 470
I was wondering how many people grasp the incredible value of the OEM BS2 kit.
I mean, with the kit on sale for just $30 and a bit of light soldering, you get a "Super" BS2.
built in DB9 connector, LM2940 regulator(same as on BOE)
replaceble eeprom, and if you ever fry a pin, you can replace the interpreter chip for a fraction of even the sale price
just drop it into a breadboard, add power and go
/excited rant type thing
BTW I just ordered one, WHOO!
I mean, with the kit on sale for just $30 and a bit of light soldering, you get a "Super" BS2.
built in DB9 connector, LM2940 regulator(same as on BOE)
replaceble eeprom, and if you ever fry a pin, you can replace the interpreter chip for a fraction of even the sale price
just drop it into a breadboard, add power and go
/excited rant type thing
BTW I just ordered one, WHOO!
Comments
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Jon Williams
Applications Engineer, Parallax
I am a fan of them also.
The·only real·problem with the kit is the "trouble shooting"·IF they do not work when you are finished assembling them.
A step by step trouble shooting chart would be very helpful. A trouble shooting chart would probably not be a big project and may already exist. Many would never need it but it would be nice to have when someone needed it.
I have a couple checks that I do. Maybe we could colaborate·on an alternate·assembly sheet that would include some·test points similar to the old Heathkit assembly instructions.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Jon Williams
Applications Engineer, Parallax
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Chris Savage
Parallax Tech Support
csavage@parallax.com
Chris I.
Doc
I mentioned in other threads that I have a bunch of the BS2OEM boards (>20) that were assembled by students in an enrichment group (not by my students!). Most of them worked just great but there were a couple that needed special attention. For the most part the problem with the boards was solder that had not flowed enough to burn off the resin. The opposite of that was also found, there had been to much heat and the traces had lifted.
I'd like to see more students have the experience of building a valuable little kit like this one. They should have good tools to work with though.
A good solder iron is a must.
It is tremendously rewarding to assemble this kit and have it work right off, on the other hand, it builds alot of confidence when you can identify the problem and fix it yourself.
Interesting observations about the "reward" associated with soldering an OEM-BS2 together yourself. You are correct, but being so close to the toy factory I often forget what makes certain products neat. There's a parellel that I experienced the other day. The other night my six-year old and I assembled one of those mini·Solarbotics race cars. He knows the difference between toys and delicate mechanics. Not only was it fun to do the project together, it was "rewarding" to·solder together·the darned solar car.
One of our secret weapon employees at Parallax is Gary. He runs our internal production facility, where we build all BASIC Stamp modules and prototypes of anything else we design. Gary can solder better than anybody I know, and better yet he teaches anybody who wants to learn.
But the original reason I decided to reply is this thread got me wondering about the OEM-BS2 and how you guys really like it. I wonder what else we could do to make it of interest to our customers. Keeping the price the same helps, I'm sure, and we don't plan on changing it. Maybe it would be a good kit for students to get into microcontrollers. Hmm.
Ken Gracey
Parallax, Inc.
When you said "I wonder what else..", the only thing that came to my mind was additional written materials.
1. The kit is not really a difficult kit to assemble. The only prerequisite would be basic soldering skills. Same skills as are needed to build kits that you would buy from Solarbotic, etc.
2. Parallax (Gary?) could recommend/make available a "solder practice" board with instructions for those that are interested in building the BS2OEM. Simple and cheap boards (maybe just excess patterned PC boards) and wires. Cheaper than: http://www.electronickits.com/kit/complete/misc/ck1102.htm or http://www.elenco.com/ kit AK-100 or even http://www.gibsonteched.com/esp3b.html . Information like: http://www.elexp.com/t_solder.htm , http://www.circuittechctr.com/guides/7-1-1.shtml
3. I do not consider the instruction sheet for the kit to be a good one for a Jr. High/High School student who is building this as his/her "First Real Kit". I think that a little more detail could be put into the "assembly" sheet to make it more attractive and inviting to a novice.
4. The assembled kit is a terrific hobby microcontroller. The only other items that are needed are a breadboard and some discrete components, and maybe an application to start with.
5. Some activities could be made available for use with the kit. This would encourage the novice to use it immediately. Perhaps the first few activities of the WAM book could be made available separately and edited to also show the use of the BS2OEM on a breadboard (the components would be purchased separately). The BS2OEM on a breadboard will never be as easy to use as the Homework board, but some might be encouraged to try this version of the Stamp if they knew that some introductory activities were available.
In Europe, we are now 'prohibited' from using lead containing solder (although I took the precaution of stocking up·
Regards,
John
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Manxstamp,
Isle of Man, British Isles
I am curious as to what checks you do, checking what you can before putting power to it can only help.
The numbers listed are not precise and will vary a little.
Before inserting the two chips and WITHOUT power or any other external connections:
Measure resistance on board pins across the bottom -
1. Using an ohm meter - check each board pin across the bottom to confirm that adjacent pins DO NOT measure zero ohms.
2. Board pin 'Vdd' to pin 'Vss' will measure around 10K ohm from both polarities.
3. Board pin 'Vdd' to pin 'RES' will measure around 5K ohm, with '-' on 'RES' and '+' on 'Vdd'. It will measure around 8K ohm when the polarity is switched.
4. The rest of the board pins across the bottom should show infinite resistance to any other pin (my meter is on the 20K scale) .
Measure resistance on serial pins of the 9 pin female connector.
5. Serial socket pin 2 to pin 3 will measure around 4.5K ohm from both polarities.
6. Serial socket pin 6 to pin 7 WILL measure zero ohms.
7. The rest of the socket pins should show infinite resistance to any other pin.
Before inserting the two chips but after applying power to board pins 'Vss' and 'Vin':
Measure voltage on board pins across the bottom:
8. Board pin 'Vss' to pin 'Vdd' will measure around 5 volts.
9. Board pin 'Vss' to pin 'RES' will measure a few 100ths of a volt less than 5v, around 4.98 volts.
Remove power and insert the two chips, after chips are inserted put BS2OEM in a breadboard and apply power:
10. Connect serial cable and confirm that the PBasic program finds the Stamp.
Remove power and build pin test circuits, then apply power again:
11. Use a Stamp pin test (see Sid's 'Stamp Tester' http://hometown.aol.com/newzed ) to verify that all pins function in input/output modes.
This is the jist of what I do with a meter at this time. There is probably more that could be done, and I have probably left something out, so I will be watching to see what other things are posted on this topic.
The next big list of checks could be the steps to take when the PBasic program does not find the Stamp.
Holy Gloriosity! it works!
Post Edited (CJ) : 9/15/2005 2:25:50 AM GMT
Tim
Post Edited (Tim-M) : 9/16/2005 5:21:22 PM GMT