Replacement chips?
Les
Posts: 13
Hi folks, another newbie here.
(the group groans)
I have been given 3 old basic stamp modules by a guy that lost
interest in them.
The disc, programming cable, and manual came with.
These are the Basic 1 Counterfeit modules from Scott Edwards, the pc
boards bear the date 1995.
One module works, the other two do not.
By that I mean that when loaded with the simple test program in the
manual:
debug "hello"
the good module responds by displaying
hello
on my screen (laptop running Windows 95 in DOS mode).
The other two give the "hardware not found" error.
The output of the regulators on the boards is a good 5v, so I assume
the PIC chip is blown on both "bad" modules.
Scott Edwards doesn't seem to carry these anymore.
Parallax wants $9.00 ea for the PIC and $3.00 ea for the EEPROM.
Digikey lists considerably cheaper.
Is there something magic about the Parallax parts or are they just
tremendously marked up?
The main part numbers are the same, but they each have different
suffixes than the chips on my modules and/or listed on the Parallax
site.
Is the suffix difference significant or just an artifact of time/age?
There are MANY different suffix versions, each with a different price.
I am aware of thru-hole v/s surface mount.
I would like to restore the 2 bad modules so they will work with the software I already have.
All comments extremely welcome.
(the group groans)
I have been given 3 old basic stamp modules by a guy that lost
interest in them.
The disc, programming cable, and manual came with.
These are the Basic 1 Counterfeit modules from Scott Edwards, the pc
boards bear the date 1995.
One module works, the other two do not.
By that I mean that when loaded with the simple test program in the
manual:
debug "hello"
the good module responds by displaying
hello
on my screen (laptop running Windows 95 in DOS mode).
The other two give the "hardware not found" error.
The output of the regulators on the boards is a good 5v, so I assume
the PIC chip is blown on both "bad" modules.
Scott Edwards doesn't seem to carry these anymore.
Parallax wants $9.00 ea for the PIC and $3.00 ea for the EEPROM.
Digikey lists considerably cheaper.
Is there something magic about the Parallax parts or are they just
tremendously marked up?
The main part numbers are the same, but they each have different
suffixes than the chips on my modules and/or listed on the Parallax
site.
Is the suffix difference significant or just an artifact of time/age?
There are MANY different suffix versions, each with a different price.
I am aware of thru-hole v/s surface mount.
I would like to restore the 2 bad modules so they will work with the software I already have.
All comments extremely welcome.
Comments
Thanks for the info!!!!
Would I need to update my software to use the new PIC chips, or will my circa 1995 Dos STAMP.exe work ok?
I like the idea of using the old laptop for something other than paperweight duty.
Sorry for the dumb questions.
I'm an old hand at electronics, but just getting started in this Stamp stuff.
The current PBASIC1 interpreter chips we sell should work just fine in those boards (as long as you get the proper package type: DIP).· You can use the Windows Stamp Editor too, don't need to stick to the old DOS software.· We don't support Win 95 anymore, but the Stamp Editor software currently on our website should still run fine on Win95... though that may change in the future.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
--Jeff Martin
· Sr. Software Engineer
· Parallax, Inc.
I guess what I was really asking was if my old Editor would be compatible with the new interpretor and vice versa.
The new chips are pretty cheap though, and the new software is free, so I guess it would be silly not to update everything while I'm at it.
From the looks of things this is going to be a lot of fun.