SoundPal with Propeller

Glenn Irwin

Is there a way to get the SoundPal to work with the Propeller Chip?

I am using the Propeller Proto-board.
Propeller Port to SoundPal with 4.7 K resistor, pulled up to high with a 10k resistor.
Using Simple_Serial.spin

This code:
SERIAL.start(-1, SOUND_PORT, -9_600)
SERIAL.tx("=")
SERIAL.tx($01)
SERIAL.tx($5D)
SERIAL.tx($00)
SERIAL.tx("!")

Should play reveille, but it does not make a sound.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Baggers

just out of curiosity, should baud rate be (minus) - 9_600 ?

Glenn Irwin

I tried it with positive 9600 too. I changed it to -9600 because the manual said that the stop bit should be low instead of high and the Simple_Serial object's documentation said to make the Baud rate negative. Was I wrong?

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

Here's a SoundPAL object and demo program you can use.

-Phil

Glenn Irwin

Thanks, it works great! I just put a 4.7K resistor on the data line and it plays. Surprisingly loud for such a tiny thing.

Thanks for the help.

deSilva

Adding such a trifle gadget to a Prop is questionable, as it will not require much more code to make a "SoundPal in a COG" than Phils demos show, as a COG is around 10 times more powerful than an ATtiny

Glenn Irwin

I am planning to use the 32k of memory for more than just making sound. The SoundPal offloads this task quite nicely.

Good point though.

deSilva

Adding 32k EEPROM to the Propeller is even simpler than adding the SoundPal and costs $1.50.
The SoundPal is a good compagnion for BS, as it postpones CPU load to an external device... The Propeller has however MASSES of spare CPU capacity...

This was my point I bring up from time to time: The propeller was not buit - so I think - to add complex devices to it, but to substitute those complex devices by a few resistors and caps. So adding expensive ADCs, temperature sensors, PICs or AVRs is the "old way"....

Edit: Typos..

Post Edited (deSilva) : 11/24/2007 10:41:28 AM GMT

Glenn Irwin

I thought the 32K was the limit for a program to run in. Is there a way to swap programs in and out of Ram from an EEPROM?

deSilva

There are some attemps to do that... Very simple indeed, but there is no support from the Propeller Tool. You need an "overlay concept" that aligns all addresses correctly.

So EEPROM and SD cards are mostly used for data....

hippy

deSilva said...
Adding such a trifle gadget to a Prop is questionable, as it will not require much more code to make a "SoundPal in a COG" than Phils demos show, as a COG is around 10 times more powerful than an ATtiny

But the code for soundPal emulation does have to designed, written, tested and debugged, so emulating this trifling gadget becomes a major and critical sub-component of the final system. Undoubtedly the Propeller could do all that SoundPal does and more, better and cheaper, but it will take time to get it to work. Full emulation may not be necessary but it still involves reasonable effort.

I don't see adding a SoundPal as questionable; until someone delivers a SoundPal emulation object it's the quickest and most cost effective solution.

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

The SoundPAL can also be programmed to operate standalone, requiring just a source of power. For such applications, the Propeller could be a handy — or one's only — means of accomplishing that programming.

-Phil

deSilva

Sorry that I do not always lengthily state the background of my remarks. But my point should have been obvious..