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ZeroPlus LAP-C 16032 Logic Analyser

When working with digital electronics, a Logic Analyser can come in handy to display and decode all these signals. I recently bought an entry-level Logic Analyser with 16 channels – more than enough for testing and debugging my future JeeNode projects. It offers a large selection of downloadable Protocol Analysers. These software plugins are installed on your computer, and aid in interpreting bus signals like RS232, I2C, CAN and SMI.

Software

The Zeroplus LAP-C 16032 comes with Windows-software. There is an Open Source project called “sigrok” that offers alternative software for the Zeroplus Logic Cube series of analysers. They also support Protocol [...]

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June 27th, 2011 | Tags: , | Category: Personal | Comments are closed

Linkdump: Arduino and JeeLabs

Here’s a bunch of assorted links that I dug up searching for Arduino and JeeLabs stuff:

Hacks:

Hack a Day: Arduino hacks

Data logging and reporting:

Live Graph - Plot and explore your data in real-time!
Pachube - Store, share & discover realtime sensor, energy and environment data from objects, devices & buildings around the world.

Sensors

ePIR (sparkfun)
How to monitor Gas, Water and Electricity consumption (bwired.nl)

Arduino GSM/GPRS/UMTS:

Lower cost Arduino cell shield
(Probably) the cheapest way to add SMS to an Arduino
Arduino GSM Shield (SIM900 GSM module)
Interfacing Arduino with a Telit GM862
DealExtreme SKU 12057, USB Tri-band GPRS modem / GSM radio

Rotary encoders:

Rotary encoder ISR for AVR micros
Side project: understanding cheap [...]

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June 22nd, 2011 | Tags: , , , | Category: Personal | Comments are closed

Getting started with the RF12 wireless module on a JeeNode

I recently ordered a couple of JeeNode v6 boards. These boards are mostly Arduino-compatible (standard shields won’t fit) and optionally contain an RF12 radio module. They are ideal for creating wireless sensors.

Download and install the Arduino IDE
Set your serial port and speed correctly (57600 baud)
Download and install the Ports library and RF12 library (see below)

On Mac OS X, the Arduino IDE stores your sketches in your home directory, under ~/Documents/Arduino. Open a Terminal window and type the following commands:

cd ~/Documents/Arduino
mkdir libraries
cd libraries
svn co svn://svn.jeelabs.org/jeelabs/trunk/libraries/Ports
svn co svn://svn.jeelabs.org/jeelabs/trunk/libraries/RF12

Done! The RF12 library is now installed. Do not forget the Ports library, or you [...]

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June 17th, 2011 | Tags: , , | Category: Personal | Comments are closed

USB to Serial drivers

Serial ports, a.k.a. RS232 ports, are no longer available on new computers and laptops. Many devices still use RS232 for communication (network equipment, data acquisition boards etc.).

There are several USB adapters that provide a “Virtual COM Port” using a special “USBtoUART” or “USBtoSerial” chip. Conversion cables containing these chips can be found online – but the documentation rarely specifies which chip is used! The Prolific PL-2303 chip is very popular, but a number of other chips can be found. Some chips are supported by the OS, others need a special driver.

Manufacturer
Chip
Linux driver
Mac driver
Windows driver

FTDI chip
FT232RL
Included since 2.6.31 kernel
Download VCP driver
Automatically [...]

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April 23rd, 2011 | Tags: , , | Category: Personal | Comments are closed

Installing the PL-2303 USB-to-Serial driver under Windows 7

A quick note on installing the Prolific PL-2303 USB-to-Serial driver under Windows 7.

My Puxing PX-777 Plus radios can be programmed using a USB Programming Cable. The “6-in-1″ programming software is only available for Windows. On my Mac, I run a virtual Windows 7 installation under VMware Fusion.

PL-2303 USB-to-Serial driver

I tried the supplied drivers from 409shop for Puxing; I also tried latest drivers from the Prolific website (PL2303_Prolific_DriverInstaller_v130.zip). These appear to install correctly, but upon inserting the USB cable Windows 7 returns an error “The Device Cannot Start (Code 10)” and claims the driver was not installed. Re-installation did not help.

After [...]

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August 1st, 2010 | Tags: , , , , , | Category: Personal | Comments are closed
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