Matrix user forums

Ben: I assume that the audio "bug" project implements auto answer. If so, how do you guys accomplish that? Do you have an external micro that is hard wired into various points of a cell phone such that the micro does the answering, etc.? If yes, would the same approach be a good starting point for a...

Hello all: I notice that there is a teaching module for mobile phone technology and a project for a cell phone audio "bug". I want to build a cell phone video "bug" that would allow me to call a cell phone located in a remote location and to take and view real-time snapshots using the cell phone cam...

Ron: You don't have to include the RS232 interface components on every board but you do have to dedicate the RX/TX pins on the PIC to the serial communication function. In my application the serial link between the "main board" and remote control is done single-ended at TTL levels. The RS232 support...

Ron: Yes - I would be happy to help. I use the boot loader regularly for in-circuit-programming with the 18F2525. My application incorporates a serial link between a "main module" and a remote control so my boards already support the RS232 interface. The software is a breeze to use. The PIC resident...

Ron:

See "Boot-loader for Flash Parts" on page 5.

Regards,

Jim

Ksor: The quick and dirty way is to ground the cathode and to put series resistors between the anodes and the PIC output port lines. For 5 milliamps per segment, use 700 Ohm resistors (650 Ohms is close enough). When the output port goes high (to +5V) current will flow through the segment and it wil...

7omos:

Glad that helped and thanks for the feedback.

Jim

7omos: If I needed to do this fast I would: Read port C and assign that value to a variable, NUMBER (for 4 bits, NUMBER can be any value between 0 and 15). Test NUMBER: Is NUMBER = 1? – yes (switch 1 is closed) – output 1 on port D (LED 1 is lit). No Is NUMBER = 2? – yes (switch 2 is closed) β...

All: I did buy this and am using it. I can recommend it - it's easy to use and very fast. Programming 4K words takes under 4 seconds. This is worth the investment (about $50 USD) for anybody who wants to do frequent programming or reprogramming of flash parts without having to remove the part from t...

Steve: That's great! Any chance you could give writing a custom character to the cg RAM a try sometime, just to verify that it will work? What has me worried is that I can't find any discussion on the web about how to do it in 4 bit mode and my LCDs are already "hard wired" in 4 bit mode (v2 Flowcod...

Christian: My timeout value is always 0 because I don't know what the setting does either (I posted a question many months ago about what the RS232 timeout function does but never got an answer) and I always send/receive characters. Sending is pretty straightforward, receiving is a little more compl...

Steve/Ian: Can the current LCD macro(s) be expanded or can a new macro be created to add the capability to write to the LCD character generator RAM? This would allow users to create 8 custom characters on most any LCD. I have a need to do this to generate a bar graph display with (up to) 3 vertical ...

Ralf:

I worked with the demo versions of CoreChart and Flowcode before deciding. You might want to do the same to get a feel for both.

Flowcode support has been excellent and, as you can probably tell from the posts to this forum, the developers are truly interested in input from the users.

Jim

Steve:

Do you mean I can keep my Windows 98 SE and not have to upgrade to XP? That would be terrific.

Jim

Zonk: Sorry - I misunderstood. I thought you had Flowcode V2 and had built your own board with your PIC and an RS232 IC. If you can't get this working with V1 (and if you have the spare change) you may want to upgrade to V2 Pro - it has the RS232 support. Another route - if you have access to "Seria...

Sonk: If you have done this and it doesn't work I appollogize for wasting your time. Open "new". Pull down "PIC" and select your Target PIC, Clock Speed (20000000), Configure for XTAL and Watchdog timer Off. Attach an RS232 object and set Properties for your baud rate and Bytes - click "Apply" and c...

Steve:

Can you tell us in advance what the system requirements will be for V3 if different from V2?

Thanks,

Jim

Steve: As soon as you can give a release date with a high confidence level that would be appreciated. Like you I have commitments and several of those involve design and development schedules that hinge on the release of V3 (if this was simply a hobby interest I would not be so anxious). Thanks, Jim

Steve:

It must be close to the time that you intend to release V3. Can you give us a specific date yet?

Jim

Steve:

I can go ahead and purchase the Microcode Studio Plus (around $50, US). If any of the other Flowcode users are interested, information about the 18Fxxxx compatible loader is available at:

http://www.mecanique.co.uk/code-studio/ ... index.html

Thanks,

Jim

Venturi: Glad we got that going. If I'm not mistaken SCRs and TRIACs will turn "on" (very quickly) and stay "on" as long as current is flowing through the load (turning an SCR or TRIAC "on" requires driving the gate until load current begins to flow). Once the SCR or TRIAC is "on" the gate drive can...

Ian/Steve: I'm using the free microEngineering Labs, Inc. meLoader (v1.0) with my 16Fxxx parts and it is a terrific convenience to be able program in-circuit after I compile some Flowcode. When Flowcode v3 comes out it will support 18F and other parts that are not supported by the meLoader (if it is...

Venturi: I also forgot to reset ON_TIME but that shouldn't have been the problem. I built the flow code I described above and attached a single push button object connected to "single bit" 0 of (input) port B. That simulates your zerro crossing hardware. I also added an LED object and connected a si...

Venturi: I think this is because I forgot to reset ZERO after a zero crossing is detected (but why you get seven pulses I don't know). That causes the zero crossing detect loop to be skipped after the first pass through. Try cutting and pasting the ZERO = 0 equate object to just above the input obje...

Venturi: Sounds like you've made a good start with the hardware and it sounds like you probably have an oscilloscope for looking at the PIC outputs. Initialize two variables: ZERO and ON to 0 (create these two variables, drag two equation objects into the flow chart just below "Begin" and set ZERO =...