2 questions

[HenrikOlsson]

Hi Joe,
What software are you using send the data from the PC to the LCD? If it's a terminal program you need to figure out how to send the ASCII representation of $FE. You can't just type "$FE" because that will send the three characters $,F,E and not the LCD's "command identifier".

If you are using Hyperterminal it MAY work by doing this:
Hold down the left ALT key on you keyboard, then, on the numerical keyboard type 254 and let go of the ALT key. Then do the same but type 192 instead. This should be the same as sending $FE,$C0

If you're using the Serial communicator in MCS look for "Parse Control Characters" in the help file.

/Henrik Olsson.

[Archangel]

Hi Joe,
What software are you using send the data from the PC to the LCD? If it's a terminal program you need to figure out how to send the ASCII representation of $FE. You can't just type "$FE" because that will send the three characters $,F,E and not the LCD's "command identifier".

If you are using Hyperterminal it MAY work by doing this:
Hold down the left ALT key on you keyboard, then, on the numerical keyboard type 254 and let go of the ALT key. Then do the same but type 192 instead. This should be the same as sending $FE,$C0

If you're using the Serial communicator in MCS look for "Parse Control Characters" in the help file.

/Henrik Olsson.

Hi Henrik,
I am using something I found SOMEWHERE called serial sender, I was unable to get hyperterminal to work. Thanks, JS

[HenrikOlsson]

Hi,
I found SerialSender here:
http://www.seetron.com/vfdmnl/mnl.htm

If that is what you got it looks like this is the way to send ASCII:
Try typing <254><192>LCDTest and then hit Send.

/Henrik Olsson.

[Archangel]

Thanks Henrik,
that is the way!
JS

[skimask]

Joe,
Do you have VB5 or any sort of programming language for the PC? If not, I could probably whip you up a simple program this weekend to do those types of things for you with a click instead of all the extra characters, and just for the serial backpack type of thing.
Heck, I may just whip one up for myself anyways...might come in handy...
JDG

[Archangel]

Joe,
Do you have VB5 or any sort of programming language for the PC? If not, I could probably whip you up a simple program this weekend to do those types of things for you with a click instead of all the extra characters, and just for the serial backpack type of thing.
Heck, I may just whip one up for myself anyways...might come in handy...
JDG

Hi Skimask,
Actually I do have VB3, 4,5,6 - Aint eBay great communicating with PIC through PC is something I just wanted to try, it works, good. I really need to find out how to communicate commands through the serial port, say toggle an LED on another PIC from serial port, either sent by PC or PIC., and it's late and I am going to bed, even later in SD huh?
Regards
JS

[skimask]

Hi Skimask,
Actually I do have VB3, 4,5,6 - Aint eBay great communicating with PIC through PC is something I just wanted to try, it works, good. I really need to find out how to communicate commands through the serial port, say toggle an LED on another PIC from serial port, either sent by PC or PIC., and it's late and I am going to bed, even later in SD huh?
Regards
JS

It's about 4am right now. I gotta work at 6am, had to put the snowthrower on tractor tonight, big problems, kinks to work out, stuff got broken over the summer, blah blah blah. At least I got to break out the big tools, hammers, welders, etc.etc.

Anyways, communicating commands from the PC to the PIC....
You use JCP....that is Joe's Communications Protocol (or in my case Jeremy's Communications Protocol.
In my case, I usually use a 4 byte packet:
1st byte : $FF - leader byte, must be an $FF
2nd byte : data byte for function to be used
3rd byte : inverse of the data byte
4th byte : $FF - trailer byte, must be a $FF

For a bit of checking at the receiving end, the 2nd and 3rd byte must add up to $FF, and the 1st and 4th bytes must be $FF. When I'm using wireless, this will differentiate the end of the preamble for the modules (which are $55's) and the start of the packet.

So, I send a packet like:
$FF , $10, $E0, $FF
The receiver saves the last 4 bytes received (which I save by using a sort of shifting buffer, receive a byte, shift the rest over, receive another byte, shift the rest over, and so on).
If the 1st and 4th byte are $FF, the I check if the 2nd and 3rd add up to $FF. If all that is good, I do whatever is in the 2nd byte, and at the same time clear the last 4 bytes received in whatever variables I save them in. For example, in this case, $10 might turn on the LED on portb.0, $11 might turn it off. And so on, and so on.

That's the nice thing about JCP (or whatever you want to call it). Whatever you want, you make. In my case, if my leader and trailer are $FF, it's a one byte control (4 bytes per packet), if the leader/trailer are $FE, it's a 2 byte control packet (6 bytes per packet), and so on. It's always worked for me. The problem with this simple method is when I'm intermixing 4 byte and 6 byte packets in the same system. The fix for that is, just don't do it! Easy enough.
Just come up with a method that's easy for you to remember, that's the big thing. Maybe make the bits or characters in the packet match the pins of the PIC as you go around the PIC itself, something, anything....
JDG