eBay Auction (no reserve)

[mister_e]

oh blimey, and i was about to bid 1.01$ on it

it's so hard to make cash with something these days

No reserve auction starts @ $1 (Must sell, I'm sick and tired of seeing these things)

Really?

[T.Jackson]

Oh gee, thanks -- you're all heart mister_e.

[skimask]

(Must sell, I'm sick and tired of seeing these things)

When I'm sick and tired of seeing something, I throw it out...

Those projects will be worth a lot of money one day

Yep, last year, they were worth at least $.99
Who knows what next year will bring...

Perhaps when I make my first million I'll seek out their return for a handsome bounty

$1.01 maybe?

at the end of the day they're worth as much as someone is willing to pay!

$1.01

1. Rarity

Yep, one of a kind...

2. Demand

Yep, only one of a kind...

Auction will commence on the 30th January 2008 and run for 30 days. Highest bidder wins, even if it's $1.

???

For the record -- if the auction ends @ $1, I will honor the sale to retain my 100% feedback rating. eBay is going to make me a lot of money in up and coming years.

Yep, $1.01 isn't a bad start...

[Luciano]

Hi Trent,

The real value of these items is far beyond their intrinsic value.
You have learned something while developing them and the readers of
the magazine where they were published have also learned something
while building them. I am quite sure that you have also learned something
about interpersonal relations and unpleasant situations probably caused
by wrong expectations.

Best regards,

Luciano

[T.Jackson]

You're a good person Luciano, don't ever let anyone tell you differently. I know I have helped a lot of people learn a thing or two from my articles, have I also managed to learn a thing or two? -- you betcha!

[T.Jackson]

That joystick is gonna go for a little bit though (possibly $100) Depressing though when you consider that my cost to develop it would have been about $1000. The bulk of this is of course a fee for my time. I had a lot of fun designing that thing, nothing plays Street Fighter II like it

[T.Jackson]

oh blimey, and i was about to bid 1.01$ on it

No heart, no soul, no passion, no care in the world for another person's feelings. I see a monster.

[pgamble]

Trent .... I really need your help regarding the PC Alarm and keypad.

EPE and SiliconChip don't really seem to be able or willing.

I have built both.

I made a custom serial cable with only the tx, rx and earth connected for the PC comms. This goes direct to the 3 way block on the main PCB. I was having an issue with the 'standard' serial cable I had (that worked with the Serial IO Controller) going via the front D socket. I'm not sure why, but I never got a connection working (all connectivity was checked and fine).

The PC software works but seems very intermittent ... sometimes the alarm responds to commands, other times it doesn't. My gut feel is there is a handshaking problem somewhere down the line.

I then built the keypad. When connected to the front dpad the LED comes on and you get a crescendo tone indicating power up. I set up codes for each of the 4 users in the Zone Config GUI and the Tx / Rx light came on when OK was hit suggesting they were being sent to the PIC.
When I hit a numeric button on the keypad (PC serial cable disconnected from PC), you get a single beep. When you hit arm or disarm ... you get 4 beeps like a D D D D. I never see the Tx / Rx light flicker suggesting no comms ... and I never get a different arm / disarm tone regardless of whether I put the right or wrong code in.

It strikes me that the PICs are not communicating. I have tried two 4Mhz crystals in the main alarm and 2 in the keypad thinking maybe that was causing one not to be talking at 2400 baud. I also tried programming both PICS with Oscillator mode of XT and HS. I'm pretty sure HS is what is needed for 2-4Mhz and that is what they are both currently programmed with.

As I say .... I've checked all connections, particular those with ribbons in between. In all cases I've taken the connection from the source component to the destination component (eg PIC16f84a output to PIC16f877a input .... and they are all perfect.

I'd hugely appreciate any diagnostics suggestions you may have.

Best regards

Paul

[T.Jackson]

Hi Paul,

I made a custom serial cable with only the tx, rx and earth connected for the PC comms. This goes direct to the 3 way block on the main PCB. I was having an issue with the 'standard' serial cable I had (that worked with the Serial IO Controller) going via the front D socket. I'm not sure why, but I never got a connection working (all connectivity was checked and fine).

Just having a look at the schematic of the alarm for you. First thing I've picked up on is that it's showing TX and RX reversed at the D9 connector (probably an error on my behalf, I'm renowned for making silly little mistakes like this)

The PC software works but seems very intermittent ... sometimes the alarm responds to commands, other times it doesn't. My gut feel is there is a handshaking problem somewhere down the line.

This is a bug in the software which I'm aware of. Unfortunately the prospects of repairing it are impossible -- the source code no longer exists, and I no longer own an electronics laboratory in a million dollar house at Dural. In fact, I don't even own a soldering iron anymore (no plans on replacing it either) I do apologize for this rather annoying imperfection.

I then built the keypad. When connected to the front dpad the LED comes on and you get a crescendo tone indicating power up. I set up codes for each of the 4 users in the Zone Config GUI and the Tx / Rx light came on when OK was hit suggesting they were being sent to the PIC. When I hit a numeric button on the keypad (PC serial cable disconnected from PC), you get a single beep. When you hit arm or disarm ... you get 4 beeps like a D D D D. I never see the Tx / Rx light flicker suggesting no comms ... and I never get a different arm / disarm tone regardless of whether I put the right or wrong code in.

If my memory serves me well -- I don't think that the TX / RX led was programmed to operate with the keypad. Clearly there is an error on the schematic on pg 30 of the magazine, showing TX and RX reversed with respects to the terminal block. If this isn't the problem -- I strongly suggest triple checking for things like; dry solder joints, loose wires, dead pics (or similar components) Persevere with it Paul, the system certainly does work okay with the exception of a few quirks here and there. There are no known issues with the keypad.

Trent Jackson

[T.Jackson]

Paul,

I might also add that, that bug is really only apparent on really fast systems running XP. The Windows-based software was developed / tested on a PIII system running Win 98. I suggest trying it out on an older, slower system running 98 to try and improve things.

I contemplated an update to correct some issues quite sometime ago before the source code was lost. Unfortunately, it was never carried out, because prior to that I spent over a fortnight updating the software for the PC-Controlled Mains Switch, Silicon Chip publications completely ignored the update. (the current version on their website isn't even compatible with the revised hardware) Two weeks of my time wasted. So I hope you can understand why it hasn't been fixed. They will never get anymore work from me.

Trent Jackson

[pgamble]

I have two PCs ... and they are both high end XP ones. I have no access to any older PC technology I'm afraid.

If I could get the keypad side of things working it wouldn't be too much of an issue. Assuming that I can get the alarm config right by just trying each send from the PC s/w multiple times until it took .... I will just use the alarm with the keypad and SMS controller (which I already have built, tested and boxed ready).

I have tried reversing the tx/rx on the four way connector in the keypad unit (which would obviously do the same thing as swapping on the front panel.

Unfortunately all I ever get is a dddd whenever I hit the arm / disarm button. It responds so quickly with the dddd it makes me wonder if it is even waiting for a response from the main alarm which is odd in itself.

Can you remember what tones it is supposed to make ?

i.e. if you put in a correct code, what tone should it make ?
if you put in an incorrect code, what tone should it make ?
and is there a tone for a communications issue (like I suspect I have ... ) ?

Are any of the tones you remember the dddd ?

As regards the s/w, am I correct in thinking that the keypad codes you setup in zone config are completely independent of the users created in access control ? I have one owner setup in access control and I have tried setting the keypad codes to 0000, 1111, 2222, 3333 respectively. I have ensured that following hitting ok on zone config that the tx/rx led shows activity ... this makes me assume that the codes are being stored in the eprom correctly.

Have checked for dry joints .... all good connections. Have also tried different PICs in both main alarm and keypad ... and also swapped both crystals for new ones.

Although I struggled previously to understand your frustrations with SC ... my recent experiences with EPE have led me to sympathise.

If there is anything you can do to help I'd hugely appreciate it.

Best regards

Paul.

[T.Jackson]

Unfortunately all I ever get is a dddd whenever I hit the arm / disarm button. It responds so quickly with the dddd it makes me wonder if it is even waiting for a response from the main alarm which is odd in itself.

Can you remember what tones it is supposed to make ?

i.e. if you put in a correct code, what tone should it make ?
if you put in an incorrect code, what tone should it make ?
and is there a tone for a communications issue (like I suspect I have ... ) ?

Are any of the tones you remember the dddd ?

As regards the s/w, am I correct in thinking that the keypad codes you setup in zone config are completely independent of the users created in access control ? I have one owner setup in access control and I have tried setting the keypad codes to 0000, 1111, 2222, 3333 respectively. I have ensured that following hitting ok on zone config that the tx/rx led shows activity ... this makes me assume that the codes are being stored in the eprom correctly.

You should be getting a single chirp each time you press a key (much like the "beep" you hear on the ATM machines) If the code is correct a brief melody is played (similar to the one that you hear when it's first powered up / initialized. However, if the code is invalid you will get the series of 4 chirps ("dddd")

There have been so many revisions of the firmware for this thing, more than I've had hot dinners over the course of these past few years. I do hope that SC have the correct version on their website.

If I were you Paul I'd trying programming the system on a slower win 9x machine. It's possible that the data in the eeprom is incorrect, the bug, as previously discussed, in the windows software is at the core of things and doesn't only just effect control over the system from the PC side of the equation.

The system was half implemented on a Win 98 machine around 2002 and finalized in 2005 when SC requested it. I hope this gives you some form of direction with it Paul.

Regards,

Trent Jackson