"hello world" with 18f6680

[dragons_fire]

That only matters if you come from the north!

Really?? so when we are told that the USA is changing it to the same regulations canada has when you guys try to come up here, its not really true???


so i got the board working, and it all seems ok, except for my LCD. the LCd im using is a 24-pin DIP. one pin is common, and the rest are linked directly to one segment. i can get it to work somewhat, but sometimes certain segments dont dissapear when they are supposed to, and others dont always appear when they should.. i think maybe its cause the traces are so close together, and i cant clean all the flux off...

[mackrackit]

Really?? so when we are told that the USA is changing it to the same regulations canada has when you guys try to come up here, its not really true???

I took it that Joe meant coming into the US from the south. Regulations do not seem to matter here for that. Illegal boarder crossing seems to be encouraged.

[skimask]

Really?? so when we are told that the USA is changing it to the same regulations canada has when you guys try to come up here, its not really true???

I got a friend who works the border just north of Antler, ND. (southwest of Regina by quite a bit). I'm going to ask him this weekend.

so i got the board working, and it all seems ok, except for my LCD. the LCd im using is a 24-pin DIP. one pin is common, and the rest are linked directly to one segment. i can get it to work somewhat, but sometimes certain segments dont dissapear when they are supposed to, and others dont always appear when they should.. i think maybe its cause the traces are so close together, and i cant clean all the flux off...

Flux - rubbing alcohol (standard grocery store stuff) and cotten swabs and/or those acid brushes (or just a small stiff paint brush) work wonders. Overnight soaking doesn't help, re-heating the flux with an iron doesn't work. Just good ol' elbow grease.

What kind of LCD do you have that has 24 pins? Is this one of those 7-segment types?
You should look into the whole Nokia-knock-off LCDs (check www.sparkfun.com). Easy to control, 6 lines from the PIC, 130x130 pixels, and in color. I'm having a blast with mine.

[dragons_fire]

Flux - rubbing alcohol (standard grocery store stuff) and cotten swabs and/or those acid brushes (or just a small stiff paint brush) work wonders. Overnight soaking doesn't help, re-heating the flux with an iron doesn't work. Just good ol' elbow grease.

What kind of LCD do you have that has 24 pins? Is this one of those 7-segment types?
You should look into the whole Nokia-knock-off LCDs (check www.sparkfun.com). Easy to control, 6 lines from the PIC, 130x130 pixels, and in color. I'm having a blast with mine.

the LCD im using is the seven segment type. it had 3 digits and two decimal points. there is 24-pins (one common, 3digits*7segments is 21 pins, and then the two decimal points. im using a 4x20 serial LCD for debugging and showing lots of info, but i would like to have this on top just to show small amounts of info. these things were pretty cheap, so i thought i would try it. and the datasheet shows the pinout but thats about it. they dont have current of voltage ratings, so i tried it on the breadboard and it seems to work at 5V and my meter doesnt show any current. it also seems as though it will "light" up all the way down to .5V (maybe lower but thats as far as i tried). so im thinking i might be getting inductance or a little leakage off of the flux on the traces that are beside each other.

i was thinking about the nokia lcd, and i would like it, but i wanted to keep this really small and simple. i havent looked at what it takes for code space either.. is it the same as a parallel LCD?? my little 3 digit one takes lots just because i need to tell it to turn on different ports.

im working on a flight data recorder for my rc airplanes, and i know there are some out there that i could buy for cheaper than i can make (i already have one too), but i would like to make my own. i will try to post a pic when i get home tonight..

[skimask]

these things were pretty cheap, so i thought i would try it.

Keep your eyes on eBay. You can 8x1 LCDs, parallel types compatible with the LCDOUT statement for dirt cheap. I've got about a dozen extra's laying around just for that purpose.

so im thinking i might be getting inductance or a little leakage off of the flux on the traces that are beside each other.

I'd doubt it, but anything is possible. More likely you're getting a leak from a 'hidden ground' thru some other pins or thru a couple of extra diodes somewhere.

i was thinking about the nokia lcd, and i would like it, but i wanted to keep this really small and simple. i havent looked at what it takes for code space either.. is it the same as a parallel LCD?? my little 3 digit one takes lots just because i need to tell it to turn on different ports.

Not even close to a parallel LCD...
The font takes up about 500 bytes of EEPROM, the code itself and subroutines to run the thing, I'd guess about 8K at the most, including the graphics subroutines.
But think about it...once you get the routines written and they work, it's just a matter of 'INCLUDE'-ing them in your latest project.

[dragons_fire]

i made the code for this LCD as a seperate file, and just "include"d it into the main program. its actually the first time i have used the include command. now that i think about it, i should make sure i labelled all my ports properly for the display.

i know there is cheap parrallel displays around that are 2x8 or 2x10, so i might think about one of them...

ive been thinking about redesigning it and including some other stuff that i would like too. there is going to be a parallax GPS in this project, and i need to do some calculations for directions, so i need to use arctan. i think it might be easier to include a math coprocessor to do the calculations... i would also like to change the voltage regulatorto something that can supply more current, since im using the same supply for multiple things.

i will probably get this thing going and use it to test all the other "bits" i want to add, then after i have things working, i will make a new design and include more stuff.

[skimask]

i made the code for this LCD as a seperate file, and just "include"d it into the main program.

That's the way to do it...handy, quick, not so easy to transport between 2 people and have the other guy understand at first glance...but still good...

i know there is cheap parrallel displays around that are 2x8 or 2x10, so i might think about one of them...

I tell ya what...I love my Nokia displays. 12 (actually 16, but takes more code) bit color, 132x132 (130x130 usable) resolution, 21x15 text (with a 5x7 font), made subroutines for all sorts of graphics, 6 pins (power, ground, reset, select, data, clock). I've got a 'saved search' on eBay all set aside just for the Nokia 3310 compatible displays and I snag one up every time I see a cheap one.
The only 'problem' with it is when you go to do a full screen refresh. Even with an 18F4620 using the hardware SPI, a full screen refresh takes awhile. I figure I can only get about 2-3 frames/second. But that's redrawing the ENTIRE screen, one pixel at a time.

[dragons_fire]

here is a picture of the top of the board. its a little fuzzy compared to my other pics, but i was too lazy to go downstairs to get more batteries for my flash.



i should mention that the solder joints are better than they look, and the flux has been cleaned of a little better since that pic was taken.

the power input is on the bottom of this board, then it goes through the switch and to the buck regulator underneath the LCD, and then the inductor is the black thing on the right. i ordered the wrong ones, when i built this, so i do have smaller, lighter ones now, i jsut havent put them on.

the segments on the lcd that im having problems with, will work sometimes but not others, so i am going to stick the meter on and see what it says.