Marquee Display

24x8 LED matrix marquee display is implemented around the PIC16F877 with three DS7221 as the LED drivers. Each DS7221 can drive 8x8 matrix therefore three are needed to drive 24 columns. A clock module using DS1307 is also being used and a temperature sensor will also be added later. Soldering the LED matrix consumed a lot of time; it took 15-20 minutes to solder a single column. I had to spend more than a week to finish the soldering. Coding the program is still in early stages. After a couple of revisions I managed to scroll a text massage but still have to go a long way.

Matrix - Front

Matrix - Back

Final product - Component side

Final product - Wire side

Marquee in action

Hygrometer: Back on track

I've explained what has happened to my humidity sensor (SHT11) due to an accident in one of my previous posts. I told the same story to S*nsirion and they were kind enough to send 'four' of them, couriered to my doorstep, free of charge. Wow, what a company. So, thanks to them, I'm back on my project once again. I soldered the new one to the same board and attached it to my Altimeter. Surprisingly, PIC16F88 could handle both sensors in its 4k code space. Actually it used only 80% so 20% is left for some improvements.

Here it is in action;



It shows temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure and height from sea level.

If you could refer my previous photo of the hygrometer, the reading was around 62% and that was in January. After 5 months, the reading is 76% for the same temperature. This explains the hot humid condition we are experiencing currently.

I have to format the output in a suitable way which I'm working on currently. At the same time, I must think a way to use the other three sensors too...

Altimeter - Contd...

MAX187 12-bit ADC with 3v external reference provided a sufficient resolution for the altimeter. To make the calculation accurate, a temperature sensor (DS18S20) is also attached to the microcontroller. The following picture shows the Altimeter in action displaying pressure, height, temperature and output voltage of the pressure sensor.

Altimeter

I got four pressure sensors (two MPX4250 and two MP3H6115A) from freescale sometime back. I tried the two 4250s but they didn’t work for some reason. MP3H6115A is a surface mount device (SMD) which can measure pressure from 15kPa to 115kPa. Since I have previous experience working with SMDs, (SHT11, humidity sensor) I decided to work with this. The output (pressure) is reported as a voltage ranging from 0 to 2.8 v. I used PIC16F88 since it has an internal 10-bit ADC (analog to digital converter) and 4k code space.

Pressure is given by
P = (Vout/Vs+.095)/0.009 kPa

Where Vs, supply voltage = 3v
Vout, Output voltage measured from ADC

Altitude is given by

H = -ln(P/Po)*R*T/g

Three variables have to be measured:
T - average temperature in degrees Kelvin
Po - atmospheric pressure at ‘zero’ level
P - atmospheric pressure at current level

Remaining values are fixed constants:
R – universal gas constant = 286
g – gravitational acceleration = 9.81

Assuming Po=101.325 kPa and T=303.15K (30C)
The device reported H = 52.5m

Accuracy of this value is largely depending on the resolution of the ADC.
10-bit resolution of the ADC is not even near to get a reasonable accuracy of the altitude. One unit change in the ADC measurement will change 10m of height. To obtain 1m sensitivity, I need at least 12-bit ADC. So I ordered 12-bit ADCs from Maxim-IC and waiting until they arrive for the final product.

PIC Relay – 230v

This simple PIC circuit can be used to pre-program the on/off time of 230v electrical appliances. The PIC is programmed as a clock and at specified times, it can turn on/off a relay to control the appliance. I found a broken power guard (which protects electrical equipments from over and under voltage) in my old parts ‘yard’ at home. It was good source for the relay, diods,  step down transformer, voltage regulator, the plastic container and even the LEDs. This relay is having good characteristics since these power guards were produced mainly to protect refrigerators. Only drawback in this design is that it doesn’t have a user interface. If you want to change the on/off time, you have to do it using the program. (I was too lazy to add a display unit for the device) It is being tested with our refridegerator and is working fine. I put the fridge to turn off at midnight for about four hours. 

/*
* Project name:
PIC Relay
* Copyright:
Chandana Inc.
* Description:
PIC Relay - 230v
* Test configuration:
MCU: PIC16F88
Oscillator: XT, 04.0000 MHz
SW: mikroC v8.0
* NOTES:
Time might not be accurate.
*/

unsigned int countdown ; // interrupt counter
unsigned char update ; // update output
unsigned char secs, mins, hrs ; // tally variables

unsigned char ticks, correction,mode;
char oldstate_min, oldstate_hr, PowerOK, Powerchange, OutputStatus;

void interrupt()
{
if (--countdown == 0)
{
countdown = 8000; // 8000 x 125us = 1 second
update = 1; // flag to update clock output
}
PIR1.TMR2IF = 0; // clear interrupt flag

}

void Clock24()
{
if (++secs == 60) // check each tally for rollover
{ secs = 0;
if (++mins == 60)
{ mins = 0;
if (++hrs == 24)
hrs = 0 ;
}
}
update = 0;
}

void Initialize()
{

CMCON=7;
secs = 255;
mins = 23;
hrs = 15;
update = 1;
countdown = 8000;

INTCON.GIE = 1; // enable GIE
INTCON.PEIE = 1; // enable PEIE
T2CON = 0; // prescaler=0; postscaler=0; Timer2=off
TMR2 = 0; // clear timer2
PR2 = 124; // TMR2 resets when matching PR2
PIE1.TMR2IE = 1 ; // interrupt enabled
PIR1.TMR2IF = 0 ; // interrupt flag cleared
T2CON.TMR2ON = 1 ; // start Timer0
}

void main() {
Initialize();

PORTA = 0;
TRISA =0b00010;
PORTB = 0;
TRISB = 0;

oldstate_min=0;
oldstate_hr=0;
mode=0;
PowerOK=0;
Powerchange=0;
OutputStatus=1;

do
{
if (update == 1) // advance seconds?
Clock24(); // yes...then output


if (Button(&PORTA,1,1,1))
{
PowerOK=1;
//mode=0;
}

if (PowerOK && Button(&PORTA,1,1,0))
{
PowerOK=0;
PowerChange=1;
mode=1;
}

if (Powerchange && PowerOK) //power restore
{
Powerchange=0;
mode=0; //back to normal
}

if (mode==0)
{

if (OutputStatus==0) //turn off
{PORTA.F0=1;
PORTA.F2=1;
PORTA.F3=0;}
else
{PORTA.F0=0; //Turn ON
PORTA.F2=0;
PORTA.F3=1;}

}
else
{
PORTA.F0=0;
PORTA.F2=0;
PORTA.F3=0;


}



} while(1); // endless loop
}//~

Oops...

Electronic components are very sensitive. Anything beyond the tolerable range within a fraction of a second is enough to destroy most of them. I learned this lesson in the hard way. A tiny piece of exposed metal of a hanging wire touched the high voltage side of the voltage regulator and destroyed the OLED 20x2 LCD Display (I bought this from eBay for $20) and the SHT11 Humidity Sensor (I got this free but worth more than $40). I can live without the display since there are alternatives but loosing the humidity sensor is a real blow. Buying a new one at this moment is very unlikely. It seems I have to postpone (abandon ?) my weather station. I was about to finish it by adding the barometer module using an atmospheric pressure sensor.

But hey... I got a new project... this time, I have to be extra cautious because it involves 230v. A small mistake can be deadly. Will post the details later...

Humidity Sensor

SHT11 is a humidity + temperature sensor developed by the Sensirion. They had a sample give away program sometime back and I also got one. Since it is SMD (surface mount device) and really small (7.49mm x 4.93mm), it took a long time for me to play with it. Usually I don't use PCBs (printed circuit boards) simply because I don't have the facility to make them. Instead, I use vero board (strip board) for my circuits which has copper strips with pin holes in specific distances. These boards can only be used with through hole devices; not with SMDs. But this SHT11 is too good to be dumped. So I decided to 'mount' the device on the strip 'surface' . I found that the width of one strip is eqaul to width of two pins of the device (One strip is roughly 1mm wide and the distance between two pins is 1.27mm). The device has 4 pins in the same side consuming the width of two strips. I split each strip into two which matched perfectly with the 4 pins in the device. The hardest part was the soldering. SHT11's datasheet has specific instruction for soldering. For manual soldering, contact time must be limited to 5 seconds at up to 350C. One needs a steady hand and sharp eyes to do this kind of a job. Somehow I managed to solder it without any problem. After soldering the device, it has to be stored at 75% relative humidity for 12 hours to re-hydrate. I kept it inside a plastic container with a wet piece of wool to maintain the humidity.

These pictures show how small it is...





After that I had to wait another couple of weeks for the LCDs to arrive. I bought (actually I won) a 20x4 LCD character display from eBay for $9.5 including shipping. Since the program is a bit heavy, I had to use PIC16F88 which has 4k of memory. First I tested the display and it worked fine. Then I attached the SHT11 according to the guidelines given in the data sheet (with pull-up resistor and conditioning capacitor). At first it didn't work but after several attempts it worked and displayed the temperature and relative humidity. To verify the temperature figure, I hooked up another temperature sensor; DS18B20; one-wire device from Dallas. Wrote a quick and dirty procedure to display the temperature along with the rest. The difference between the temperature figures of two sensors are almost negligible. It didn't exceed 1C anytime. Based on this I assume the Relative Humidity is also correct.

Temperature & Humidity

Temperature from two devices and Humidity

Temperature, Humidity and Dew Point

PIC CLOCK - WITH ALARM

You may think that I’m obsessed with clocks. When I build my first clock, everybody at home needed clocks (except my kid of course but he really enjoys looking at blinking LEDs). Mother-in-law needed one in the kitchen and an alarm clock in her bedroom; wife needed a clock in our bedroom and one in the living room and so on. The main reason is, these clocks show time even in dark which they find very useful at night.

The demand for the alarm clock is satisfied finally. It is the same circuit and the same program as before. Only difference is that it stores alarm settings in EEPROM and having a buzzer. Unfortunately, the buzzer was not loud enough. So I’m thinking of having something louder. I’ll be able to find something from my kid’s toys collection since he’s got all types of music cars, broken and lying around.

In operation...

Wiring side... (like hell)

Needs a final touch...

PIC CLOCK - MATRIX DISPLAY

Ever since we moved to our home (in late 2003) we couldn't have a permanent wall clock in the living room. We tried putting several clocks but they stopped after running several weeks even though the clock and the battery is good. Some of them are still working in other places. So we didn’t try to put any more. After I build two small scale clocks, I wanted to build a bigger one for the living room. Here are some pictures of the clock. Still it is too early to say that the same thing will happen to this as well.

The display is created using a LED matrix. This is because I couldn’t find a suitable size seven segments in the market. Display comprises of four 4x7 matrices with a colon and a decimal point which is driven by two MAX7221. RTC is DS1307 with DS32KHz crystal. Temperature sensor is DS18S20. The brain of the clock is gigantic 40 pin PIC16F877A with 8k code space. Everything is assembled inside a plastic box file. Working with the two display drivers (MAX7221) was not that difficult but they didn’t work without the two 0.1uF capacitors close by. Program was slightly modified to accommodate two display drivers with the new numeric font. I designed several fonts and finally settled with the one shown.

PIC CLOCK FINAL VERSION

As promised in the earlier post, here comes the photos and a video of the PIC CLOCK using the DS1307. The features of the clock are;

1. Displaying the Time, date, month and year
2. Displaying the Temperature
3. Display Time, Date & Month and Temperature Alternatively
4. Battery backup
5. Display illumination reduced at night (From 10pm to 6am)
6. Highly accurate. (DS1307 RTC and temperature compensated crystal DS32kHz)

The following video shows how the clock is in action. It displays Time, date and temperature alternatively. All the parameters (hour, minute, second, date, month, year etc.) can be set by selecting the appropriate mode and increment buttons. Display blinks when entered into the change mode. There are modes to display Time, Seconds, Date , Year and Temperature continuously. Everything is fixed inside a floppy disk box. I'm gonna wrap it with something to hide the internals, may be with a dark sticker.




Some pictures of the clock in different angles;






















Parts List

PIC16F628A microcontroller

DS1307 Real Time Clock IC

DS32kHZ Crystal

MAX7219/21 Display Driver

DS18S20 Temperature Sensor

4 Seven Segment LED Displays

2 AA Battery Holder (3v)

7805 5v regulator

9v ac power pack

IC holders, wire, vero board and lots of patience 

Code snippets I used for the project;

Defining the SPI & I2C connection in PORTB. Display driver MAX7221 uses SPI while DS1307 RTC uses I2C.

void InitMain() {
Soft_Spi_Config(&PORTB, 4, 5, 3);
Soft_I2C_Config(&PORTB, 0, 1);

}//~

Initializing the RTC.

void ds1307_init(){
char seconds=0;

Soft_I2C_Start();
Soft_I2C_Write(0xD0); // WR to RTC
Soft_I2C_Write(0x00); // REG 0
Soft_I2C_Start();
Soft_I2C_Write(0xD1); // RD from RTC
seconds = Bcd2Dec(Soft_I2C_Read(1)& 0x7F); // Read current "seconds" in DS1307
Soft_I2C_Stop();


Delay_us(3);

Soft_I2C_Start();
Soft_I2C_Write(0xD0); // WR to RTC
Soft_I2C_Write(0x00); // REG 0

Soft_I2C_Write(Dec2Bcd(seconds)); // Start oscillator with current "seconds value
Soft_I2C_Start();
Soft_I2C_Write(0xD0); // WR to RTC
Soft_I2C_Write(0x07); // Control Register
Soft_I2C_Write(0x80); // Disable squarewave output pin
Soft_I2C_Stop();
}//~end of function

Initialize MAX7221

void max7219_init1() {
PORTA &= 0xFD; // SELECT MAX
Soft_SPI_write(0x09); // BCD mode for digit decoding
Soft_SPI_write(0xFF);
PORTA |= 2; // DESELECT MAX

PORTA &= 0xFD; // SELECT MAX
Soft_SPI_write(0x0A);
Soft_SPI_write(0x03); // Segment luminosity intensity
PORTA |= 2; // DESELECT MAX

PORTA &= 0xFD; // SELECT MAX
Soft_SPI_write(0x0B);
Soft_SPI_write(0x03); // Display refresh
PORTA |= 2; // DESELECT MAX

PORTA &= 0xFD; // SELECT MAX
Soft_SPI_write(0x0C);
Soft_SPI_write(0x01); // Turn on the display
PORTA |= 2; // DESELECT MAX

PORTA &= 0xFD; // SELECT MAX
Soft_SPI_write(0x00);
Soft_SPI_write(0xFF); // No test
PORTA |= 2; // DESELECT MAX
}

Display the values using MAX7221

void Write_7219(int x, int y) {

PORTA &= 0xFD;
Soft_SPI_write(x); // send i to max7219 (digit place)
Soft_SPI_write(y);

PORTA |=2;

}

Reading & writing to the RTC

unsigned short read_ds1307(unsigned short address)
{
Soft_I2C_Start();
Soft_I2C_Write(0xd0);
Soft_I2C_Write(address);
Soft_I2C_Start();
Soft_I2C_Write(0xd1);
data=BCD2DEC(Soft_I2C_Read(0));
Soft_I2C_Stop();
return(data);
}

void Write_DS1307(unsigned short Address, unsigned short _Data) {

Soft_I2C_Start(); // start a serial transfer
Soft_I2C_Write(0xD0); // which device, 1101000 = DS1307, + direction bit (R=1,W=0)
// thus 11010000 = 0xD0 ie write to DS1307
// need to tell the DS1307 which address is to be written to
Soft_I2C_Write(Address); // send the address to be written to the DS1307
Soft_I2C_Write(_Data); // send actual data to be written into Address on the DS1307
Soft_I2C_Stop(); // finished serial transfer (and release the I2C bus)
}

Read Temperature (DS18S20) & Display

void Read_temp()
{
ow_reset(&PORTB,2); // onewire reset signal
ow_write(&PORTB,2,0xCC); // issue command to DS1820
ow_write(&PORTB,2,0x44) ;

delay_us(120);

ow_reset(&PORTB,2);
ow_write(&PORTB,2,0xCC); // issue command to DS1820
ow_write(&PORTB,2,0xBE);

delay_ms(500);

j1 = ow_read(&PORTB,2); // get result
_Decimal = j1 & 0x01 ;
j1 = j1 >> 1 ;

}

void display_temp()
{
Read_temp();
j = j1%10;
j = j+0x80;
Write_7219(2,j);
j = j1/10 ;
Write_7219(1,j);

if (_decimal==0)
Write_7219(3,0x00);
else
Write_7219(3,0x05);

Write_7219(4,0x0F);



}

To display time, date and to edit the parameters, I wrote separate modules using the above basic building blocks. If somebody needs the schematic and the complete source / hex, drop me an email or leave a comment with the email address. I used Mikroelektronika forum (http://www.mikroe.com/forum/) heavily and almost all the above coding segments are taken from the forum. Therefore, full credit goes to all the people who contributed to the forum.

PIC Clock - with DS1307

After so many sleepless nights I managed to run a clock using a PIC, this time using the Maxim RTC chip, DS1307. This time I didn't use multiplexing to drive the four seven segments, instead I used another Maxim product, MAX7221 display driver. It has SPI interface and can drive upto 8 seven segments with display brightness control and that is cool... Since I'm using the PIC16F628 at the moment, I had to use Sotware SPI to drive the display. It worked without giving much problems but later came the most difficult part, DS1307. Oh boy, what a mess... It gave me thousand and one problems and took nearly a month to get it worked. But truly speaking I leaned a lot and mastered the DS1307. This fellow is really great and extremely easy to communicate via the I2C interface. I had problems because I used Software I2C routines in MikroC. I think SOFT_I2C has a problem with PORTA and after so many trial and error attempts it worked when I moved the DS1307 to PORTB. Now both DS1307 (I2C) and MAX7221 (SPI) are in PORTB and work without any trouble. DS1307 needs an external crystal (32.768kHz) to operate and again Maxim has another great product DS32KHZ, a temperature compensated 32.768kHz crystal which I found extremely accurate. So far the clock is running smoothly and accurately, which needs lot of other things, a way to set time, view calendar, set alarm etc. And I'm thinking of attaching a Temperature sensor too. Pictures, videos, schematic and code segments will appear shortly.

LED (OIL) LAMP

This time I am using another PIC, 16F628, which is better than 16F84 in number of ways. It has internal Oscillator, more IO pins, PWM, more space (twice) etc. As my first program with 16F628, I wrote this quick and dirty code segment to simulate an oil lamp. It uses the built in PWM to change the duty cycle of the LED.

Here is the video



Here is the code in MikroC

unsigned short j, oj,i;

void InitMain() {


PORTB = 0x0; // set PORTB to 0
TRISB = 0; // designate PORTBpins as output
PWM_Init(5000); // initialize PWM module
}//~

void main() {
CMCON=7;

initMain();

j = 127; // initial value for j
oj = 0; // oj will keep the 'old j' value
PWM_Start(); // start PWM

while (1) { // endless loop

j=rand(); // Generate Random Number
if (j>=255)
j=254;

if (j==0)
j=1;

if (j>oj)
{
for (i=oj;i<=j;i++)
PWM_Change_Duty(i); //Smoothen the level change
}
else
if (j {
for (i=oj;i>=j;i--)
PWM_Change_Duty(i);
}
else
PWM_Change_Duty(j); // set new duty ratio,

oj = j; // memorize it
PORTB = oj; // and display on PORTB

Vdelay_ms(200+j); // slow down change pace a little
}
}//~!

PIC Clock - Final Version

My PIC clock is almost done. Only thing remaining is that to give it a nice look. (at the moment, it is inside an ice cream box and it deserves a better place than that). It has following functionalities;

• 12H/24H mode; when in 12H mode, a PM indicator is used.
• Battery backup; when the mains power is not available, it automatically gets power from the batteries and keeps the clock ticking.
• Ability to work totally on batteries. i.e. When the mains power is not available, it automatically switches into battery mode and the display goes blank. But if you want to see the time, you can get back the normal display manually.

Here are some pics

24H mode

12H mode

Inside view

(Video quality is not that great but clear enough to see that the clock is running :-) )

PIC Clock

Finally I managed to build the initial version of the Desktop clock using PIC16F84. Still its in the vero board as you see in below video.



It shows Time (Hour, Minute) and Seconds alternatively. It has two buttons to advance hours and minutes. An Interrupt routine is used to calculate the base time and to multiplex the four seven segments. The program is written in C and compiled using MikroC compiler. I got lot of ideas from so many people and used code samples from various resources. Specially the MikroC comes with very useful code samples. Here is the program listing. It is not optimized yet. You'll find unused variables here and there. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

#include "Display_utils.h"

char kraj;
unsigned short zz, v, j, countsec,displaysec;
//unsigned int i;
unsigned short por[4];

unsigned char sec, mins, hrs, ticks, correction;
char oldstate_min, oldstate_hr;


void interrupt() {

if(INTCON.T0IF)
{
ticks++;
correction++;
TMR0=101; //96; //102

if (correction==180) // Correction routine
{
ticks--;
correction=0;
}
}



PORTA = ~0;
PORTB = por[v];
PORTA = ~zz; // turn on appropriate 7seg. display
zz <<= 1;
if (zz > 8u)
zz = 1; // prepare mask for digit

v++ ;
if (v > 3u)
v = 0; // turn on 1st, turn off 2nd 7seg.
//Delay_ms(1);
//TMR0 = 0;
INTCON = 0x20;
}//~

void main() {
OPTION_REG = 0x84;
j = 0;
v = 0;
zz = 1;
TMR0 = 101;
INTCON = 0xA0; // Disable PEIE,INTE,RBIE,T0IE
PORTA = ~0;
TRISA = 0;
PORTB = 0;
TRISB = 0;
sec=0;
mins=0;
ticks=0;
correction=0;
hrs=0;
oldstate_min=0;
oldstate_hr=0;


do {

if (ticks==200)
{
sec++;
countsec++;
ticks=0;

//if (PORTB.F7==1)
// {
// PORTB.F7=1;
// }
// else
// {
// PORTB.F7=0;
// }
//}
if (sec>59)
{
mins++;
sec=0;

//}

if (mins>59)
{
hrs++;
mins=0;
//}


if (hrs>23)
{
hrs=0;
}

}
}
}
TRISB=0b00000011;
if (Button(&PORTB, 0, 1, 1))
oldstate_min = 1;
if (oldstate_min && Button(&PORTB, 0, 1, 0)) {
mins++;
if (mins>59)
mins=0;
oldstate_min = 0;
}
if (Button(&PORTB, 1, 1, 1))
oldstate_hr = 1;
if (oldstate_hr && Button(&PORTB, 1, 1, 0)) {
hrs++;
if (hrs>23)
hrs=0;
oldstate_hr = 0;
}

TRISB=0b00000000;



if (countsec==5)
{
countsec=0;
if (displaysec==1)
{
displaysec=0;
}
else
{
displaysec=1;
}
}


if (displaysec==0)
{
por[0]=mask(hrs/10u);
j=(char)(hrs%10u);
por[1]=mask(j);

por[3]=mask(mins/10u);
j=(char)(mins%10u);
por[2]=mask(j);
}
else
{
por[0]=mask(5);
//j=(char)(mins%10u);
por[1]=mask(11);

por[3]=mask(sec/10u);
j=(char)(sec%10u);
por[2]=mask(j);
}


} while(1); // endless loop
}//~

Display_utils.h file

//-------------- Returns mask for common cathode 7-seg. display
unsigned short mask(unsigned short num) {
switch (num) {
case 0 : return 0x3F;
case 1 : return 0x06;
case 2 : return 0x5B;
case 3 : return 0x4F;
case 4 : return 0x66;
case 5 : return 0x6D;
case 6 : return 0x7D;
case 7 : return 0x07;
case 8 : return 0x7F;
case 9 : return 0x6F;
case 11 : return 0x79;
} //case end
}//~

PIC Programming

Programming a micro controller has been in my mind for nearly a decade. I have done micro controller programming when I was an under graduate. That was for the 8080 processor. It is too big for small projects. I was looking for a suitable type of micro since there are couple of good ones PICs and AVRs. But I couldn't find any AVRs in the market but PICs are available for an affordable price. I bought two PICs, 16F877A and 16F84A, for Rs. 460/- and Rs. 320/- respectively.

The first step was to build a programmer (burner). I saw different types of programmers but thought of building a JDM type one. It has the advantage of operating without an external power supply and is much simpler to build. It takes power from the PC serial port. The disadvantage is, modern laptops cannot provide the required voltage level. Since most of the laptops (including mine) do not have a serial port, it has no effect.

Found the following circuit and built it on a vero board. It can program PICs upto 40 pins so there wont be any problem for a long time. (Full credit goes to the designer of the circuit, I just build his circuit)



This is how the final one looks like;



Then needed the software to connect the hardware to the PC. After reading many comments, I wanted to settle with IC-Prog. It is a great software which supports many types of programmers including the JDM. It also has a hardware test option to verify the hardware. Initially it didn't verify my hardware correctly and after so many sleepless nights, I found the bug. I have connected the Serial port incorrectly; more precisely, I have swapped the left hand side and the right hand side of the port. After rearranging, it worked like a charm.

I tested the programmer and the PIC using the famous "hello world" LED blinking program which ended quite successfully. Then I wrote a counting program using two seven segment LEDs with 16F84. Two segments are in multiplexed mode. The following video shows it in action.



These are my future plans with PICs.

- Build a clock with small digits (desktop clock)
- Build a wall clock with a big display
- Include the stealth mode to the clocks. i.e. it will retain its time when there is no mains power. I hope to use a real time clock IC like DS1307 or DS1302 with a battery backup.
- Include a thermometer function to the clock to display the room temperature. For this, I will use DS1820 IC.

Although I already have necessary hardware i.e PICs, clock ICs, temperature ICs (I got them from Dallas Semiconductors as samples), writing software takes a lot of time. Therefore it is impossible to figure out how long it will take to complete the above things. May be before next Christmas... :-)

Acer Aspire

My Notebook arrived yesterday. It's Acer Apire 5630 series Core 2 Duo 1.66 GHz (T5500 processor) , 15.4" Wide Screen, 1GB RAM, 160 GB HD, WiFi, 1.3 MP WebCam, 5-in-1 card reader etc. Not that flashy with compared to the notebook I dreamed from Apple (macbook). My poor cash flow prevented me from going for it. This one was $1025 (roughly SLR 115,000) and bought from Amazon. Still couldn't play around with it that much and haven't tested WiFi, LAN and Modem yet. There's a bluetooth button but specs don't say anything about it.

Today I saw the same one with 2GB RAM and nVidia GO 7000 for a lesser price ($999) in amazon. Sigh...

Tech-GSM, two thumbs up...!

I am learning E-commerce as a subject in my MBA and our lecturer most of the times mentions how electronic commerce can be applied in Sri Lankan situation. Here is a good example. I found Tech-GSM web site, a promising company entered into the electronic commerce arena, selling memory related items, and doing it successfully in the local context. They don't have many products listed in their site, most of them are pendrives, SD cards, DIMMS etc. When you want to buy, an E-mail is generated and they'll contact you via your contact details via E-mail or phone. When the order is confirmed, they'll deliver it within Colombo city limits free of charge and you can pay for it at the time of delivery.
I bought a Kingston Data traveler II 2GB pendrive for Rs 3850/- which I found very competitive pricing even when compared with the price given in Amazon.com (only Rs.150 difference). I chose DT II merely because of the data R/W speed which is mentioned as 7 MB/s write and 11 MB/s read. The maximum waiting time to write the entire capacity is less than 5 minutes. (cool...)
To my surprise, they delivered it in the same day I confirmed the order. And the product is Original Kingston which I verified via the Kingston website. Two thumbs up for Tech-GSM guys...

Camera Mouse...!

Yeah.. no kidding... there is a camera inside the optical mouse. This is not a very comprehensive one. It is just a CMOS sensor (CMOS sensors are actually being used in inexpensive(?) cameras) which sends images to digital signal processor (DSP) for analysis. This DSP then analyses the image and identifies the patterns in the image to compare it with previous images. Based on the change in patterns, the DSP determines how far the mouse has moved and sends the corresponding coordinates to the computer. Pretty cool huh...

iPod shuffle

The latest addition to my gadget collection, the iPod shuffle, arrived yesterday. Its a cool device in every aspect; size, design, quality,... everything is perfect. It may hold more than 100 songs I assume (its a 512MB) and the battery may last 12 hours according to the manual. Re-charging is possible only when it is connected to a PC via the USB. It supports a wide variety of music formats including mp3, aac, wav etc. Sound quality is good but lacking Bass Power. Its really light weight, not even an ounce. I am braining these days to find a method to connect it to my car audio.

My Desktop Thermo

I made this cool desktop thermo using DS1820 which is plugged into DS9097U – DB9 Com Port adapter. I got these samples from Maxim Dallas Semiconductors a long time ago but couldn’t find enough time to play around. The program is done using C# after so many trial and error efforts. It is based on the OneWireAPI.dll which can be downloaded here. The program nicely sits inside the system tray and displays the temperature when the mouse pointer hovered on to the icon. (the icon is made by me which is not in great shape…).


I have two units of DS1820s at home which are plugged into the same port, one is on the CRT (it heats up a lot; so that I can turn on the fan) and the other one lying on the desk monitoring the room temperature. The one shown in the picture is the unit in my office. (otherwise, how could I be at 23.94 Celsius; normally it’s 28-30 Celsius outside). If anyone interested about this, I am willing to share my knowledge. (even the software).