Subject: Great things coming from Ed.
From: ACRE NL
Date: 9/13/2002, 7:04 PM

Ed Anderson wrote:

 > > I am attempting to use as much as I can of the chip.  I am able to
store
default values in the EEPROM area - such as fuel remaining, Fuel
Reserve,
etc.  I've decided to also used the A/D feature to drive the air/fuel
indicator - may not have it up and running on the first go around, but
will
have the board wired for it.   Does not look like interface to a
seperate
EEPROM chip would be difficult - but, then I have not gotten that far
yet in
my research.

Probably bitting off more than I should - as all the guidance says start
with a simple program, but at least as I work out the bugs I feel like
I'm
making progress in both the learning and the program.  Now if I can just
get
the 255 bits from an 8 bit A/D to correlate to LED lights driven by the
7
Seg driver which also drives the 7 seg numeric displays and remember to
multiplex 7 digits (3 digits for flow rate and fuel usage each = 6 plus
the
1 for driving the LED) I'll be on my way. {:>).

Lucky I have a high tolerance for frustration {:>)

Ed

You are not using a simple 7 segment LED are you Ed?
I have not done one of those for the last thirty years :-)
Shessss! this is the 21st century. What you need is a smart
display. You send it ASCII and it does the rest.
HP makes a super bright version that all the high buck avionics people
use. HDSP 2112 or HDSP 2XXX. Newark Electronics. Also second
sourced by Agilent Technologies.
http://www.semiconductor.agilent.com

There is plenty of help on here ask for it.

Paul Lamar

Well, actually, Yes I was using the simple 7 segment LED mainly because it
was "simple" {:>).  However, I was using chips that tranformed the BCD into
the 7 Seg pattern rather than doing that in the Microchip - but, a LED that
has that already built in would eliminate the need for that chip.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll take a look at the HD series.

Ed Anderson

Check out some of the certified avionics at the airport to see what they
look like in actual operation. You will know one when you see it. 
They are outstanding when it comes to readability. I have a few 
at the hangar I was going to use for a project awhile back. 
Unfortunately they are not in a circuit so I can't take a picture 
of them lit up.

The other big advantage is they are dot matrix so you have
the complete ASCII set to work with and not just what you can
get with seven segments. The down side is they are a bit more
expensive but I would pay more for the end product because 
it looks so professional.

Does the PIC have BCD arithmetic and other BCD functions?
The old 6502 had that and it was a godsend.  If not,
how do you plan to do the binary to ASCII conversions?

Paul Lamar
 
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