COM unit - divide and conqer?
Hi,
I am akso trying to build l low cost COM device, but off course want to display the actual frequency with digits. Presently, the unresolved problem is how to communicate with FS.
I aim to build the COM as a stand alone instrument, which also greatly simplifies development and testing. I use the serial port, because communication is very low frequence, and it is easy to interface a microcontroller like 16F628. Clearly (?) USB would be a better choice, but would also require a lot more work.
I think the COM unit may be built with the following sub parts:
1) communication part, serial to controller.
2) 2 digit display units each 6 digits and IDC16 to controller.
3) user input section, two buttons and a rotary encoder
4) COM front and hardware mountings (glue, strips etc. Only the front will be visible).
I have completed step 1, and are working on steps 2 and 3, and am trying to tackle the front. At 25 euros they are rather expensive, I guess I can buy one, but for 3-5 fronts for COM, NAV, ADF etc that really adds up and eats the budget away.
When finished with the steps 1-3, I will have a stand alone COM unit. It will be trivial to make other units of this type. But the problem remains to interface with FS. I need a simple solutions for letting FS send the new frequencies (and display intensity) to the COM device. I have two pins available
If we remove the ability to send from FS to the device, a cheap USB joystick button interface can be used. I think this is a good solution for the prototype. If doing this, the serial interface is not needed any more.
What I really need is a program, running on the PC with the FS, that can read FS values and send them to a port or channel (usb, serial etc), and likewise read from the channels. I think this is what FSUIPC do, but it looks like overkill. Considering the data rate, standard serial interface is more than capable to serve all comm units, and probable all instruments in the cockpit. Also, human readable commands and responses should be used, as this helps debugging in a big way.
Do anyone know of a program like this (prefererable in C), or is FSUIPC the way one must take?