Microchips for FSBUS

Hi there, is it possible to buy pre-programmed Microchips to make 4 x FSBUS display controllers , just that I need 4 microchips, I am fine making the PCB but don't have a programmer to program the microchips, and was wondering if anyone has access to a programmer to program the chips.....

Or are programmers cheap enough to buy?

Also does anyone know where to find info on maing an FSBUS COM board?
Cheers,

Alex

hi alex......
have a look at the PICAXE chips ... www.picaxe.co.uk . you dont need a programmer to program the chips, you do it from your PC.
i've started using these to do all sorts of things in the cockpit. amazing little critters :o
rgds ... ian

Hi Ian,

All I am doing is making 4 LED displays to display 2 Nav's & Comms, pointless buying a programmer just for this!

Cheers for the advice mate, will definitely look it to this!

Cheers Ian.....as always!

PS....My radio is really coming along now, many many thanks for the encoder you sent me!

Alex :)

Hi Alex Jay,

if you build the Display Card and the Com Card you can program the Controllers by your self.
Informations about the Com card you will find in the doc folder in your CDK/FSBussDLL installation folder.
There also you find the Display Card (dsp) Manual, with all informations about programming the Contollers and work with them.

If you have questions or problems fell free to ask.

Stefan

I must admit, the more I read about this 'microchips' lark, the more its scaring me! This is seriously difficult to learn!

Hey Alex,

It sounds complicated but it's easy to learn and you have lots of help here if you get stuck.

I knew nothing about programming chips but now it's a breeze. I've programmed 15 display chips without problems let along all the other cards as well.

As Stefan said, if you have build the com board, it has a programmer built into it using the 6 pin ISP connector. Read the com documentation for how to do it, then read the documentation on the display cards for information on programming specifically those cards.

Once you have done one, it's a breeze.

So don't overwhelm yourself. If you have built you com board and your display board, and you have the chips ready to go, then you have everything you need.

You will probably need to download PonyProg to do the job of writing the hex files to the chips. It's free to download here: http://www.lancos.com/ppwin95.html

Hope the info helps.

David

Hey guys

I am also attempting the FSBus route!! Are the chips programmed via the serial port OR via an external device i.e. PIKIT2?

I am planning the main board and LED Board first and then the board for the MCP digits i.e. heading, IAS etc...

On the site i see the FSBUS program - can i assume that is what is used to "program/flash" the chips??

Hallo,
oh the real old boards.
Sorry that is a lot of time before i started with Fsbus.
You can load the software on 737ng.
But i don´t know witch version you need.
With that tool you can flash the chips.

Stefan

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sgaert

Hallo,
oh the real old boards.
Sorry that is a lot of time before i started with Fsbus.
You can load the software on 737ng.
But i don´t know witch version you need.
With that tool you can flash the chips.

Stefan

---

Thanks :) got some stuff there. Yeah they are old boards but the idea is that they are relatively "cheap" to put together and that is the key for me!! ;) It also won't cost TOO much to make a mistake - though avoidance is the best LOL

Thanks again :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shearder

Thanks :) got some stuff there. Yeah they are old boards but the idea is that they are relatively "cheap" to put together and that is the key for me!! ;) It also won't cost TOO much to make a mistake - though avoidance is the best LOL

Thanks again :)

---

Price wise, there is not a lot of difference in making the new boards to the old.

I made the old boards way back but as soon as the New Generation boards were released, I made them. Very happy with them (as I was with the old boards).

The main difference is that you can use C++ to create your own program to run all your switches, gauges, lights etc etc that is fully customised to suit your cockpit.

I had no knowledge of C++ before starting the New Generation boards, but with the help of Stefan (who just posted here), I have an amazing cockpit running handmade analogue gauges with servos, MCP, Radios, backlighting and much more. I'm luvin' it.

If you're going to the effort to build the boards, I recommend building the new boards. But that is only my opinion.

David

PS plus the new boards have a built in ISP programmer (to program or flash the chips) so you don't need any other hardware to program the microcontroller chips.