BOB-3 Version 3.4 Application Guide ~ Copyright © 2004 by Decade Engineering ~ Page 8
SIMM socket Information:
Molex part numbers 15-46-3053 (Tin), and 15-46-3043 (Gold) are suitable. Amp 822056-2 (Tin) and 822061-2
(Gold), and Adam Technologies SIMM-130-VTL (Tin) and SIMM-130-VGL (Gold) are equivalent. Also see
Methode’s M43 series. Amp and Molex have ceased production, but many component distributors cross-reference
to other manufacturer's part numbers.
Application Programming
Control Protocol:
Serial communication parameters are:
8N1
(8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit). Bit rates other than 9600bps are
configured by grounding pins 12~14 of the BOB-3 module at installation time. See pin descriptions.
No RS-232 hardware interface is needed for use with a Parallax
tm
BASIC Stamp
tm
or any industry-standard
microcontroller. If the Stamp is programmed for inverted data, it may be connected directly to BOB-3. BASIC Stamp
SEROUT signal polarity conventions are opposite to that adopted here. Set BS2 Baudmode to 84 or 85 (for
9600bps). Set BS1 Baudmode to T1200 or T2400.
Your application program must manage the software handshake correctly if you transmit data to BOB-3
continuously at a high rate. BOB-3 transmits the
<XOFF>
character (hex 13, ctrl-S) if the receive data buffer (512
bytes) reaches 75% full, and transmits
<XON>
(hex 11, ctrl-Q) when it drops below 25% full. This is an industry-
standard flow control technique that is fully compatible with common PC terminal emulation programs such as
HyperTerminal
tm
.
After a brief start-up delay (about 500mS), BOB-3 transmits
{HR<CR>
(hardware reset) and
<XON>
, to inform the
host controller that it’s on-line. BOB-3 may send a garbage character or two during initialization. BOB-3 always
monitors incoming video. If video status changes, and at start-up time, BOB-3 transmits
{VT<CR>
or
{VF<CR>
,
indicating presence or absence of incoming video.
Any received character not preceded by the command prefix (
{
) is interpreted as ASCII text and written to the
screen at the current ‘cursor’ (print position) location. The cursor automatically advances to the next available
character cell and wraps to the next line, or back up to the first line as required. Display rows (lines) are numbered
from the top down starting with zero. Display columns are numbered from left to right starting with zero. ROM
characters are presented with white foreground and thin black outline by default.
Non-ASCII characters and unsupported ASCII characters are ignored in character translation modes other than 3
and 4 (see
{T
command). In modes 3 and 4, transmit literal byte values (see character set illustrations) to specify
each printable character. Do not send data containing the command prefix character (hex 7B) while in translation
mode 3 or 4 unless you intend to send a command. The following ASCII codes are supported in mode 0, the default
translation mode:
SP
(space)
CR
(carriage return)
A
~
Z a
~
z 0
~
9 ~ ! # $ % & * ( ) + ' ` - = ; : " , . / ? < >
ASCII
<CR>
(carriage return) normally moves the print position to the left end of the next available line. The
{Z
and
{2
commands change this behavior in ways that are useful for some applications.
Commands sent to BOB-3 must be prefixed by the left curly brace character:
{
All commands except
{N
and
{VW
employ a fixed-length format, and do not require a command suffix. Command salvos require a
{
prefix to each
command in the string. Command letters are not case-sensitive.
