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The programming cable connects to a standard 9-pin DB-9 serial port on your computer.
VIII. Programming and Checkout of the Controller
Before you can use your StationPro II, you must first program the Basic Stamp BS2-IC
microcontroller. Fortunately, doing so is very easy and takes but a few minutes.
(Note:
Although I would prefer you do it yourself, as a service I will program your StationPro
for you. The price is $15. Email me for instructions.)
You begin by downloading two
programs into your PC. The first is a free editor program from Parallax, Inc., and the
second is the StationPro II firmware from the W8ZR StationPro website. Once these two
programs are downloaded into your PC, the firmware can be transferred to the StationPro
II in a few seconds Here is the step-by-step procedure.
(1) Download and install the free Basic Stamp editor into your PC from
http://www.parallax.com/tabid/441/Default.aspx
Choose the version of the editor for
your particular operating system. Versions are available for early and late Windows
operating systems and also Macintosh and Linux.
(2) Download the latest firmware version for the StationPro II from W8ZR’s website:
http://www.w8zr.net/stationpro/
. Click on the “Download Files” button on the top banner.
The file name for the firmware has the form
StnPro_code_01_27_2011.bs2
, where the
“01_27_2011” refers to the release date. Obviously you should download the latest
release date. To download, right click (for Windows) the link and save the file to your
hard disk. The saved file should have the same file name as the original file. When you
open the file, be sure to open it with the Basic Stamp editor and not your browser.
(3) Open the Basic Stamp Editor. Once the Editor is open, then go to “Files” and open the
StationPro II firmware file you have just downloaded. You should see the firmware
program displayed on your screen. The Basic Stamp uses a form of BASIC known as P-
BASIC. Note that the code has been extensively annotated, in order to facilitate changes,
modifications, and hacking.
