Before You Begin - Caution
The BASIC Stamp is a small computer, and should be treated as one would a precision device. If you throw it around or play roughly with it, you might break it. Failure to care for a PROP-1 is like flushing $35 down the toilet.The Prop-1 is small, neat-looking, and doesn't look particularly delicate. But it is meant to be mounted inside a protective enclosure - not thrown around.
The most insidious danger to electronic components is static electricity. A small static spark can ruin a device outright, damage part of it, or weaken it so it wears out earlier than expected. You might not see many cautions about this, because most electronic gadgets come in a nice case that protects it from normal static damage. But your PROP-1 arrives as an unprotected printed circuit board - it is your job to protect it.
While you are still learning the use the Prop-1, and have not yet permanently mounted it inside an enclosure, keep it in the blue plastic envelope it came in. This is a special antistatic material that helps protect the Prop-1 electronics from static damage.
In fact, Parallax even wrote a short paper on the subject. Go to the Parallax EFX web site and look up "Application Note FX00003 – Safe Handling of Static Sensitive Electronics". It could save your controller!
There are some things that you really need to have immediate access to.
If you try to "cheap out" by borrowing this stuff from a friend,
your experience with Stamps will be slow, awkward, and painful.
You might even give up trying to use the Stamp, because you never really tried to use it properly in the first place.
I recommend that you make yourself a BASIC Stamp experiment kit that contains as much of this stuff
as possible, dedicated to this purpose, in a clearly marked case or box.
Choose a BASIC Stamp
for your task, and buy it.
Don't count on borrowing one from a friend unless you can get it on long-term loan.
It really stinks to finish a neat program, want to give it a try,
and not have a stamp to try it out on until Thursday when you go over to Ralph's house.
You can write up a program in any text editor, even cut and paste the program text
in e-mail.
But you should do as much of this as possible in the BASIC Stamp Editor program,
free from Parallax.
Even if you don't have a Stamp connected to the computer, you can press a button and
have the editor do a "syntax check" for some typographical errors.
You need a computer that can do two things:
(a) run the programming software (IDE)
and
(b) connect to the Stamp
Yes, you can borrow a computer, or go over to a friend's house to use his.
But when you get an idea, it sure is nice to be able to try it out right away!
You have to hook the Stamp up to the personal computer in order to download programs to test and run.
We have an entire page devoted to the
connecting a BASIC Stamp to a PC.
Hint: Your best bet is to have a PC with a serial port.
Second best is a USB port.
If you have these PC ports, you will still need some cables and doodads.
Buy them.
It stinks to have to wait to try a new program until Tommy comes over on Monday
and brings his USB-Serial converter.
Some Stamps can run on batteries, others wall wart power supplies, some either.
Whatever your Stamp needs, you should have available and ready to go.
Get some sort of case, box, tackle box, or small tool chest.
Put all the Stamp stuff in there, and mark it clearly!
What You MUST Have
I have seen some folks attempt to experiment with BASIC Stamps by pinching every penny to the extreme.
This never turns out well.
I should repeat that as much of this stuff as possible should be dedicated to the Stamp work.
Consider the case of a
wall wart
power supply.
I have lots of things around the house that uses a wall wart, just like the Prop-1.
I even have a box full of spare wall warts of various voltages that I have run into.
But when I want to experiment with a PROP-1, I don't want to wander around the house looking
for a wall wart to borrow.
I don't even want to rummage around in the box of wall warts, looking for one that works
with the Prop-1.
All I want to do is open the box of BASIC Stamp stuff and pull out the wall wart that I
have reserved for this purpose, and know will work right away.
If it sounds like I'm a big fan of aving everything available right away, I am. The best way to learn programming is to do programming. And you can't do it if you have to hunt up the pieces.
BASIC Stamp
There is a huge and bewildering assortment of BASIC Stamp microcontrollers to choose from.
We have a page on
choosing a BASIC Stamp.
But for people seeking to automate their haunt,
we suggest that you cut to the chase and get a PROP-1.
Essentially, you need to have a computer running Windows (either Windows XP, or some other
relatively recent version).
For details, go to the
Parallax
web site and read the documentation for their "BASIC Stamp Editor"
programming software (IDE).
We have an entire page devoted to the
BASIC Stamp Development Connection.
Read the manual!
WARNING: If you use the wrong power supply, you can destroy your BASIC Stamp!
If you know what kinds of things you will be controlling with the Prop-1,
you can choose a wall wart that will serve that future use.
If you want to operate 12 VDC relays, get a 12 VDC wall wart.
If you know that you will be operating 24 VDC solenoid valves, get a 24 VDC wall wart.
Note: A lot of industrial solenoid valves are 24 VDC.
12 VDC solenoid valves are available, but are more scarce in surplus.
Parallax sells some wall warts specifically for use with the Prop-1 controller:
Here are some vendors of surplus equipment who often have "wall wart" power supplies in stock:
It is rated 12 VDC, 1.5A.
You can get the BASIC Stamp Editor free at the
Parallax
web site's
BASIC Stamp download area.
It is also available on the "Parallax CD" if you have that.
Some stamps can be
powered
from batteries or the wall outlet via a wall wart power supply.
If you are using batteries to run your Stamp, you might want to get a wall wart.
Then you can leave the Stamp running for as long as it takes to get the program running the way
that you like it - with no fear of running out of power.
There are plenty of times when your Stamp program just isn't doing what you want,
and you wonder, "Is it even listening to me?"
At times like this, it's nice to be able to hang a LED on an otput pin
and have your program flash it occasionally to tell you it is still alive.
Now, let's try a very simple program.
Copy the following program from this web page, and paste it into the BASIC Stamp Editor's
program window (on the right).
But before we can run this program, we need a way to see if it is working or not.
The Prop-1 already has 220-ohm resistors in series with
P0 through P7,
but Jon Williams of Parallax suggests that external resistors be added for an additional
margin of safety.
He suggests 470-ohm (yellow-violet-brown) resistors be used.
If you haven't already done so, paste the test program from above into the BASIC Stamp Editor's
program window (on the right).
Press the blue triangle icon in the menu bar.
If all goes well, the program should download and the LED should begin flashing.
Personal Computer
In order to make use of a BASIC Stamp, you must first connect it to a personal
computer.
The PC is used to write the program that will later be loaded into the Stamp.
PC-Stamp Connection
Depending on which type of BASIC Stamp that you are using,
and the types of connections that your personal computer has,
there are numerous possibilities.
Stamp Power Supply
Different versions of the Stamp have different power requirements.
Some run on batteries, some use external power supplies,
some will run on either.
PROP-1 Power Supply
If you are using a Prop-1 controller,
be aware that it is not initially set up to run on batteries.
You need a
wall wart
power supply.
Look for one with the following characteristics:
12 Volt, 1 Amp Power Supply
Stock#: 750-00007
Weight: 1.2 lb
Price: $8.50 [May 2006]
24 VDC, 600ma Power Supply
Stock#: 750-00004
Weight: 0.8 lb.
Price: $19.00 [May 2006]
This is the wall wart I use with my PROP-1.
Programming Software (IDE)
You will have to run the BASIC Stamp Editor software on your personal computer.
This is the software that lets you create programs for the BASIC Stamp, and then
load the programs into the Stamp.
What You Might Want
In addition to
What You MUST Have,
you might want to dedicate the following:
Hookup And Testing
PROP-1 Testing
' {$STAMP BS1}
' {$PBASIC 1.0}
Main:
LOW 0
PAUSE 1000 ' wait 1 second
HIGH 0
PAUSE 1000 ' wait 1 second
GOTO Main ' repeat forever
END
Usually,
powering a LED
requires a resistor in series to limit the current.
This protects both the LED and the controller.