On-site reprogramming

[DougLowe]

This is kind of related to my last post -- on a couple of my props, the controller boards are burried inside the prop and access is difficult once the prop is assembled and in place within the scene. For example, I mounted the controller board inside my jack-in-the-box, whose lid is pneumatically opened.

Would there be an easy way to simply extend the 3-pin header that the little programmer board connects to, such that the prop-x could be accessed for reprogramming from outside of the prop? Maybe this would be as simple as a 36-inch 3-pin extension cable -- it would have to be male on one end, female on the other.

Or, the BS1 serial adapter is cheap enough -- maybe I should just leave one on the Prop-1 controller in the prop, and mount a DB-9 connector on the prop iself, so I can just connect a serial cable to the prop to reprogram it!

--I do all my programming on an old Windows 2000 laptop precisely because it has a serial port and I don't have to mess USB  ;)

Thanks for any input on how to best design props so they are easily reprogrammable.

[JonnyMac]

Programming is done through TTL serial at 4800 baud so either solution should work, just be careful about having the extended programming port cross power cables or other sources of induced noise.

[Caretaker.CCI]

You might want to try your hand at making your own connectors. EFXTEK sells long version of the cable but there are times when you will need to make your own. This link:

http://www.efx-tek.com/php/smf/index.php?topic=184.0

talks about making your own cable and there is also a link in that thread to a Nuts and Volts column that talks about making connectors.

Greg