LCD Bar Graph Demo [BS2]

[Jason D.]

it would be better for me to send the parts to someone who has time

[Chris Savage]

it would be better for me to send the parts to someone who has time

It's all good. Maybe someday some of our wayward members will return to the fold. So many people just seemed to have disappeared over the years. I may have mentioned this elsewhere on here, but I went back through DMs on the Parallax forums and clicked on the profiles of former members of Savage///Circuits and most have not been on the Parallax forums since ~2017, which ironically was when I was laid off. Not that there's a correlation, I mean that's when Parallax started shifting their focus away from hobby / DIY stuff.

Some people seemed to have dropped off sooner, and some later. But 2017 seems to be the median year that many who were also members of my site just disappeared. Even the original members of Savage///Circuits haven't really been back. Everyone has kind of moved on or is busy.

I suppose, worst case scenario, someone tries the tutorial and asks questions. Then I will know it needs updates. 

[granz]

This tutorial shows how to draw different types of bar graphs on a Parallax 2×16 Serial LCD.

...

If someone has a BS2 and a Parallax 2x16 Serial LCD Display, I would love to get some feedback on this as I had to reconstruct it from a forum post without images or full text.

Chris,

I took a look at your tutorial. It seems that there is no schematic, or any description of how to hook up the circuit. I know that it should be pretty easy to look at the .BS2 files and the I/O Definitions section, but it would help to see the circuit  - especially for beginners.

it would be better for me to send the parts to someone who has time

Jason,

I have a BS2e (in a Board of Education system,) and  I just tested it and it works. It was kind of fun - the last time I played with a stamp was in ~2005, when I built a "Counterfeit Stamp" from Scott Edward's article in (IIRC) Computer Shopper magazine.  He sold kits for the thing, but I sent off a money order to Parallax and built my own on a Radio Shack protoboard. That was my first experience with microcontrollers (although I did have decades of experience working on computers.)

However, I do not have one of the Parallax serial LCD modules. And, at $45 plus S/H, I'm not likely to get one - the IIC (with which most of my microcontrollers work) costs $9, at Parallax, cheaper elsewhere, which is more do-able. If you send me yours, I am willing to set it up with my BOE and help Chris check/update his tutorial.

[Chris Savage]

I took a look at your tutorial. It seems that there is no schematic, or any description of how to hook up the circuit. I know that it should be pretty easy to look at the .BS2 files and the I/O Definitions section, but it would help to see the circuit  - especially for beginners.

You're right. I took it for granted that it was a single I/O pin and that it was self-explanatory.



Perhaps I will cut out the display section from this schematic and mock it up to match the tutorial. If I had an extra display I would send it to you. There are some things I have extras of, but mostly I have very little Parallax hardware these days. Most of my collection is Arduino and / or discrete stuff, including 6502 / Z80. I have a seemingly unending supply of vintage EPROMs. 

It might seem pointless to some people restoring this old article, but I remember a long time ago when I would find some old sensor or accessory that I never got the chance to use, but the documentation is no longer online. Parallax once had an initiative when I worked there to make the documentation for discontinued products available. That didn't last very long.

Sadly, that's always been one of the down sides for them, discontinuing hardware, then disappearing the documentation / source / etc. As many of these displays that sold back in the day, some people might want to do something with them, and so I am trying to keep some resources available. Especially if it's something I created.

[Jason D.]

Granz,

Done, send me the info to get it to you. If you need the info Chris can give you my email address and/or necessary. You want anything you might need I might have it...