Replacing picaxe programmer cable?

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1

 

 

I hope you may give me advice on the following subject:

 

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REPLACING PICAXE PROGRAMMER CABLE ?

 

 

I tried to replace the PICAXE 027 USB/serial cable 

with the TTL-232R-PCB module by "ftdichip"

for 

a project that needs a permanent "not-too-long-wire"connection 

to my circuit.

 

It did not work - 

the pcb was recognised by PICAXE's macaxepad

but 

it displayed "strange" letters & it would not program

(message: "xxxxxxx is not connected/could not be found" 

or similar when hitting the "program" button)

 

Different  settings (baude rates etc.) did not have 

any impact on the result.

 

 

May you please give me any advice on ...

- what how i should proceed/what i did wrong ?

- what other/similar TTL/232 Module i should use to replace the programming cable ?

 

 

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MY TRIES

(please see image below)

 

version 1

 

TTL-232R-PCB to picaxe chip (08m2) 

 

RXD ----- serial out (pin # 7)

TXD ----- serial in (pin # 2)

 

on TTL-232R-PCB:

CTS# ---- RTS

... because the PICAXE PROGRAMMER Cable

has the same connection (pls see circuit as listed below)

 

 

version 2

 

TTL-232R-PCB to picaxe chip (08m2) 

 

RXD ----- serial out (pin # 7)

TXD ----- serial in (pin # 2)

 

 

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RESULTS

 

though TTL-232R-PCB was recognised

(a check within mac's terminal window confirmed

that it was accepted as usb device) 

i did receive strange messages

within macaxepad's terminal window

with a "blank" 08M2 chip 

(the default message is smthng like "hello this is your xxx chip")

 

i tried different baude rates, the result was the same

 

 

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CIRCUITS

 

circuit PICAXE PROGRAMMER CABLE

http://www.picaxe.com/docs/AXE027.pdf

page 16

 

 

circuit TTL-232R-PCB

http://www.ftdichip.com/Support/Documents/DataSheets/Cables/DS_TTL-232R_PCB.pdf

page 12

 

 

 

2

Wow

All your image links turn into spam by the way. Please just add the pictures directly to your posts.

Picaxe chips use an inverted signal. A 2n2222 transistor and a 10k pull-up should get you going.

3

ooohps -

Hi Chris,

- will add the images straight after writing this, thanks for the hint!

… & thanks a lot for the helpful advice, too !!!

I forgot to mention that i am quite a Newbe to Picaxe & electronic circuits -
May i ask how/where i need to embed the transistor & resistor?

any help would be greatly appreciated!
best regards
marc

4

…

 

sorry - misposted my reply …

 

5

What to replace…

You have asked what to replace the cable with… If you are prepared to purchase additional items to get this going, is there any reason you don’t simply buy the proper cable?

6

… the idea behind it

i originally intended to replace it because i want my circuit to be plugged straight into the laptop/computer

& i would love to use as few parts as possible; that way i would not need the PICAXE audio plug

or the audio-plug connector to be able to permanently watch the inputs from my circuit …

besides:

since i plan to probably have more than just 1 of my circuits it is definitely cheaper

to choose this “direct-plug” solution & it might enable me to use a usb hub 

in case i want them all running at the same time …

(without havingh tried yet - expecting that this needs some tries since macaxepad

accepts only 1 usb access at a time … which still would be ok since all i need to do is

to change the usb address via the software panel avoiding a continious plug-in-and-out)

 

7

I’m not a PICAXE user, but

I’m not a PICAXE user, but any FTDI cable should work with a minor configuration change using the FTDI FT_Prog utilty. No need to add transistors or resisitros. Just invert the signal with the utility and connect RX, TX and GND as shown in your picture (without the resistors).

Google is your friend:

Picaxeforum

gadgetgangster

 

8

thanks a lot …

Thanks a lot, Robotfreak and Chris …

 for all of your helpful advice!

 

Being a Mac-user chris’ hardware solution

might be the easiest way

whereas Robotfreak’s advice is “component-free”

…

will try both, thanks again

&

In addition/according to your replies -

please let me add a link to picaxe forum’s thread:

 

http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showthread.php?19440-Replacing-picaxe-programmer-cable&p=182337#post182337

 

…

Please accept my apologies for “double-posting” the thread -

i did not expect so many replies & spent hours on "experimentating"

without even getting a little closer to a solution …

& am a total “freshman” …  …

…

 

Andrew (Rick100) posted a link to his thread 

on how to proceed using FT_Prog

http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showthread.php?13589-FTDI-USB-to-PicAxe-08M-(IT-WORKS)

+

there are several valuable advices on how to 

use transistors for a hardware based solution.

 

 

 

thanks so much, again!

 

Best Regards

Marc