Pixaxe Development board??

Axel87

Senior Member
Hello,

Just starting on the road to understanding programming and Picaxe.
One thing I have noticed is, its hard to find supplies from these guys.
It seems that regular PIC accesories and boards are more readily available here in the U.S.
I have a 14M2 kit that Ive ordered and a few breadboards lying around, but im looking for options for a "prototype station."?
I have found these online-
http://www.picaxe.com/Hardware/Teaching-Systems/PICAXE-Experimenter-Board/
Would this be a good investment for someone looking for a place to work on designs?

Also found these online- while the some of the board isnt in English, it has alot more options already in the board. i.e a lcd,keypad, switches, ect.
Would these boards be compatible with my 14M2 chip? Or any Picaxe micros?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/QL200-PIC-Microchip-LCD-USB-MCU-ICD-Development-Board-/250873650112?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a693c1bc0
I would be comfortable doing mods if necessary on the board to make it compatible.

Forgive me if there is already another thread on this.
Thanks for any help --Noob ;)
 

bfgstew

Senior Member
Hi Axel87, welcome to the forum.

Have a look at this, I use one and is well worth the money, loads you can do with it and fully compatable with the entire Picaxe range.
 

PaulRB

Senior Member
Hi Alex87,

That link you just posted doesn't work.

I seriously doubt that first ebay item you posted would be picaxe compatible.

You have breadboards. All you need now is axe027 programming cable, axe029 breadboard adaptor, a picaxe and a few other simple components to get going.

Paul
 

Goeytex

Senior Member
The PIC boards will not be compatible with Picaxe without complicated rework / modifications. A waste of money & time with a Picaxe. Remember that a Picaxe is not the same as a PIC. Picaxes are PIC based microcontrollers loaded with special firmware that allow them to run PICAXE BASIC.

As PaulRB said, all you really need to get started is the AXE027, AXE029 and some other components ( resistors.capacitors, etc). Even the AXE029 Adapter is not really needed as you can make your own from a small PCB, a stereo Jack, and some header pins. If you want a full fledged development system, then get one of the items from Rev-Ed/ Tech Supplies. Shipping to the U.S. is not that expensive and is pretty fast.
 

BeanieBots

Moderator
The AXE091U board will cover all PICAXE variants and has many built-in features.
If you have any questions or problems with it, this forum will respond (often within minutes) to help you out.

The QL200 might have a few features that might work with some of the PICAXE range.
It's a lot of money for something that might be of use but nobody here is likely to be able to help you with.
 

hippy

Technical Support
Staff member
I have found these online-
http://www.picaxe.com/Hardware/Teaching-Systems/PICAXE-Experimenter-Board/
Would this be a good investment for someone looking for a place to work on designs?
The AXE091 is what our staff use while developing PICAXE chips and software.

It might be possible to modify the QL200 board for PICAXE use but it would probably be better to build a module to connect a PICAXE in place of the PIC. It would be even easier to leave out the controller completely and connect wires from an AXE091 to drive the I/O lines required for the peripheral being controlled.

I personally would not consider the QL200 to be value for money; would choose an AXE091 and then add what else I wanted to control if not already catered for on the AXE091. There is not a lot the QL200 provides which does not already exist on the AXE091 or could not be easily used via the AXE091 prototyping area.
 

matherp

Senior Member
You can't go wrong with an AXE091. However, if you do look elsewhere I wouldn't personally buy anything without a breadboarding area. Whatever a given development board already includes there will always be other things you want to work with and an integrated breadboard makes this much easier. As Goetex says an AXE027 + AXE029 is all you need to program a picaxe and if you add in something like http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2390-Point-Solderless-Breadboard-Protobloc-4-bindings-/171004760344?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item27d0ad9118 you are up and running.
 

Axel87

Senior Member
The QL200 already has the LCD screen, more switches and buttons, on-board memory. All I see on the PicAxe AXE091 are a couple of leds and buttons.
Couldent one just remove the Pic on the board and place a ZIF in its place?
Or how would one go about making the other options the QL200 has for the addition to the AXE091?
Thanks again for everyones help and understanding
 

nick12ab

Senior Member
The QL200 already has the LCD screen, more switches and buttons, on-board memory. All I see on the PicAxe AXE091 are a couple of leds and buttons.
Couldent one just remove the Pic on the board and place a ZIF in its place?
Or how would one go about making the other options the QL200 has for the addition to the AXE091?
Thanks again for everyones help and understanding
It should be possible to use this with PICAXE with minimal modification, but you won't gain much.

I'll go over the hardware features of the QL200:
  • The character/graphic display interfaces do not include a driver chip so you have to use the parallel interface. That's good for the character display but PICAXE is barely fast enough to drive a 'dumb' graphic display that requires generation of all the text characters so a serial driver chip is really needed for that.
  • LEDs that are connected to pins with DIP switches: I must admit, I like those.
  • 4x4 matrix keyboard: That is also nice. They also provide a jumper to select whether the resistors are pull-ups or pull-downs.
  • Keys: They are also nice.
  • A/D Converter module: This is actually two potentiometers. The AXE091 only has one potentiometer, but the AXE091 also has an LDR and its potentiometer is easier to use whereas the ones on the QL200 are trimpots.
  • 24CXX EEPROM socket: The AXE091 also has this.
  • 93LCXX EEPROM socket: The AXE091 uses 25LCXX EEPROMs instead.
  • DS1302 socket: Cannot comment.
  • 6 digital LED module: You have to multiplex these yourself and you could build these on the AXE091 anyway.
  • Remote control receiver module: The AXE091 also has a transmitting LED in addition to a receiver LED.
  • DS18B20 module: AXE091 has this too.
  • Beeper module: This is something the AXE091 doesn't have, but it can be added using the breadboard.
  • RS232 communication module: The AXE091 also has this.
  • 10-bit D/A module: The AXE091 doesn't have this.
  • Stepper motor module: The AXE091 doesn't have this but the one on the QL200 looks feeble.
  • SD/MMC card reader: There is no driver chip and PICAXE is not powerful enough to drive that card directly.
 

lbenson

Senior Member
I like the J R Hackett boards at jrhackett.net. Mr. Hackett writes articles on the picaxe for Nuts and Volts. My preferred boards from him are the SIP-14 and the sadly discontinued SIP-08 (which could plug into a breadboard as small as 8 rows wide).

These have an inconvenient 10-pin plug for programming (and interconnection), but I simplify it by soldering in a 3-pin header, sticking up, which gets the serial in and serial out connections, and with a link to the pin adjacent to the third pin, the ground connection. Then a programming cable with a 3-pin female header works perfectly.

Other parts are also sold on the site.
 

Axel87

Senior Member
nick12ab- Thank you for your review of the board I am looking at.
I believe there is enough room on that board were I could take out the PIC, and put in a small breadboard or ZIF to insert the PICAXE. correct?
As far as the later post, those are just plain programing boards. Not what I am looking for.
Programming the Picaxe is only one part of the project, I need a board that can simulate different inputs with various output options as well. That is why I am looking QL200.
While the Picaxe may not drive all of the units, various components are there if I decide to expand to a more capaple micro. correct?
While it may be a bigger investment up front, i feel it would save time by not having to set-up differnt circuits everytime I have a new project.

"The character/graphic display interfaces do not include a driver chip so you have to use the parallel interface. That's good for the character display but PICAXE is barely fast enough to drive a 'dumb' graphic display that requires generation of all the text characters so a serial driver chip is really needed for that"- Would the Picaxe be capable of producing basic lettering or numbers on the screen?
I have lots of experience w soldering and repairs on electronics, just need some help setting up a "demo bench" of sorts.
Thanks for all the input guys, keep it coming !
 

nick12ab

Senior Member
nick12ab- Thank you for your review of the board I am looking at.
I believe there is enough room on that board were I could take out the PIC, and put in a small breadboard or ZIF to insert the PICAXE. correct?
Should be possible.

"The character/graphic display interfaces do not include a driver chip so you have to use the parallel interface. That's good for the character display but PICAXE is barely fast enough to drive a 'dumb' graphic display that requires generation of all the text characters so a serial driver chip is really needed for that"- Would the Picaxe be capable of producing basic lettering or numbers on the screen?
For character displays (HD44780-compatible), if used in 8-bit mode, high speeds are possible with PICAXE since the character set is built in to the display so the PICAXE doesn't need to do much processing. In fact, the 8-bit parallel interface is considerably faster than the AXE033/AXE133 serial interface since those only use a baud rate of 2400 and don't do any processing that isn't already done by the LCD.

On 'dumb' graphic LCDs (such as KS0108-compatible ones) all you can do is write graphics in blocks of 1 column by 8 rows using the 8-bit interface. The PICAXE must do ALL processing when using the parallel interface and this includes generation of the text characters. With the help of others, I have created code to interface a PICAXE with a KS0108 GLCD with character generation (and two font sizes) with reasonable execution speed.

There are also graphic LCDs that do have built-in text characters. GLCDs using the T6963 controller will have this built-in.
 

westaust55

Moderator
[*]DS18B20 module: AXE091 has this too.
I believe the QL200 has (from more detailed description ):
Digital thermometer DS1820 for measuring temperature from -55ºC to 125ºC.(use DuPont wire can be connected to the arbitrary I/O port)
whereas the AXE091 has a DS18B20.
but there is some conflict as other site have a summary list does state:
"16. Digital thermometer DS18B20 for temperature measurement from -55°C to 125°C"

There are some differences - DS1820 has a 9-bit / 0.5⁰C resolution whereas the DS18B20 has a 12 bit/ 0.0625⁰C resolution
The READTEMP and READTEMP12 commands would be affected.

That said, it would potentially be possible to change the DS1820 for a DS18B20

Seemingly, the QL200 DS1820/18B20, the Stepper motor module and the 128x84 gLCD module are optional when one reads further.
May all be a case of exactly who you buy from.


In terms of other components on the QL200 board:
The DS1302 is in fact a Trickle Charge and Timekeeping chip.
It does not use an i2c interface as per the DS1307 but a form of SPI interface with a single bi-directional data pin. The DS1307 is the more common chip for PICAXE projects and boards unless there is a need for greater accuracy.
The DS1302 only has 31 bytes of RAM whereas the DS1307 has 56 bytes of spare battery backed user available RAM (though I suspect few folks use the spare RAM).

Pin out of DS1302 is considerably different to that of the DS1307 so a DS1307 could not be a drop in replacement (even the crystal capacitance requirements differ - 6 pF for DS1302 vs 12 pF for DS1307).

IMHO it would be a far better proposition to purchase a Rev Ed designed and supplied AXE091 Experimenters board which is specifically set up for the PICAXE range of microcontrollers and peripherals that are fairly common to the PICAXE for newcomers to get started with and be in a position to receive relatively quick and accurate answers to their questions.
 
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Axel87

Senior Member
I am not too worried about this temperature sensor, as I doubt ill ever need it. (unless it is required for the picaxe chip.)
Mostly I want this board for the LCD integration and keypads and switches, just for testing purposes so that I have a broader idea if what im testing will work before moving everything to a board.
Simple automotive purposes, contacts ect.
I appreciate your help guys, thanks for the input! But I still feel im pretty sold on the QL200 unless, you have any further thoughts?
 

westaust55

Moderator
No, a temp sensor is not a mandatory device for PICAXE operation.
With respect to automotive projects, this introduces an additional range of topics.
If purely for monitoring then there needs to be better voltage regulation and filtering.
Once you get into the realms of engine control or other control within the automotive realm then there are also safety aspects to consider.
I am sure that those more and well versed in to issues of automotive projects can add their words of warning/caution.



If the QL200 is what you believe wll be best for you then the ultimate decision is yours so go for it.

Be aware that you will likely be going down a path that most on this forum have not so when/if the need arises to raise a question. Seeking help that not only will you need to post your code but also a s hematic of the relevant hardware together with stating exa got what DIP switches are open and which are closed to avid conflicts in hardwre.

We will still help on this forum regardless of the connected hardware it will just require greater clarity from your questions.
 
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john2051

New Member
Hi the first ebay board you show looks like a mikroe pic board copy. I do use a picaxe in the one I have, but if you accidently use the onboard
programmer, it will wipe the picaxe compiler. There was also some comment about there being no 10 bit adc on the picaxe board, slightly confusing
as most of the picaxes have 10bit adcs built in. As for picaxes not being fast enough for graphic displays, never tried. I do use the to drive vfd
graphic displays in serial mode and they work fine. You would think that if a 40pin pic running @ 4MHz can drive a graphic lcd, then why cant a 40 pin
picaxe running flat out. The sinclair spectrum computer i used to have fun programming only ran at 3.58MHz originally.
There are so many boards to choose from, some look pretty, some just dont work. Its a mine field.
I have 5 axe091s, and I wouldn't swap the for anything!
Good luck, regards john
 

westaust55

Moderator
There was also some comment about there being no 10 bit adc on the picaxe board, slightly confusing as most of the picaxes have 10bit adcs built in.
No sure without looking back who raised that point but, yes on the QL200 board, the ADC module is optional. The board is intended for a range of PIC chips and some more basic variants may not include ADC inputs whereas PICAXE chips do in the newer (and slightly older variants) all have ADC inputs.

As for picaxes not being fast enough for graphic displays, never tried.
Having used X1 PICAXE chips with a max clock speed of 8 MHz to directly drive bare gLCD’s (ex mobile phones with serial interfaces) in both monochrome and colour it is doable but at 8 MHz the refresh time for an entire screen is quite slow. A 102 x 65 mono gLCD from memory took about 2 seconds – so at 32 or 64 MHz that would be down to around 0.5 or 0.25 seconds respectively. Still not blindingly fast but it depends on the users requirements.
 
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