16x2 LCD and picaxe???

taesoon737

New Member
I'm doing my electronic project and I was thinking of using the LCD display. My project is to make an electronic money box and as I am new to picaxe programming, I have no idea how I am meant to program the LCD display with picaxe.
 

smssms

New Member
Start with Picaxe Manual 3 (1 and 2 useful too).

They are free to download form the RevEd website and are in the Help menu of Programming Editor etc.
 

rs2845

Senior Member
Hi,

A word of advice. Be very careful choosing an LCD and try find one that other users recommend. I made the mistake of wanting to use a display that nobody has used before, it's very stressful and I'm still unable to get it working.

I recommend this kit sold by TechSupplies, it'll be very simple for you to integrate with your project (a full kit with screen, just needs soldering)- providing you have a spare output from your current picaxe:

http://www.techsupplies.co.uk/epages/Store.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/Store.TechSupplies/Products/AXE133
 

Jamster

Senior Member
Have a look at Manual 3 pg31 onwards.
The easiest way to interface to one is via serial which can be done with the inexpensive AXE133, that way all you have to do is serout <pin>,<baud>,("hello") and it will display "Hello".

Jamster :)
 

nick12ab

Senior Member
If you want as much money as possible in that money box, then look for LCDs on ebay where they're practically giving them away - virtually all 16x2 LCDs (including the one linked) use the HD44780 parallel chip (including the one provided with the AXE133) and these are easy to control with the parallel interface and an 18, 20, 28 or 40-pin PICAXE using one whole port plus two control pins. Or use an 18M2 with the AXE133 code for a cheap serial controller and then that makes it really easy.
 

SAborn

Senior Member
I agree with Nick with using a basic display with HD44780 parallel chip (99% of them) just make sure the display has data for what the pins are and in what sequence.
They can be a little harder to get sorted the first time, but once you get one working you will see how simple they are, and will then be able to use any cheap LCD in the future for whatever project you build.
 

hippy

Technical Support
Staff member
For someone without prior LCD experience I would recommend the AXE133 or AXE133Y. They are 'ready to go', easy to use, proven to work, and comes with full Rev-Ed support. In addition, they make a good foundation if then wishing to explore the use of parallel LCD's.

While parallel LCD's aren't that hard to use, once it's all understood, it still adds a critical sub-project to the project in hand, more learning, more work, more debugging, more frustrations and the project you want to complete is left at the mercy of the sub-project you did not have to embark upon. It's like building a kit car in order to learn to drive when there are better routes to that.

These days I'd recommend one of the AXE133 range even if the goal is learning how to drive parallel LCD's. Known to work hardware can be invaluable and that's easier to help with than something unknown. Plus support and help from within Rev-Ed is likely to be more forthcoming.
 
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