14 flash cables mail today and a moratorium please? :-)

[Gene Wright]

I am mailing 14 additional cables just to people in the USA today. Wow.

I have 7 cables going out tomorrow to non-USA addresses.

That should cover everyone who has asked for a cable through yesterday.

Please let me have a moratorium until AFTER the HHC conference this week. Plus...I am almost out of cables! :-)

[Thomas Radtke]

Is this in anticipation of a revised 15C LE firmware, or still for wp34?

[Gene Wright]

Some of each. The cables work for multiple purposes, so tough to tell.

Apparently, quite a few people are unable to send email through the forum's normal channels and when I put a fairly clear indicator of my email address in the body of a post, I received a large number of "Hey, I want a cable too!".

[troy]

Quote:

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... my email address in the body of a post, I received a large number of "Hey, I want a cable too!".

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guilty as charged. thanks gene.

[Dan W]

Quote:

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Plus...I am almost out of cables! :-)

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So Gene, what is it about these cables that makes them unique from any Serial/JTAG cable? Is it just the two buttons?

If so is there a procedural workaround where the buttons would not be necessary? Or a simple mod to add switches to another cable.

I'm thinking about when you do run out. But also considering the idea Marcos posted earlier where he soldered in a small stereo audio jack (Tx, Rx, Gnd only). With this set up, a cable like those used to program the PICAXE would work (like the AXE027).

[sylvandb]

Quote:

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So Gene, what is it about these cables that makes them unique from any Serial/JTAG cable? Is it just the two buttons?

If so is there a procedural workaround where the buttons would not be necessary? Or a simple mod to add switches to another cable.

I'm thinking about when you do run out. But also considering the idea Marcos posted earlier where he soldered in a small stereo audio jack (Tx, Rx, Gnd only). With this set up, a cable like those used to program the PICAXE would work (like the AXE027).

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The two buttons (ERASE and RESET) are needed to get into the bootloader on the calc in order to flash the new firmware.

The HP cable is a 3v to RS232 level shifter, plus the two buttons. It uses six pogo pins to connect to the calculator (2x3 pads underneath the battery cover).

In "Interfacing to the HP20b V3.pdf" Richard Nelson shows some good close up pictures of the guts of the cable. I think there is enough detail you could wire up your own two buttons on any common level shifter. Then you just need the pogo pins or reasonable facsimile thereof.

[Katie Wasserman]

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Then you just need the pogo pins or reasonable facsimile thereof.

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But this is the hard part - 6 pogo pins with 2mm spacing in a 2x3 arrangement with the asymmetric locking clips on the sides. This is incredibly difficult to make without the right molding machinery. You might be able to make a 2x3 grid of pogo pins and hold them in place but that's not reliable and you'd need a third hand to run the computer.

Edited: 22 Sept 2011, 1:05 a.m. after one or more responses were posted

[Masaki Adachi]

Received mine this morning. Thanks Gene!
TN to MI in two days. Not bad, USPS!

[sylvandb]

Quote:

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But this is the hard part - 6 pogo pins with 2mm spacing in a 2x3 arrangement with the asymmetric locking clips on the sides.

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Tell me about it. :(

[Gene Wright]

Sorry for the delay, but HHC is calling and I need to have a few days off before accumulating more requests!

Next week!

[Marcus von Cube, Germany]

I've just received a query from someone in Germany and I may want to build some custom USB cable from the guts of the original programming cable, so it seems like a good idea to me if you set aside a bunch of them for me to carry home.

[E.Lub_EU]

Hello Marcus,

I am a newcomer to this community, with working experience as a hardware engineer (won't be a great asset for software development...), and have been thinking on the same line.

I have ordered 2 cables from Gene Wright for that exact purpose, keeping one in its original form, and hacking the second to make it a USB cable, possibly powering the calculator during these long sessions of yours :-)

Interested in sharing ?

Regards,
Etienne