EXT connectors

[isc.grant]

I got audio/video retractable cable at Amazon a few weeks ago for my old iPod video. It seems to work fine so thats what gave me the idea for the adapter. I figured I have the cable might as well use it for the Pandora. I really like the retractable cables and multi use adapters. I put together a set for when I travel to keep the clutter down.

 

[Prometheus]

it wasn't common on affordable TVs here in the UK until the early 2000s, as RF was the dominant standard for hooking up consoles and the like until then

Even if your TV doesn't have a S-Video socket it's always chance it could handle S-Video signal through SCART adapter.

I was referring to composite, there, not S-Video. Whilst it's true that it's possible to hook S-Video up via a SCART adapter on some TVs, S-Video is actually pretty much unheard-of here - it's not needed, since we already have RGB SCART. :lol: (I still have yet to ever see an S-Video port on anything but a SCART adapter!)


Still, I do have my adapter standing by.

 

[Granitehead]

I was wondering, if I want more than three connectors, should I still pay 10$ every 3 connectors?


Or should I rather subtract the price for shipping which is included in the 10$ (I think he said so somewhere) and then pay this price? So it would be 24$ for 10 (you /can/ classify 10 as letter mail and don't pay a lot for shipping, can't you?) connectors?


I already have another idea what I could use one for.


Is there somewhere a guide on how to use these I/O lines (with c or python, preferably)?

 

[TrashyMG]

Personally I'm more excited about getting access to the serial ports than the TV and audio outs. Pandora driven robot army here I come...

Me too. Getting the Pandora and the Arduino to talk. Ooow! Goosebumps.

Same here! But If I understood correctly, the UART's on the ext-connector operate on 1.8 volts. Arduino and other microcontrollers are typically 3.3 or 5 volts.


Questions: How do we handle that? Like the TXB0104 level converter seems to be doing in the AV_Board_schematic.pdf (found here) but on the TX and RX lines? Is that enough to not damage our beloved hardware? Do we need a maxim-RS232-thingy like the max3381 used in Michael's design if we hook it up directly to a microcontroller, or can we just skip that?


BTW, I think the easiest way to 'serially' talk to microcontrollers from any device with a USB-port is this FTDI-cable. Works right out of the box on the Pandora.

I would assume something like this http://www.linear.com/product/LTC2804 would also work as well.. but I'd rather use the MAX3381E because I know it works.

 

[WizardStan]

So it would be 24$ for 10 (you /can/ classify 10 as letter mail and don't pay a lot for shipping, can't you?) connectors?

That's the plan, a padded envelope with a stamp


I've been saying $20 for 10, if you want to increase your order. Accounting for shipping, that reduces the actual cost per unit a little, a kind of incentive to buy more. Especially since I've got about 700 extra now

 

[Morn]

S-Video is actually pretty much unheard-of here - it's not needed, since we already have RGB SCART. :lol:

Unless you're going to connect some device (say Pandora) taht can't produce RGB signal.

(I still have yet to ever see an S-Video port on anything but a SCART adapter!)

Well there's one on my tv (quite old CTR model). S-Video is also quite popular on video projectors.

 

[may88]

Personally I'm more excited about getting access to the serial ports than the TV and audio outs. Pandora driven robot army here I come...

Me too. Getting the Pandora and the Arduino to talk. Ooow! Goosebumps.

Same here! But If I understood correctly, the UART's on the ext-connector operate on 1.8 volts. Arduino and other microcontrollers are typically 3.3 or 5 volts.


Questions: How do we handle that? Like the TXB0104 level converter seems to be doing in the AV_Board_schematic.pdf (found here) but on the TX and RX lines? Is that enough to not damage our beloved hardware? Do we need a maxim-RS232-thingy like the max3381 used in Michael's design if we hook it up directly to a microcontroller, or can we just skip that?


BTW, I think the easiest way to 'serially' talk to microcontrollers from any device with a USB-port is this FTDI-cable. Works right out of the box on the Pandora.

I would assume something like this http://www.linear.com/product/LTC2804 would also work as well.. but I'd rather use the MAX3381E because I know it works.

Thanks for this. Problems to solve once I start to play with hardware again. I somehow think the software honeymoon with be quite a long one.


As Panik points out it's USB to the Arduino but one of these babies would be handy to REPLACE the arduino. Now that's more interesting.


Oh and thanks panik for pointing out the voltage difference, I hadn't spotted that.

 

[chris_r]

Personally I'm more excited about getting access to the serial ports than the TV and audio outs. Pandora driven robot army here I come...

Me too. Getting the Pandora and the Arduino to talk. Ooow! Goosebumps.

I've never used an arduino but I think they have serial over USB using the FT232R, so getting them to talk should be as easy as plugging it into usb and using /dev/USBttyblah(something I've completely forgotten) as your serial port.

 

[may88]

Personally I'm more excited about getting access to the serial ports than the TV and audio outs. Pandora driven robot army here I come...

Me too. Getting the Pandora and the Arduino to talk. Ooow! Goosebumps.

I've never used an arduino but I think they have serial over USB using the FT232R, so getting them to talk should be as easy as plugging it into usb and using /dev/USBttyblah(something I've completely forgotten) as your serial port.

Yeah, that would be the *easy* way to do it. I'll get bored of that.

 

[TrashyMG]

^This


My soldering iron needs attention. What's the fun in an easy solution.

 

[coreyjohnson711]

how hard would it be to make a video out cable using this? Would love to throw in some money and have a little project for myself.

 

[darfgarf]

how hard would it be to make a video out cable using this? Would love to throw in some money and have a little project for myself.

semi-decent amount of soldering experience, not elite surface mount space certified level, but good enough for small things


nice low power iron would help a lot too, probabyl end up melting the conncetor with a basic firestarter iron

 

[Jey123456]

well, to be an business in canada is quite easy really. yes there is a record of such things. it cost you about 100$ at the townhall, to be registered as a small business.

 

[WizardStan]

I had considered that, but it takes time to fill out the paperwork and start a business, not to mention I would then have additional taxes to file.

 

[WizardStan]

Nothing yet. If I don't hear by Friday I'll message back. They assured me shipping was moving forward, so maybe I'm just expected to assume that they'll arrive eventually.


On another note, when you send me a contribution, can you also send me a PM to let me know it is done? Sometimes I can match things up, but I've currently got a message with $10 but no idea which user it belongs to.


It's got an address (the important part), so I can still send it out even if I don't have a matching username, but it helps keep my books in order so I can start messaging people as they go out, as well.

 

[Stereoscopic_Panda]

Hi everybody,


I couldn't find this elsewhere. I'm curious is there a specific reason why native vga output could not be achieved from the output port?


Thank you

 

[isc.grant]

The reason is the connector only has pins to composite/svideo. It also has a few pins for TTL serial connection and stereo audio in and stereo line out. This link has a better description of the pinout.

 

[WizardStan]

Specifically why the Pandora couldn't have VGA/HDMI output? Because adding the stuff to split the LCD output, and then convert half the split into an RGB signal (while the other half was boosted and still sent to the LCD, of course) would have made the board even more complex and expensive than it already is, and would only have resulted in a clone of the LCD screen anyway at the exact same resolution, 800x480. The TV out may be a slightly lower resolution (720x480 in NTSC, not sure what it is in PAL), but it can operate in both clone mode and as a separate screen.


Personally I think they made the right choice. If you can't take advantage of a higher resolution, no point in using a more advanced tech that would cost much more.

 

[Stereoscopic_Panda]

The reason is the connector only has pins to composite/svideo. It also has a few pins for TTL serial connection and stereo audio in and stereo line out. This link has a better description of the pinout.

Can the six GPIO and four PWM be used to enable VGA?

 

[slaeshjag]

The reason is the connector only has pins to composite/svideo. It also has a few pins for TTL serial connection and stereo audio in and stereo line out. This link has a better description of the pinout.

Can the six GPIO and four PWM be used to enable VGA?

No.