What is a STAMP ?

[Beowulf]

Can somebody explain to a real newbie what is a STAMP or BASIC Stamp
computer? I was looking at a book on this at the bookstore today and it
intrigues me. I want to build something to detect temperature or EMF from
a gaussmeter and read it into my computer serial port for analog to
digital data acquisition. The BASIC Stamp computer projects in the book
look like this might be something to get into. But I can not find a
definition of STAMP or BASIC Stamp anywhere; the book did not even have
the term Stamp in its own glossary!

 

[hpbcpl]

"Beowulf" <beowulf@nowhere.net> wrote in message
newsan.2004.02.04.18.04.36.89207@nowhere.net...

Can somebody explain to a real newbie what is a STAMP or BASIC Stamp
computer?
Snip

Heres a great place to start .... Also try a google search .....

Scorp

 

[hpbcpl]

"Beowulf" <beowulf@nowhere.net> wrote in message
newsan.2004.02.04.18.04.36.89207@nowhere.net...

Ummmm .... maybe the link would help :

http://www.stampbuilder.com/


Scorp

 

[Tim Dicus]

"Beowulf" <beowulf@nowhere.net> wrote in message newsan.2004.02.04.18.04.36.89207@nowhere.net...

Can somebody explain to a real newbie what is a STAMP or BASIC Stamp
computer? I was looking at a book on this at the bookstore today and it
intrigues me. I want to build something to detect temperature or EMF from
a gaussmeter and read it into my computer serial port for analog to
digital data acquisition. The BASIC Stamp computer projects in the book
look like this might be something to get into. But I can not find a
definition of STAMP or BASIC Stamp anywhere; the book did not even have
the term Stamp in its own glossary!

The best place to start is at the Parallax site:
www.parallax.com

You can purchase them through Digi-Key www.digikey.com

I have experience with the Basic Stamp2 OEM. Very easy to get started. Programs through your computer's RS232 serial port.
Pre-assembled they are $59 on the Parallax site. Kit is $45.
http://www.parallax.com/html_pages/products/basicstamps/basic_stamps_oem.asp

Hope that helps,

Tim

 

[Beowulf]

On Wed, 04 Feb 2004 13:59:56 -0500, hpbcpl wrote:
...

Heres a great place to start .... Also try a google search .....

google search was not helpful, until i did search in google groups --
traditional google search "what is a basic stamp?" kept coming up with
hits that did not define a stamp-- frustrating. Try it yourself.

 

[Beowulf]

On Wed, 04 Feb 2004 13:04:47 -0600, Tim Dicus wrote:
..

The best place to start is at the Parallax site:
www.parallax.com..

Thank you. I am finally catching a glean of what a stamp is.
Can stamps somehow acquire analog data, such as a variable
voltage put out by a gaussmeter, or do they just handle
digital input signals?

I am feeling a bit perplexed-- the stamp is looking really
interesting for logging temperature data to a PC via a
serial port-- looks doable and there are books on stamps
and the parallax site has excellent tools and docs. But the
maker of the GP-3 http://www.al-williams.com/gp3.htm says
(via email) that the stamp can not handle analog data,
which I think I would want for acquiring data to my PC
from a gaussmeter I built
http://my.execpc.com/~rhoadley/magmeter.htm
Thoughts? Advice?

 

[Don A. Gilmore]

Hi:

A Basic Stamp is basically a tiny circuit that makes microcontrolling easy
and accessible for your average boob like me. It has a PIC microcontroller,
a 5 Vdc regulator and EPROM memory for a program. It's small, like a DIP,
and can plug into a breadboard.

The onboard PIC processor has been permanently programmed to read and
interpret instructions in a form of BASIC. The program is stored in the
flash EPROM. It is programmed with simple software you load onto your
computer and the program is downloaded and burned into the chip via a simple
9-pin serial cable...no burner is necessary. It can be programmed and
reprogrammed over and over.

If you used an ordinary PIC chip alone, you would have to have a chip-burner
and write the program in assembly code and you would have to provide it with
a regulated power supply. If you just want to fiddle around and experiment
with devices, it's a pretty slick setup. You can just supply it with a 9 V
battery and download programs as you desire. It can handle discreet I/O,
parallel data and serial data, synchronous or asynchronous (which is really
easy with the special BASIC commands). It has the ability to do PWM output
and read a potentiometer input. It also has some specialty functions like
sine wave output, touchtone telephone output, or even X-10 control. I have
used it for some fairly elaborate stuff. To do what you want accurately
would probably require an A/D peripheral chip, but not a really big deal.

I have three stamps and use them all the time to experiment. If you're
thinking of a permanent or production design, though, you probably would
want to go with something like an actual PIC.

--
Don A. Gilmore
Mechanical Engineer
Kansas City


"Beowulf" <beowulf@nowhere.net> wrote in message
newsan.2004.02.04.18.04.36.89207@nowhere.net...

Can somebody explain to a real newbie what is a STAMP or BASIC Stamp
computer? I was looking at a book on this at the bookstore today and it
intrigues me. I want to build something to detect temperature or EMF from
a gaussmeter and read it into my computer serial port for analog to
digital data acquisition. The BASIC Stamp computer projects in the book
look like this might be something to get into. But I can not find a
definition of STAMP or BASIC Stamp anywhere; the book did not even have
the term Stamp in its own glossary!

 

[Tim Dicus]

"Beowulf" <beowulf@nowhere.net> wrote in message newsan.2004.02.04.21.49.49.336936@nowhere.net...

On Wed, 04 Feb 2004 13:04:47 -0600, Tim Dicus wrote:
.
The best place to start is at the Parallax site:
www.parallax.com..

Thank you. I am finally catching a glean of what a stamp is.
Can stamps somehow acquire analog data, such as a variable
voltage put out by a gaussmeter, or do they just handle
digital input signals?

I am feeling a bit perplexed-- the stamp is looking really
interesting for logging temperature data to a PC via a
serial port-- looks doable and there are books on stamps
and the parallax site has excellent tools and docs. But the
maker of the GP-3 http://www.al-williams.com/gp3.htm says
(via email) that the stamp can not handle analog data,
which I think I would want for acquiring data to my PC
from a gaussmeter I built
http://my.execpc.com/~rhoadley/magmeter.htm
Thoughts? Advice?

You could use an external AD converter with the Stamp. The ADC08xx series are good 8-bit converters. National Semiconductor has some
good info on them at:
http://www.national.com/catalog/AnalogDataAcquisition.html

Tim