[Coco] Re: Coco Digest, Vol 10, Issue 24

[jdaggett at gate.net]

No

I  have word wrap enabled. 

james

On 8 Aug 2004 at 10:03, Kevin Diggs wrote:

Date sent:      	Sun, 08 Aug 2004 10:03:38 -0700
From:           	Kevin Diggs <kevdig at hypersurf.com>
To:             	CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts 
<coco at maltedmedia.com>
Subject:        	Re: [Coco] Re: Coco Digest, Vol 10, Issue 24
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> Hi,
> 
>  Is my mail reader broken? Does everyone else see this with REALLY
>  long
> lines?
> 
>      kevin
> 
> farna at att.net wrote:
> > 
> > You're right -- I forgot the joysticks are basically potentiometers
> > for voltage, not resistance. Which puts me back to how the heck I
> > intended to read resistance with them. I had a simple circuit and
> > short routine for that, think I got it from a Rainbow program, but
> > probably not the one I was thinking about. I don't recall now, was
> > around 10 years ago that I stopped. Since the MC-10 only has a
> > serial port for useable I/O, and the CoCo board is just to big,
> > there's no point in pursuing this idea. Unless it was mounted in the
> > trunk... but then you have 8-10 feet of cable going to and from I/O,
> > which would just add resistance and cause other problems... yes, I
> > seem to recall considering and rejecting that idea! There would be
> > 3-4 feet of wiring from under the dash to under the hood anyway!  Oh
> > well, these are some of the reasons I dropped the project, plus
> > cost. Looks like the only snae way to go about it would be to use a
> > separate PIC controller and LED display for each gaug!
>  e.
> >  That's probably why a Dakota Digital gauge setup costs $500 for a
> >  six gauge system. I doubt I could build one for half that, plus I'd
> >  have to learn the programming.
> > 
> > The idea of programming a VIC-20 for all this is plain scary! I
> > don't know of anyone who really LIKED Commodore BASIC, though many
> > tolerated it (or just didn't know any better). I've seen the LED
> > graph type gauges, but would rather have a numeric readout as it
> > would be more accurate. LEDs in 5 mph steps would be good enough
> > though.
> > 
> > Reading all this stuff from you guys does give me the idea again,
> > plus I've been looking at comercially available digital gauges and
> > going into shock. Digital gauge technology is ancient now, there's
> > no reason for it to be so damned expensive! One processor should be
> > able to handle it all with a graphic display. An old 386 or 486
> > notebook has the power, but can't relocate the screen so easy. Maybe
> > I could find one of the early 386 tablet type computers used. That
> > might work for another car, but the shape of the dash in my 63
> > Classic would have to be altered to much, and I like the vintage
> > look. Altering the dash that much would destroy the "feel" of the
> > car.
> > 
> > The hurdles are what's causing the lack of interest more than
> > anything else! The task just gets more daunting the more I think
> > about it in a rational way. If the circuits you have drive LED
> > characters I might be interested, but not interested LED bar graphs.
> > Two digit display should be adequate, though I think I'd go with
> > three for the speedo anyway.
> > 
> > --
> > Frank Swygert
> > Publisher, "American Independent
> > Magazine" (AIM)
> > *Elite* publication for those
> > interested in all
> > aspects of AMC
> > history,performance,restoration,etc
> > .
> > (AMC,Rambler,Nash,Hudson,Jeep,etc.)
> > http:farna.home.att.net/AIM.html
> > (free download available!)
> > 
> > -------------- Original message from coco-request at maltedmedia.com:
> > --------------
> > 
> > > Message: 3
> > > Date: Sat, 7 Aug 2004 22:36:32 EDT
> > > From: KnudsenMJ at aol.com
> > > Subject: Re: [Coco] MC-10 Questions...
> > > To: coco at maltedmedia.com
> > > Message-ID: <88.110f96e5.2e46ebb0 at aol.com>
> > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
> > >
> > > In a message dated 8/7/04 9:09:35 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> > > farna at att.net writes:
> > >
> > > > The other gauges, fuel level, engine temp, oil pressure, and
> > > > possibly volts
> > > (
> > > > haven't figured out how to do that one yet, the other three are
> > > > simple variable resistances that I know the ranges for) could be
> > > > slower. The oil pressure will have a back-up warning light. The
> > > > numbers displayed will have to be on a graphics screen to be big
> > > > enough to easily see. I'd probably use
> > > a
> > > > mechanical hour meter under the hood and forget mileage, unless
> > > > I can find
> > > a
> > > > stand alone odometer instead of an hour meter.
> > > >
> > > > Heck, I've forgot how I measured resistance now!! I remember
> > > > using the joystick D/A inputs, but that's all. Got the idea from
> > > > a game that used a series of push buttons for a Jeapordy style
> > > > buttons connected to one port.
> > > I
> > > > think each button had a different resistance and the CoCo could
> > > > tell which button was pressed. Might have to have the gauges
> > > > work in 5 or 10 unit increments, but would be close enough.
> > >
> > > I think you're forgetting something -- that the Coco's joystick
> > > inputs measure Volts, period. Resistor hookups are just voltage
> > > dividers of a known external reference voltage, into a dependent
> > > voltage that feeds to the A/D joystick inputs.
> > >
> > > To monitor your car's battery voltage, which ranges between 12 and
> > > 15 or so, use a pair of fixed resistors to divide it by 3, so that
> > > range becomes 4 to 5 V (remember, the Coco joysticks measure from
> > > 0 to 5 V, no more).
> > >
> > > I think a competitor, maybe Apple, used a similar scheme to the
> > > Coco's, but had one of the resistors built into it, so the
> > > joystick was just a variable resistance. Not nearly as flexible as
> > > our Coco (but then, what was/is?) --Mike K.
> > 
> > Message: 9
> > Date: Sat, 7 Aug 2004 21:08:00 -0700 (PDT)
> > From: Robert Emery <theother_bob at yahoo.com>
> > Subject: Re: [Coco] MC-10 Questions...
> > To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>
> > Message-ID: <20040808040800.65286.qmail at web81508.mail.yahoo.com>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
> > 
> > --- farna at att.net wrote:
> > 
> > > You know, as I was thinking about that digital dash again,
> > Sounds like someone's been bitten by the bug again... :-)
> > 
> > <snip>
> > > avg. mpg and estimated distance on remaining fuel).  I doubt the
> > > MC-10 could do the analog gauges, I'd be happy with a big digit
> > > speed and smaller digit gauges placed around the central speed
> > > readout. That would have to be a graphics screen too.
> > 
> > Since either way it's graphics... the analog gauge would probably be
> > a lot less work than drawing numeric characters. Does the MC-10
> > support semigraphics modes? What about the high speed poke?
> > 
> > Back when you first posted about your desire to do this but thought
> > the CoCo was too big, I was going to say a VIC-20 would be a good
> > choice (but you said you'd lost the desire)... I have one (VIC-20)
> > that I'd considered using for everything but the speedo/tach. Those
> > were handled by dedicated circuits found in Radio-Electronics from
> > the early or mid 80's. Still have 'em if you're interested and I
> > know of a ~$35 kit (locally available) which is almost the exact
> > same circuit, designed to drive LED's.
> > 
> > --
> > Coco mailing list
> > Coco at maltedmedia.com
> > http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
> 
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