37 replies to this topic

[Johnboy]

Hi All,
I am building a Robbe Fireboat and would like to use the Landtastic on the fire monitors and the Nav Lights for flashing lights, but want to buy ready to use units. Does anyone have these already built/kit to sell? I believe I can do the setup, but never used a PIC before. I built several "Goslow" units, but they have lots of problems, I am thinking the Landtastic may be better. Anyone like to burn several PICs for me? Thanks in advance for any replies.
John in Huntsville, Alabama

[mikep]

How many do you want? Maybe we can make a little deal. Pay for the 2 extra PICs and get them shipped to me here in Montreal, and I will burn yours and mail them off to you.
If glichbusters has them he only charges like 2.00-2.50 for shipping.

[Eric Brouwer]

Thanks for the Landtastic. A nice all-in-one unit.

I have build the Landtastic deluxe version, but am having problems turning the landing & strobe lights on/off.

On my model, the servo istallation on the flaps limit the servo throw between -50% & + 50%. I am already using the most inner hole on the servo arm, and most outer hole on the control horn, Mechanically, I can not adjust the flap linkages.

It seems that the hysteresis used in the source code is set beyound this values. Is there a way to change the turn on/off values without the source code? Even if I can just know on which line in the HEX file I must change the values.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

[Mr.RC-Cam]

I no longer have a list file to that project and have since changed compiler revisions. So, I cannot sift through it all to report the code segments that you would need to change.

The arming thresholds are 1.25mS/1.75mS. I'm surprised that your ATV's have to be for less than that. Too bad you do not have a spare channel or way to change your flap's control horn position, since those things would seem to be the best solution.

[Eric Brouwer]

Thanks for your reply. I was able to change the landing lights threshold, but still battling with the strobe...

[Mr.RC-Cam]

Good to here you got it working. What is wrong with the strobe?

[donrecardo]

Having troubles here with the landtastic code and a picall programmer

heres the process of events that leads us to a non-worker

using a pic 12f629 with a picall programmer and software v0.16

Start with a blank empty program and empty blank virgin pic.

Software starts, hit clear buffer and im left with these values.

Start prog 0000
end prog 03ff
sn/id FFFF
fuse/prot 3FFF
calibration 3FFF

Load the code in and it changes to

Start prog 0000
end prog 03ff
sn/id 1E10
fuse/prot 39C4
calibration 3FFF

Hit program and verify (all good) then read the chip back in and heres what I get.

Start prog 0000
end prog 03ff
sn/id 1E10
fuse/prot 31FF <------- not set as expected.
calibration 3FFF

Hit the progconf button to set only the fuse/prot word and then read the chip back

Start prog 0000
end prog 03ff
sn/id 1E10
fuse/prot 31C4 <------ second byte has been accepted but first one reverted back.
calibration 3FFF

Now this is all without setting the calibration of the chip which was 3468, If i set that in the calibration box (and on other attempts also editing 03FF to show the same value) there is still no difference (other than the calibration value showing correctly eg.

Start prog 0000
end prog 03ff
sn/id 1E10
fuse/prot 31C4 <-------- still showing as 31c4 and not 39c4
calibration 3468

Can anybody with a picall who has this working (we were just trying the simple basic version to prove it works) give this a whirl or let us know how your programmer behaves when trying this test as all our servo does is twitches once upon receiving power and thats it. nothing from the gear switch after that. We have proven the electronics are ok (not that theres that much to check!) but still its doing nothing. This has all been tried on various new chips just in case as well as pulling the breadboard and trying it from scratch.

Any clues? Someone must have a picall and use this.........

Regards,

Don

[donrecardo]

Well I dont know why it works but we managed to set the fuses to 01C4

and it seems to be working ok now . What difference is there in the fuses between 01C4 and 39C4 ?

Don

[Mr.RC-Cam]

What difference is there in the fuses between 01C4 and 39C4 ?

You can press F3 to see the Picall fuse settings that are being used. Compare the displayed Fuse info with what the project recommends.

[donrecardo]

Thanks Mr RC-Cam I had just found the F3 key however when I load your hex file it tries to set the fuses to 39C4 but no matter what combination of fuses I use under F3
I cannot get it higher than 306F and that is by turning on these fuses

ER... CLKOUT...Watchdog Ttimer..power up timer....brown out ,,,, MCLR enabled....BG1...BG0...Code protect 0 and data protect

If I only set INTOSC,,, PWRT,,, and BODEN as reccomended in your project The fuses number only comes out as 01C4 however with these settings it sems to work fine

Now that its working I have to say, its a great little project Thanks for making it available

Don

[Mr.RC-Cam]

From your provided info, there seems to be a bug in PICALL. I don't know why it loads with the value of 39C4 (that seems to be PICALL issue). I suspect 31C4 and 01C4 are both correct, but follow the F3 screen instead of looking at this number.

The difference between 31C4 and 01C4 is just the two Bandgap fuse bits, which your programmer should be setup to leave alone (so in effect, they are ignored). For example, IC-Prog V1.05 (another freeware hobby programming app) has a "BandGap:Default" setting to do this (must be used with factory fresh chips) and I suspect PICALL has something similar. Otherwise, the two factory programmed BG fuses would be over-written by the programming system. They are lost during a chip erase, so be sure to restore them by using the F3 fuse window check boxes {hint: record the BG0 and BG1 bits, as well as OSCAL, on all brand new chips} whenever you erase and re-use a PIC12F629/675.

[Fugitive_Bill]

Hi,

Is there anyone who could programme the PIC12F629 for me if I send them the chip return post?

I was so excited when I found this project, I ran out and bought the bits and pieces for this project before I realised it needs a programmer for the IC. I can't afford to buy a programmer for a 'one-off' job.

There must be others out there who wanted to make this device who don't have a programmer and been in the same situation, what did they do.

BILL!

[marcos]

Helo, I have started my landtastic this week.

Its not working till now, but I am trying.

1) First I had problems with the "calibration value", and I lost some PICs. Anyone know if there is a solution for this PICs burned wrong (I did not take note of the "Calibration Value").

2) Now I burned successfully the PIC with calibration. But I have a question. Can it work with a 4.7uF/16V cap?
I did not find yet the .1uF
With this wrong CAP, does the servo move or not? My servo is stopped (with or without the jumper).

Thanks to averyone.
Sorry about the way I speak "english".

Marcos
From Brazil.

[Mr.RC-Cam]

With this wrong CAP, does the servo move or not?

This wrong cap would not prevent the Landtastic from working. There must be other problems.

.1uF ceramic caps are common and will be available from any good electronic parts supplier.

[marcos]

This wrong cap would not prevent the Landtastic from working. There must be other problems.

.1uF ceramic caps are common and will be available from any good electronic parts supplier.

Is there any kind of test with PIC that could I do?

I have reviewed the circuit more than 5 times. I did not find any mistake.
I think it might be some problems with PIC programation or that CAP I told.

I live in a small town. There is just one small place to buy components.
But weekly I travel to a bigger city that has a lot of components stores. So next week I will buy the right CAP.

But till there, can I do some test to make sure the PIC is allright?
Thank you very much.

Marcos
From Brazil.

[Mr.RC-Cam]

But till there, can I do some test to make sure the PIC is allright?

The project text has a section on basic test. What steps does yours fail at?

If none of the steps pass, then either the circuit is wired wrong or the PIC is not programmed correctly. If you post clear close up photos of your wired circuit we can see if the wiring is correct.

To check the PIC, confirm you have loaded the hex file correctly, then use the Verify feature on your programmer to confirm the PIC is correctly programmed.

[magnetman]

Hi,

I would just like to say I made one of these (the basic version) and it works great . I have it installed on a Nicesky XB 70 Valkyrie bomber, very realistic!

I have a Pickit 2 programmer which makes things very easy, you don't have to worry about the OSCAL thing!

Unfortunately I can't get hold of the 2N7000 Fets to make the lights, RS are out of stock until June

Great project!!

PS What is the strobe signal like?? is it just one repeating flash or a series of 6 or so flashes at 0.1 second intervals (10Hz) followed by a I second pause??

(much like police car blue strobes and VERY visible!!!))

[Mr.RC-Cam]

The strobe is nothing fancy and can be either a double wink or single wink. Brightness depends on the LED you use.