RE: Displays around the house - direct to a pc or viatcp/ip

[Stuart Poulton <swp@xxxxxxx>]

Hi John,

I agree with everything mntioned below, we should perhaps consider the
use of an AVR Chip, with ethernet, since as you point out there are only a few of us with Rabbit, the AVR solution has the advantage that devel
tools are free. Also, and I think this is important there is an ethernet boot loader for AVR ,something that dosn't yet exist for Rabbit.

Regards

Stuart

> That=92s ok if we understand what this means, to have multi drop we ca= nnot
> use RS232 (unless we daisy chain displays and messages get passd down<= BR> > the line to reach the correct device (ie two serial ports one each
> display)), so this means we need a IO card for the pc or a custom RS23= 2
> <> 485 converter. I don=92t know what the cost is for a  ca= rd, remember
> that many people are using old PC's for HA and we need to source ones<= BR> > which work both bus styles. Lets say that the card is say =A330
>
> If we had a controler with a ethernet port and RS485, this could act a= s
> a bridge with lots of expansion posibilities, this embedded controler = is
> going to be =A350 to =A370 (if rabbit based, perhaps less on a differe= nt
> less powerfull platform), since most pople would want more than one > display the extra cost does not look that bad, coupled with the benefi= ts
> it offers over a pc solution.
>
> Low power operation, could still work fro extended periods of power > outages
> Web control possible without a pc
> Does not use up 232 ports on PC, leaving them free for other stuff
> Posibility of connecting bridge to HV, again without PC
> If not on backup power, would always re-boot without user invervention=
> Protocol for displays can be very very simple as its private to the > controler
> Not pc dependant, the house keeps working after tweeking the HA PC :-)=
> Likley to have higher WAF as there is no PC required
>
> As it=92s a key decision in the development of such devices, I think i= t
> needs resolving and agreeing before people rush of and start
> coding/soldering
>
> There are benefits the other way round which must be weighed in :-
>
> For people who just want 1 display, they could just swap the MAX chip<= BR> > and have it just RS232
> Cost, perticuly for single display apps
> People who already have a PC on full time
> Quicker to develop
> Easer to develop, no need for a developlemt system, in the case of
> Rabbit I think there is only a couple of us with systems.
>
> It might be worth a short pro/con discussion and a vote.
>
> I will go with the flow, but from my viewpoint the controler method > appears to offer so much more for a small cost
>
> Just my 2p worth.

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