hp30b programming cables and clock/crystal/caps

[atilla457]

Hi all,

I found two programming cables for hp30b (with pogo pins) and one set of components taped on a sheet for clock crystal+headers. Baby on the way, so giving up my room and need to get rid of a lot of toys

Does the development team and/or Eric need these? If so, I will ship these to them.

Let me know,

[rprosperi]

(11-06-2018 04:36 AM)atilla457 Wrote:  Hi all,

I found two programming cables for hp30b (with pogo pins) and one set of components taped on a sheet for clock crystal+headers. Baby on the way, so giving up my room and need to get rid of a lot of toys

Does the development team and/or Eric need these? If so, I will ship these to them.

Let me know,

Whomever claims them, please make sure it is someone that will actually use them. On eBay, people pay up to $150 for these cables (!!); hopefully no one will try to get them to then turn around and sell them. It would be terrible if someone tried to take advantage of your generosity for their own gain.

[Eric Rechlin]

I have a small number left, so I should be good with what I have. The pogo pins tend to break after enough uses so I need to keep multiple on hand, but I don't expect to run out.

[burkhard]

Better eBay them, Attila. You will be amazed what that baby is going to cost!
:-)
Congratulations!

[Craig Bladow]

I am going to see if I can 3D print the programming connector. I have enough pogo pins on the way from China to last several lifetimes.

[ijabbott]

I just use an FTDI TTL-232R-3V3, a couple of 1K resistors, and a steady hand!

[burkhard]

(11-07-2018 08:41 AM)ijabbott Wrote:  I just use an FTDI TTL-232R-3V3, a couple of 1K resistors, and a steady hand!

I do it that way as well, although someone was kind enough to give me an official cable recently.
I haven't needed to reflash yet, though. The WP34S project is pretty stable at this point.

For occasional flashes, the the el-cheapo fiddly homebrew way like we do is fine. If I were flashing a bunch, the real cable would be nicer. Not $150 nicer, though.

[Harald]

(11-06-2018 09:44 PM)burkhard Wrote:  Better eBay them, Attila. You will be amazed what that baby is going to cost!
:-)
Congratulations!

Maybe I should auction off mine. It's the first one to ever get converted to USB, imagine what the collectors value will be on that

But seriously, if we are talking $150 here, I might be tempted to make a DIY cable for my own use and sell the original one...

@Attila: You'll be amazed how much the wife is going to spend on the baby So you really should sell those cables ;-)

[Craig Bladow]

(11-07-2018 08:41 AM)ijabbott Wrote:  I just use an FTDI TTL-232R-3V3, a couple of 1K resistors, and a steady hand!

Can you point me to a schematic for your cable?

[Dave Frederickson]

First of all, let me state that I'm a strong proponent of 3D printed parts, but it might not be the least expensive solution in some cases. For example, a housing for a Series 80 module costs around $60 USD if 3D-printed while a Series 80 HP-IB module can be found on eBay for $40 USD or less.

With respect to the 30b programming cable, most of the parts needed to fab a plug can be had for free from Samtec.

http://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-772...l#pid67919

(11-07-2018 03:54 PM)Craig Bladow Wrote:  

(11-07-2018 08:41 AM)ijabbott Wrote:  I just use an FTDI TTL-232R-3V3, a couple of 1K resistors, and a steady hand!

Can you point me to a schematic for your cable?

Data sheets and reference designs can be found at the FTDI website.

https://www.ftdichip.com/Products/ICs/FT232R.htm

Dave

[ijabbott]

(11-07-2018 03:54 PM)Craig Bladow Wrote:  

(11-07-2018 08:41 AM)ijabbott Wrote:  I just use an FTDI TTL-232R-3V3, a couple of 1K resistors, and a steady hand!

Can you point me to a schematic for your cable?

I think I actually used the "RPi debug" variant of the cable (TTL-232R-RPi) which has three wires terminated in single-pin DuPont style connectors. (There are other variants of the cable with more wires for RTS/CTS, and different connector options (including bare wire ends). Just make sure you get a 3V3 (3.3V) cable and not a 5V one). I just poked the 1K resistors and a ground wire into the three DuPont connectors.

On the RPi cable TXD is orange, RXD is yellow, and ground is black. You can follow the instructions as written for a different FTDI board here: http://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-2719.html, but you will need to supply the 3V power for the calculator from batteries or a bench power supply, because this cable does not supply power.

[Craig Bladow]

Thanks for the information, Ian, that is just what I needed.