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Old December 17th 12, 07:06 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
bumper[_4_]
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Posts: 434
Default Power Flarm Display

On Monday, December 17, 2012 9:02:00 AM UTC-8, wrote:
I'm confident enough that its not going to be a problem that I plan to fabricate a RJ12-DB9 cable and give it a whirl.



Frank (TA)



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Aktualisiert von: Frank Paynter, 14. Dez 15:40 (CET):

Hi,



I would like to update the firmware on my PowerFlarm Butterfly display, but

I'm a bit confused by the directions for fabricating the required update

cable. Note that I'm an Electrical Engineer with over 40 years of bench

design and fabrication experience, so if I'm confused, I expect others are

as well.



The instructions provide a pinout for the display-end connector, with notes

as to where each pin should go on the PC end. However, the PC-end

connector isn't specified - is it supposed to be a DB9 serial connector?

If so, you must know that DB9 serial connectors aren't widely available on

modern PC's; I have 6 PCs in my home office, and not one of them has a DB9

serial connector. When I need serial port connectivity, I use a popular

USB-serial adapter. Will your display update properly when using such an

adapter?



Your specification calls for pin 5 of the RJ-12 connector to be tied to

+3.3VDC, but this isn't a common voltage for serial communications. What

happens if this line is connected to +5 or even +12 VDC?



Regards,



Frank


Frank,

Please post an update if all goes well. I prefer not to tune my device for maximum smoke if there is some other brave soul willing to go first!

tks

bumper