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Old December 18th 12, 10:17 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Jim[_32_]
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Posts: 49
Default Power Flarm Display

On Tuesday, December 18, 2012 9:56:36 AM UTC-5, wrote:
On Monday, December 17, 2012 2:43:38 PM UTC-5, Evan Ludeman wrote:

On Monday, December 17, 2012 2:06:01 PM UTC-5, bumper wrote:




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)
































------------------------------------- CUT HERE ---------------------------
















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








You guys do know about this, yes? (From external display manual)








"Updates




Update through PowerFLARM®




After Q4/2012 it will be possible to update the displays through any PowerFLARM® unit




directly without the need for a special cable."








-Evan Ludeman / T8




Evan,



Just saw this myself in the Butterfly manual - wonder why they didn't mention this in the response to my email?



Frank (TA)


Hi Frank, I built my update cable several weeks ago (for the last update and to download flarmnet info) and it worked just fine with 2 AA batteries (just as someone else mentioned in this thread). RS232 adapters don't ever work well for me on laptops so the only reliable serial port I have is on my desktop. Since my rectangular display is screwed to my panel with the 4 provided screws I think I will wait until the post-Q4-instructions to magically appear just to save the hassle of un-mounting the display yet again.