PMC-Eight Startup Sequence Diagram #ExploreScientific #FIRMWARE
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Here is a diagram showing how the PMC-Eight boots up and determines what to do. This is based on a discussion I had with Wes.
-- Jerry Hubbell Vice President of Engineering Explore Scientific, LLC. jrh at explorescientific.com www.explorescientificusa.com 1010 S. 48th Street Springdale, AR 72762 1-866-252-3811 Author: Scientific Astrophotography: How Amateurs Can Generate and Use Professional Imaging Data Remote Observatories for Amateur Astronomers: Using High-Powered Telescopes From Home Mark Slade Remote Observatory (MSRO) IAU MPC W54 Equipment Wilderness, VA Mounts: ES PMC-Eight G11 + Telescope Drive Master (TDM) Scopes: ES 165 FPL-53 ED APO CF, ES 102 FCD100 ED APO CF Cameras: QHY174M-GPS + FW, QHY163C Misc: 3-inch 0.7x Focal Reducer Field Flattener, Filters: Luminance, Red, V-band Photometric, Diffuser, 200 lpmm Spectral Grating Software: MaxIm DL 6, Cartes du Ciel, Astrometrica, AstroImageJ, AutoStakkert!
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I forgot to add, the PMC-Eight Configuration Manager (CM) Firmware Loader uses the Parallax propellent.exe program to load the firmware from the host (pc). This is a totally separate communications configuration not related to the PMC-Eight firmware communications configuration. So if you were not already aware, you do not need to switch the PMC-Eight over to the serial port connection to upload the firmware. Thanks
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Here is an excerpt from the Parallax Propeller datasheet about the boot process:
Boot Up Procedure Upon power-up (+ 100 ms), RESn low-to-high, or software reset: 1. The Propeller chip starts its internal clock in slow mode (≈ 20 kHz), delays for 50 ms (reset delay), switches the internal clock to fast mode (≈ 12 MHz), and then loads and runs the built-in Boot Loader program in the first processor (Cog 0). 2. The Boot Loader performs one or more of the following tasks, in order: a. Detects communication from a host, such as a PC, on pins P30 and P31. If communication from a host is detected, the Boot Loader converses with the host to identify the Propeller chip and possibly download a program into Main RAM and optionally into an external 32 KB EEPROM. b. If no host communication was detected, the Boot Loader looks for an external 32 KB EEPROM (24LC256) on pins P28 and P29. If an EEPROM is detected, the entire 32 KB data image is loaded into the Propeller chip’s Main RAM. c. If no EEPROM was detected, the boot loader stops, Cog 0 is terminated, the Propeller chip goes into shutdown mode, and all I/O pins are set to inputs. 3. If either step 2a or 2b was successful in loading a program into the Main RAM, and a suspend command was not given by the host, then Cog 0 is reloaded with the built-in Spin Interpreter and the user code is run from Main RAM. -- Jerry Hubbell Vice President of Engineering Explore Scientific, LLC. jrh at explorescientific.com www.explorescientificusa.com 1010 S. 48th Street Springdale, AR 72762 1-866-252-3811 Author: Scientific Astrophotography: How Amateurs Can Generate and Use Professional Imaging Data Remote Observatories for Amateur Astronomers: Using High-Powered Telescopes From Home Mark Slade Remote Observatory (MSRO) IAU MPC W54 Equipment Wilderness, VA Mounts: ES PMC-Eight G11 + Telescope Drive Master (TDM) Scopes: ES 165 FPL-53 ED APO CF, ES 102 FCD100 ED APO CF Cameras: QHY174M-GPS + FW, QHY163C Misc: 3-inch 0.7x Focal Reducer Field Flattener, Filters: Luminance, Red, V-band Photometric, Diffuser, 200 lpmm Spectral Grating Software: MaxIm DL 6, Cartes du Ciel, Astrometrica, AstroImageJ, AutoStakkert!
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Wes Mcdonald
Thanks Jerry that explains things . In a nutshell we can load firmware without changing the communication mode employed by the PMC8 with Explorestars. Neat. Wes
On Tue, Nov 12, 2019 at 3:04 PM Jerry Hubbell - Explore Scientific VP Engineering <jrh@...> wrote: Here is an excerpt from the Parallax Propeller datasheet about the boot process: --
Wes, Southport NC PMC-8, ES ED 127, 10" LX200GPS, Astro-Tech 8" Newt, ETX-90 Polemaster, Orion ST-80 and SAG Electrical Engineer, Retired
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