a few question

[shocker]

ok i have a few question about that board the ic3 h11aa1m i have a few h11aa1 in stock may i use them ? what is the difference between them?

the xbee part what do i need on the computer side if you have the digikey number

the propeler chip does it need a programing if yes what about the programmor

 

[gmbartlett]

ok i have a few question about that board the ic3 h11aa1m i have a few h11aa1 in stock may i use them ? what is the difference between them?

the xbee part what do i need on the computer side if you have the digikey number

the propeler chip does it need a programing if yes what about the programmor

The H11AA1 is the Vishay version of Fairchild's H11AA1M. They are interchangable.

The DigiKey part number for the XBee Pro is: XBP24-AWI-001-ND

The Propeller chip does not require a programmer. The EEPROM provided with the Helix system is preprogrammed with a bootloader program. The Helix firmware is loaded on a microSD card and inserted in the main board. The bootloader program downloads the firmware into the Propeller chip and then starts execution.

 

[shocker]

thanks for the info if i only have 1 helix do i need the xbee if yes (thanks for the part number) what do i need on the pc side i saw on your doc something you called a usb carrier, which one do you use?

 

[gmbartlett]

thanks for the info if i only have 1 helix do i need the xbee if yes (thanks for the part number) what do i need on the pc side i saw on your doc something you called a usb carrier, which one do you use?

In Mode 1 (standalone) operation the XBee on the main board is used to communicate with the PC to update the real time clock and check the status of the board. In Mode 2 (Vixen control) the XBee is used to wirelessly transmit the Vixen data to the main board. So in short, yes you need the XBee radio. In fact you will need two of them, one for the main board and one for the PC.

In order to connect the XBee to the PC you will need an interface board. The one that I recommend at this time is the XBee Explorer USB from SparkFun (http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8687). Although there are several other vendors that provide similar XBee to USB interface boards, this is one of the cheapest that I've found. In addition the Helix uses the MP3 breakout board from SparkFun also so you can save on shipping.