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Which interface

Posted: Mon Jun 19, 2006 3:42 am
by MPOWER
Hi, I am new to your forum and I have to congratulate all of you for the good job you are doing.
I am about to make a JP1 interface my self, but haven't decided which one should I go for...USB, Parallel, or Serial?
My PC's have all of these ports, so this is not a problem.
The primary need of the JP1 interface is for Dreambox remote control and Dreambox Keyboard.
Please advice me which the most updated/better/compatible...etc interface at the moment.

Thanks in advance

Michael

Posted: Mon Jun 19, 2006 4:06 am
by Capn Trips
The simple parallell interface is the ... uhh ... simplest and cheapest to build.

I have not heard of too many people using the serial, and the USB - although the only option for many who have no parallell or serial ports - has more expensive parts, and (although I don't have one) my sense from reading these fora is that it seems to be a little bit more "eccentric" regarding drivers and where they are, how they are installed.

Posted: Mon Jun 19, 2006 6:58 am
by MPOWER
Thanks for the quick reply....
I bought a 1N5819 diode instead of 1N5818. Might that be a problem?
Where can I find the female 6pin connector for online purchase?

Posted: Mon Jun 19, 2006 7:10 am
by johnsfine
MPOWER wrote:I bought a 1N5819 diode instead of 1N5818. Might that be a problem?
Not likely.

I looked at some data sheets and the significant difference is the forward voltage at low current is about 10% higher in the 1N5819.

In theory the 10% extra votage could make the interface fail if the power supply to the the eeprom is quite low. The foward voltage on the diode must be less than a certain fraction of power supply to the eeprom to properly communicate a low signal from the PC to the eeprom.

I don't know the spec's on your eeprom, nor how it is being powered during JP1 use (2 batteries, vs. four batteries, vs. powered through the JP1 interface itself). Those details may vary by model. But in most cases the extra diode voltage wouldn't matter.

If the diode did cause trouble in a two battery remote, I expect newer batteries would fix it.

Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2006 5:27 am
by MPOWER
I fixed the interface and tested it with the Dreambox Keyboard UKB86101B02 and it works :D without batteries, although I have no idea what to do now!
Trying to connect the interface with the dreambox remote control URC-39930BJ0-03 I get error about the interface :cry: . I have tryied with and without batteries without luck. I also changed the Delay time, but no luck as well.
Any ideas why...?

Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2006 6:19 am
by The Robman
Maybe the Dreambox remote is a JP1.1 or JP1.2 remote?

Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2006 6:28 am
by MPOWER
No it writes "JP1" under its 6 pins and I think I have seen in this forum other people having connected their Dreambox remotes!

UPDATE
I found in another post people having the same problem and the control is finally JP1.2 (Thanks "The Robman") :wink:
Still have no idea why it says "JP1" :evil: