Freetronics Forum

why use softwareserial when you have 4 hardware uarts ? https://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/Serial

Hardware serial will always be more reliable, some devices are fussy about exact timings, which software serial can't provide, especially depending what else your program is doing.

thanks John as it turns out, I managed to get it working, in desperation I tried using Hyperterminal (laptop at the other end was XP) and to my great surprise communication worked both ways. I ended up using PuTTy (because I'm now more familiar with that than Hyper-terminal), un-installed arduino 1....

I've built about a dozen similar ethermega-based projects. I commonly get caught out where I've got an RS232 adaptor hooked up to D0 & D1...but that is not the case on this project. There is nothing connected to D0 & D1. I'm connecting remotely via Teamviewer (i.e. no physical access to the project)...

update - I found some 0.6x0.6 stackable headers https://www.dropbox.com/s/h93yvs9yt8hfb2h/2014-11-07%200.60x0.60%20long%20extension%20headers.jpg?dl=0 the only trick is I found them in my parts bin, and don't know where I got them from. My best guess is they came with Pololu (since the plastic is bl...

Hi Angus I'm remote from the project now, so I'm unlikely to get a chance to do the tests you suggest. I did enough A-B-A testing on Friday with the new & old ethermegas, 2 screw shields and 2 motor shields to convince myself that the thin legs IS the cause. I understand they 'should' be 0.4 thick, ...

I believe the main problem is the pins on the screw shield are narrow, 0.33x0.60 instead of standard header pins at 0.60x0.60 (my measurements, maybe ±0.03 at worst). I suspect the thin pins don't spring the female metal connector inside the header enough to create a reliable joint. Pretty sure the ...

OK, I have another piece of this puzzle now. Done another project, similar setup, except using a Pololu dual VNH5019 shield in place f the Seeed relay shield. Similar issues, a couple of pins not working. I've swapped to a different ethermega from the same batch, and onw down to a single pin not wor...

thanks Angus after writing up the post, I came up with the theory that maybe the RS232 converter was being powered by 3.3V instead of 5, and that it doesn't reliably cross the 'high' threshhold. Does that sound possible ? I'll set up a test tonight to see if I can reproduce it. I don't have access t...

I'm out of ideas on this one, so any thoughts are welcome. I can communicate both ways over USB, but can only send data via RS232. Configuration: - freetronics ethermega (3 actually, all behave the same) - freetronics terminal shield (with ethernet connector clearance notch) and - SEEEDstudio relay ...

thanks