Introduction.
This discussion shows how to get started with the Basic Stamp 2 for minimal expense. You may also wish to consult a similar discussion for the Basic Stamp 1.
Basic Stamp 2.
You will of course need a Basic Stamp 2 (BS2-IC). These are available from Jameco at $49.95 (Jameco Part #130892). Jameco has an on-line catalog at .
However, if you are a student, you can save a bit. Parallax offers a fifteen percent . Ask a professor for a piece of stationary to take advatage of the discount.
Prototyping Arrangement.
Jameco also stocks a "carrier board" which consists of a 3" X 2.6" wide fiberglass board which consists of a clip for a nine volt transistor battery, a socket for the BS2 and a small prototyping area. For the $19.95, consider saving your money and buy a solderless breadboard which you can use again and again.
Most of my students use the Jameco JE25 solderless breadboard (Jameco #207773) which provides two prototyping terminal strips and four bus strips. It is $17.95 and as I say, you can use it again and again for different projects. (I sell the JE25 for a few dollars less as I order in quantity for my students).
Rather than messing with 9 volt transistor batteries, you might also consider an AC to DC Wall Transformer. Many of my students use a 9VDC @ 1000 mA unit such as Jameco #15587 which costs $8.95. Simply cut off the connector, figure out which lead is positive and solder a red lead to the positive and a black lead to the other. For applications requiring +5 Volts, use a 7805 Regulator with a heat sink as shown in Figure #1. The 7805 +5V regulator is Jameco #51262 @ $0.45. An appropriate heat sink for the TO-220 package is Jameco #70658 @ $0.39.
I offer this in for $12.00.
My experience with AC - DC wall power supplies has been that the actual open circuit voltage is 2 to 3 volts above the stated value. That is, the actual voltage of a 9V unit will be closer to 12 volts.
Thus, for less than $30, you can obtain a prototyping system suitable for powering the Stamp and 5V peripherals and also use the 9V to power small motors that you might salvage from disk drives.
When you complete the development and desire to make your application more permanent, consider using a piece of epoxy glass Vector board and breaking it to an appropriate size. We use Jameco #52943 @ $5.49 which is 4.5 X 8.5 inches and one piece will do for many many projects. The Stamp may be socketized using a standard 24 pin DIP socket with wire wrap terminals (Jameco #75416 @ $1.25).
Cable.
The Basic Stamp 2 uses the PC's serial port for interfacing with the Stamp. Newer PCS use a 9 pin male (DB9). If you have an older PC the serial port may be a 25 pin male (DB25). In making up your own cable, you need simply a mating connector and some wire.
DB9 Female Connector Jameco #15780 $0.49
DB25 Female Connector Jameco #15165 $0.55
I also provide two different flex cable assemblies which facilitate ease in interfacing the serial port with a solderless breadboard.
Figure #2 illustrates a prototyping arrangement. Note that the pins on the serial port are for a 9-pin connector. Those shown in parenthesis are for a 25-pin connector.
Note that the Parallax downloading software uses a loop back between the RTS and DSR to automatically determine the serial port which is interfaced with the Stamp. This is clever. When interfacing with a normal serial device, the PC exerts a logic one on RTS and receives a logic one from the modem on CTS. Thus, I assume the Parallax software is exerting a logic one on the RTS output. If it receives a logic one on the CTS, it knows the device is not a Basic Stamp. Rather, the software looks for a return logic one on the DSR lead.
Software and Manual.
Both the software and manuals are available at;
as STAMP2.ZIP.
Download this and unzip it and you will have;
stamp2.exe the program for editing and downloading
bs2book.pdf the manual describing the BS2 and a description of the
BASIC commands set.
bs2apps.pdf a brief collection of applications
These .pdf files may be read and printed using an Acrobat reader. Such a reader is available at .
The package also contains a number of examples. (*.bs2 files).
Summary.
You will need at least one Basic Stamp 2 ($49.95). However, your outlay can pretty much be limited to this expense.
Rather than buying a "carrier board", save your money and get a solderless breadboard.
Make up your own cable.
Get the software and manuals from the Parallax ftp site.
Hopefully this saved you some money. Happy stamping.!