Extracting Data to I/O devices

[No Longer Active]

Hello.

Can you please tell me if this is possible?

Is there software available that can send specific data such as 'nav / com' data from fs and send it through to a device connected to a com port (lets say a 7 segment display device)....

What would be the best way to do this, as it seems straight forward, is there any software that can recognise devices and then send data to that device such as a device connected to a com port?

Or is it possible to program something like this, would this be 'do-able' or has this been done.....

If you could please enlighten me, then that would be super!

Cheers!

Alex

[Mike.Powell]

Interface hardware, like IO Cards or FSBus, often has driver software that sends data through the IO port the hardware uses. So, yes, software does exist. If you're asking about generic software for arbitrary hardware, I think you will have to write your own code.

It's not terribly difficult to write interface software that makes use of the serial com port. A user program can access the com port through the win32 API or through a .NET object. The Microsoft MSDN library provides information on both approaches. Here's a link to an article about coding the serial port via the win32 API: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms810467.aspx

A capability to recognize devices plugged into the serial com port is also a possibility. Essentially, this is "plug-and-play". It depends on devices being able to identify themselves when queried. USB does this quite well. In fact, it's a requirement for any USB device. You could develop a serial com port version of plug-and-play, though it would be of somewhat limited utility as the com port supports only a single device connection at a time. You can expand upon the serial com port by using an RS485 converter which will allow multiple devices to be connected. You might then develop more sophisticated software. It's really a question of how involved you want to get.

The serial com port is a basic IO device that can be readily coded against. USB is a more complex IO device that requires more software acumen, but offers more capability. If you're interested in USB, take a look at the book USB Complete by Jan Axelson.

[Wendy]

Hello Alex,

You can check my thread which I recently posted...
http://www.mycockpit.org/forums/showthread.php?t=17697


Regards Wendy

[dnoize]

for a low cost device you could try 'FSLCD'

which sends fs data to the parallel port.

you can connect a cheap 10$ lcd display to the parallel port and fslcd sends the values like nav or com frequencies there.

modern computers dont have a parallel port anymore but cheap 10 dollar usb to parallel converters do the trick too.

Stef

[No Longer Active]

Ok cheers guys for your help.

I was referring to a nav com display situation.

All I want to do is display nav and com frequencies on my radio stack.

It appears that the only way to do it which requires no programming is either
buy discontinued go flight boards, or buy an OC master card then buy the display card, then buy 4 pcb's plus the displays, both options are rather expensive.

There must be an easier way to get the nav com data on to 7 segements displays using a simple pcb or something.

Stef's answer for the LCD'S seems the best yet!

I have FSLCD already so I may grow on this.

Cheers Guys!

Alex