serial data monitor large display?

[coppercone2]

Does anyone have a combo of a large display and something like a PIC mcu that can be put together to produce a serial data stream monitor independent of a computer? with all the display libraries handled.

Can you get something like a 4x40 display but say 16x40, as one device?

[Renate]

I don't know where you're headed for portability etc, but how about:
An Android cell phone (either your own usual one or an old spare), a FTDI USB converter connected on USB OTG and an Android app.
(There may be an existing app, but I'd just write my own.)
If this is an old Android you might even be able to find an accessible internal UART and just use that.

[l0wside]

How about these? https://www.lcd-module.com/produkte/edip.html

Don´t expect them to be cheap, however.

[DrG]

Does anyone have a combo of a large display and something like a PIC mcu that can be put together to produce a serial data stream monitor independent of a computer? with all the display libraries handled.

Can you get something like a 4x40 display but say 16x40, as one device?

Here are a couple of suggestions...

A VT-52  - Tried and True


At about 44 lbs [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/vt52.html], it does not, however, carry well in the pocket.

https://hackaday.io/project/13273-diy-vt100-a-miniature-hardware-terminal This one may be a bit more to your liking.

as would this one with VGA or composite video out https://geoffg.net/terminal.html

Alternatively, you could build your own using 4 of these:
https://www.mpja.com/4-X-20-LCD-Character-Display-White-on-Blue/productinfo/34346+OP/

To be a little more thoughtful...If you ONLY want to tap into an alphanumeric serial stream with little or no regard to handling any control codes and the like (all that stuff that gets included when making a terminal emulator), then it becomes a whole lot easier and depends a lot on the display you want to use - and what is in the onboard character memory or in your font firmware.

As it turned out, while reading your post, I was playing around with a little 1.8" SPI graphic LCD (128x160 pixels) and quickly printed some characters to the screen in different font sizes....



It also depends on your eyes But slapping one of these onto a PIC or even a little Arduino board that just displays whatever comes in and can be displayed (again, restricted to what codes you can and want to display) is pretty easy ... [some baud rate selection or auto-baud code] and a serial port with whatever interface you might need (3.3 or 5 on board or some extra circuitry for old style RS232 that stuff).

(yes, I was joking about the VT-52)

[janoc]

Raspberry Pi and either a cheap TFT module if you can make do with a small screen or connect a computer monitor to it. In addition you can connect a regular USB keyboard to it too and use it as input as well - something your PIC would be hard-pressed to do.

[coppercone2]

yea i want a small device I can tap into a serial data stream to show me whats going on in a larger device

i am disappointed that a 16x40 display is 250 euro, since the 4x40 are like 10 dollars each.

I was hoping to keep it simple with what I know so this project is not a big deal, I had EMI issues with TFT displays before making something simple turn into a total bastard (their module would not work with a cable extension), whereas my experience with the x40 displays has been stellar with crappy design.

I barely want to do this project and if I need to figure out decoupling after i extend something by 2 inches its a problem. I am used to stuff being touchy like that to pass a compliance, but for it to just stop working totally is new, which is what I had with a TFT shield a while back. This thing reset looped after it was extended vertically by 2 inches, meaning dual CPU system, since the TFT needed to have a MCU right under it to work. And it was just extended on headers that move right up, not like a cable. I am sure it was not a continuity error because I got SLIGHTLY less nasty reset loop when I did some stuff with braid and ground points........ . Anyway total bullshit for the ease of use you are supposed to get with shields etc, it would have been easier to design an entire PCB then figure out that retarded signal integrity problem. About as useful as a deck of cards because it will never translate to a realistic system! rapid prototyping my balls, you get a design that does not migrate at all to the real world with a TFT shield from my experience. And its not like you can copy the shield because the parts used are not economical most likely and you need to change code afterwards so you might as well not use it.

 Those chinese LCD modules are happy to work with minimum libraries and cheapest poorly crimped long thin gauge extension header with connectors that loosely fit into other connectors on a ghetto bread board. Extremely robust display solution, I am lucky to have started working on that component with my first designs. I can certainly make a TFT work, but its just not worth the frustration,

the 40lb device seems like a better bet. Can it do SPI or only RS232?

and, there is no standard chinese type 16x40 or similar display available for modest cost?

[Doctorandus_P]

Hackaday was already mentioned once, but it has many links to terminal related posts and projects.
Just choose one of the 100+ or so projects you like best.
https://hackaday.com/?s=terminal

[DrG]

yea i want a small device I can tap into a serial data stream to show me whats going on in a larger device

i am disappointed that a 16x40 display is 250 euro, since the 4x40 are like 10 dollars each.

I was hoping to keep it simple with what I know so this project is not a big deal, I had EMI issues with TFT displays before making something simple turn into a total bastard (their module would not work with a cable extension), whereas my experience with the x40 displays has been stellar with crappy design.

I barely want to do this project and if I need to figure out decoupling after i extend something by 2 inches its a problem. I am used to stuff being touchy like that to pass a compliance, but for it to just stop working totally is new, which is what I had with a TFT shield a while back. This thing reset looped after it was extended vertically by 2 inches, meaning dual CPU system, since the TFT needed to have a MCU right under it to work. And it was just extended on headers that move right up, not like a cable. I am sure it was not a continuity error because I got SLIGHTLY less nasty reset loop when I did some stuff with braid and ground points........ . Anyway total bullshit for the ease of use you are supposed to get with shields etc, it would have been easier to design an entire PCB then figure out that retarded signal integrity problem. About as useful as a deck of cards because it will never translate to a realistic system! rapid prototyping my balls, you get a design that does not migrate at all to the real world with a TFT shield from my experience. And its not like you can copy the shield because the parts used are not economical most likely and you need to change code afterwards so you might as well not use it.

 Those chinese LCD modules are happy to work with minimum libraries and cheapest poorly crimped long thin gauge extension header with connectors that loosely fit into other connectors on a ghetto bread board. Extremely robust display solution, I am lucky to have started working on that component with my first designs. I can certainly make a TFT work, but its just not worth the frustration,

the 40lb device seems like a better bet. Can it do SPI or only RS232?

and, there is no standard chinese type 16x40 or similar display available for modest cost?

You can get a large 2 X 40 character display on the cheap, even with I2C https://www.ebay.com/itm/Blue-IIC-I2C-TWI-Character-40x2-Serial-LCD-Module-Display-for-Arduino-w-Library/293187606151?hash=item444357d687:g:sGMAAOSwBPldU9CP

Easy controller, simple Arduino libraries available if you want. Write some scrolling routines and a freeze button - enhance buffer size, whatever. Sounds like you just want a simple tool.

[ChristofferB]

I've been using a serial thermal printer for just this purpose

[coppercone2]

would an old calculator happen to have that? I have a roll calculator I had extreme difficulty selling and its not worth much

[BrianHG]

If you have any FPGA experience, 40 column, 80 column, heck 1080p 240 column or 120 column 16x32 font output to any display could be done with a bottom end 6$ fpga, even VGA out.  Never miss a character, or have simultaneous Hex and ASCII on each half of a 16:9 display.

[coppercone2]

no thats not the direction where I want to head with this

I am very interested in that printer.

[BrianHG]

no thats not the direction where I want to head with this

I am very interested in that printer.

Too bad, because such completed products already exist:
http://microvga.com/
Just add an MCU in between if you want to trap, store or modify characters coming through,

Sorry, my bad, you want a character module, not a character generator.

[BrianHG]

I haven't a clue or tried it myself, but here is a monochrome high res VGA output from a MCU with source:

https://github.com/smaffer/espvgax

You get WiFi as a freebee...


Sorry, they say it's not stable if you use the WiFi or Serial port when when running the VGA code.

[m k]

would an old calculator happen to have that? I have a roll calculator I had extreme difficulty selling and its not worth much

How old, dot matrix with ribbon?
How fluently you do decimal coded binary?

[texaspyro]

Raspberry Pi with the "official" 800x480 touchscreen mounted in a Smarti Pi case along with an appropriate level converter.  Run any serial terminal program.  Total cost around $100

[Renate]

$64 Walmart 8" Android tablet.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/onn-8-Tablet-16GB-Android-Navy-Blue-Bonus-20-off-Walmart-eBooks-Included/767511102
Root it and use an internal UART.

[DrG]

$64 Walmart 8" Android tablet.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/onn-8-Tablet-16GB-Android-Navy-Blue-Bonus-20-off-Walmart-eBooks-Included/767511102
Root it and use an internal UART.

Off of the thread topic, but DamU @Renate

For S&G I went to your link and found that it is only - US$30! (7 left). I was tempted to pull the trigger...$30 is not a whole lot of $. Then I caught myself and did a little bit of searching and quickly found https://forum.xda-developers.com/walmart-onn-tablets/walmart-onn-tablets-general/how-to-unlock-root-xposed-onn-8-walmart-t3945284 For unlocking and rooting. Just using it as a $30 display would be cool.

Then, sanity prevailed. I do not know Android program except in the barest minimum sense of the word. Yes, it is on the list, but there is much on the list and it has been dragging me down to have a never-ending list. So, for the last few (6) months, I have been just sticking to the list. An 8" (sort of) color screen for $30 is one heck of a deal....if you have the knowledge and/or time to gain the knowledge. My cooler head prevailed, but it is/was a good suggestion.


EDIT: OK, I confess that I thought WTH I am up for a $30 toy...but no joy - that price is from one store only and is a pickup. Thank goodness

[Renate]

That price is from one store only and is a pickup. Thank goodness

Hmm, I checked my local store and it was $49.
Whatever you do, do not be tempted by any RCA tablet at any price!

Edit: Walmart has the Onn 8" on clearance and is rolling out new, upgraded models.
Still, I would have bitten for $30.

[DrG]

That price is from one store only and is a pickup. Thank goodness

Hmm, I checked my local store and it was $49.
Whatever you do, do not be tempted by any RCA tablet at any price!

Edit: Walmart has the Onn 8" on clearance and is rolling out new, upgraded models.
Still, I would have bitten for $30.

The Onn 8" for $30 is in the San Leandro, CA 94577 store. Now, why that came up on my screen first is not clear. I am nowhere near there nor is the ISP I was using at the time. They still say they have 7 of them. But other places, as you noted, are higher priced. I did see those RCA's that were cheap and 'unliked' by many.

I will keep it in mind if I can ever get prolific enough with Android programming - it does sort of bother me that you could get a screen that size with all the other stuff (include WiFi and BLE) but I see nothing at a similar price anywhere for just the screen alone that could be used in your projects!

[mariush]

A 2$ pic is fast enough to produce a monochrome vga signal at something like 640x480 or even higher.
A used 10-14" lcd monitor is less than 40$ even on newegg... sometimes  free on various sites.

You can replace the internal power supply of such monitor with a lithium battery (2-3 18650 batteries in series) and a step-up/boost regulator
... most monitors run from 12v..20v or you can get basic lcd controller boards from eBay for a few dollars.

[m k]

I have an old and small widescreen open right now and its power has HV for lamps, +5V and unused, probably full output of +22V.
Mains fuse is 3,15A and stamped rate is 1A.

Extra space inside them seems to be also a norm.

[DrG]

That price is from one store only and is a pickup. Thank goodness

Hmm, I checked my local store and it was $49.
Whatever you do, do not be tempted by any RCA tablet at any price!

Edit: Walmart has the Onn 8" on clearance and is rolling out new, upgraded models.
Still, I would have bitten for $30.

As it turns out, the more I thought and read, the more I decided I want one just to play around with, so I sprung for this one:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/azpen-7-touch-screen-tablet-android-q-10-1gb-black/6436601.p?skuId=6436601

For only $50, I owe myself a new toy   I'll know more after it comes in (free shipping).

BTW: with regard to the thread topic, there are several terminal programs that run on Android devices. Was playing around with this one https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.kai_morich.serial_usb_terminal&hl=en_US&gl=US tonight using my Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 and, it works. I don't know how well it could keep up with very fast Baud rates, but it does work.