EEVblog #313 - Bus Pirate LCD Debugging

Getting a Newhaven 8x2 LCD display working with the Bus Pirate.
And some unexpected debugging.

Join the EEVblog Electronics Community Forum:
Dave's Amazon Store:
Donations:
Projects:
Electronics Info Wiki:

[mikeselectricstuff]

The 40x2 layout can be handy - put debug info in the hidden area, connect a big display for debugging - no code changes!.

[iantube]

Thanks for including the Bus Pirate. We updated the LCD adapter with the 2x8 header. I can't post a link, but it's on our frontpage.

[EEVblog]

Yeah, it all seems quite weird. Adafruit seem to sell the old one. Haven't looked into the details. The web page user info is quite messy and hard to understand too.

[Trevs-Shed]

Good stuff. Just bought an UNO plus some displays, SSR, s and max31855 k type amp for my new pre-heater project.

A timely video. Thanks Dave.

[tp]

I remember my first PIC "project" was simply displaying "hello" on a 2x16 display. I used one of those <10 component DIY parallel programmers you hate, hehe :D - The smoke you can generate by putting in a PIC16 backwards, woops.

[tmc]

I'm trying to connect to a vintage heathkit microprocessor trainer so I'll check out that tera term. Thanks

[EEVblog]

Plenty of mixed bag ones on Ebay. Newhaven make some nice PCB mount 16x2 ones under 5mm thick with backlight. NHD-C0216CZ

[Plasma]

Nice video! You can get these LCDs (blue, with a backlight) for just $2-$3 off ebay, and I believe they're not much thicker than this one! I have a couple lying around at home, and I think they're quite neat - decent viewing angle and all!

[mikeselectricstuff]

For a really cute little LCD, check out Farnell 1137380 8x2, 21x9mm!

[GiorgioCapocasa]

Really, really neat! Might have to take a peek at these Bus Pirates...

[KBUIF]

Good video Dave, I had not heard if the Bus Pirate until now, it looks like a useful tool.

[DMStern]

The BPv4 has mostly worked for me, but I've run into a couple firmware bugs. It is a lot faster than the BPv3 though! There will be a new revision of the BPv4 soon (new form factor only, no functional changes), so you may want to wait until it's out.

[TedRobotBuilder]

Pololu sells a 14 pin version of that display. They have lots of doc on their site for it. I assume yours has the extra 2 pins for a back-light?

[Andrew_Sparrow]

I was looking at the bus pirate just the other day thinking about buying one but out of stock at the time, there is a new and old version and what put me off a little is the description pushing you away from the new version in favour of the old which was odd so I ended up not getting either! Maybe you could get hold of the new version and do a review? I don't really want to buy the old version but if the new one is unstable?

[HighTechCountryBoy]

Gonna use one of these in the power supply project instead of the single led blinking the voltage in morse code? If you want to get totally fancy, you can use pwm for the contrast (and the backlight...but that isn't applicable to this one)

[frac]

That gap in the side of the frame... Would an LED there serve as a side-light with tolerable results?

[AimSkyward]

Awesome, have never heard of Bus Pirate before, how useful is that !!

[mindthomas]

Hi Dave.
Which lens are you using in this video when showing the Bus Pirate board up close? Because I noticed some small pincushion distortion on the edges of the board.

[dwyn]

This was GLORIOUS!!!  Funny, but educational as well!  Did what it was intended to do, now I'm going to stay up late experimenting with my bus pirate and my LCD!  Thanks for leaving the cable mistake in the video!  Shows that you're only human, and encourages those of us that are a bit nervous about making our own mistakes!

[EEVblog]

Maybe. but just buy the backlight version if you want a backlight.