In case you missed it - the topic continues across in the "Build Blogs" section

blogs/77106

Hello Spock66 - thank you for your kind comments...

It looks like you have acheived some great projects with Arduino. I love the way that with any program there is more than one way to skin the cat - normally at least 3 ways to do the same thing.

The Morse programme is a great example - I have an alternative set of code which does the same thing but the approach is very different.

It was written by another radio amateur - Mark VandeWettering K6HX

The code can be accessed here -

https://gist.github.com/dwhacks/9a73e444191ba1c08431

Hi All,
Firstly I can't recommend G6SWJ tutorial on Arduino highly enough. It is a great step by step introduction to a huge world of fun. Well Done sir!

Secondly in response to a point about Morse in Arduino, I wonder if there's a half way house for members who don't feel inclined, or maybe even terrified, about learning a whole new approach, i.e. Arduino IDE interface.
So, at the risk of being 'shouted at', can I offer a simple Morse program, in Arduino, written as an Instructable by Chris Weatherford - to whom credit must be duly given. (There's a link below).

I have no connection to either Mr Weatherford or Instructables, but it's a great intro if you understand a few very limited points.

1/ Make sure your required Morse signal in placed in between the quotation marks in the line containing
char stringToMorseCode[] = "Arduino Morse Code Project";

2/ you do not need to put a loudspeaker in the 'loop' just put another led instead - it won't do anything, just sit there!

3/ Experiment with the contents of the line-

// At the end of the string long pause before looping and starting again
LightsOff(8000);

You will quickly see that altering the value LightsOff(8000); to something like 1000, or even 100000, will give you an idea of what 'time' really means in a program. Once you have an idea of how long something really lasts for you can even mess around with the values in the group of lines starting -
int dotLen = 100; // length of the morse code 'dot'
int dashLen = dotLen * 3; // length of the morse code 'dash'
int elemPause = dotLen; // length of the pause between elements of a character
int Spaces = dotLen * 3; // length of the spaces between characters
int wordPause = dotLen * 7; // length of the pause between words -

You'll see that changing 'dotLen * 14' can really affect the length of pause between words!

Incidentally, if your Morse signal will never include some letter of the alphabet, then delete those blocks of line from your copy 'ino'.


4/ Check your connections on the breadboard, check your typing and most of all when you copy and paste the Instructable code into the Arduino IDE, save it, and then save again with a new name (something like anomorse.ino) so that the original always exists, if fat fingers or confusion overtake you.

5/ Enjoy!

I really hope you all follow G6SJW's great concept, but perhaps if you wish to dive in and get a result for the cost of an Arduino Uno clone, from Ebay UK for a couple of pounds (I even saw one on Amazon UK today for £6.95) some leds and resistors, with a sprinkling of luck, you'll have your model signalling in no time.

https://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Morse-Code/

Hi Spock66,
I am sorry to hear you have been having a rough time just lately, but glad that you have still got your sense of humour and will be back to building soon.

Martin555.

Back to building again sounds good to me and good you are felling better.
Rick

Jonathan.
I’ll give it a try.
Bill.👍

Firstly, sorry for being away for so long - spent a while at the large white building with Dr's and Nurses all doing brilliantly to stabilise the old brain nasty again! Legs are truly history now, but humour is still here and in a week or two should be back to building again.

Arduino has been a godsend for me. Disability does limit some soldering and placement skills, but I can still manoeuvre a solid wire into a hole in either a Uno or a Nano size board. So even with limits I use the digital output to control a radar rotation to very fine limits and because it is PWM it really enables extreme realism. I hook up a Nano to a relay and control anchor capstans up and down in a regular fashion (you'd be amazed at how long a time you can program a function to take), all my Morse signals are coded into a Uno and run off a repeating loop. My gun traverses on a servo (again using PWM) to a fixed position, raises the barrel, rotates back, lowers the barrel and all done with very simple code in the Arduino.

My background ( before the brain went "t£&ts up"?

No, apart from basic many years ago, I am no computer nerd. You just need to think in steps like how do I teach an alien to open the door (step 1, define what a door is!) and be prepared to make goofs and foul-ups - normally of the slipped finger variety. there are also thousands of pre-coded libraries (or lines of program) for us to use, amend to what we need and most are licence free - true open source.
So give it a whirl - cost is very low, mistakes don't generally 'fry' anything and rather than wishing for a 40 channel RC to give you every feature you ever wanted, get into Arduino or even Raspberry pi (sorry I'm an Arduino guy) and let your imagination run much freer.

Yes definitely interested in learning a new skill.
Cheers Colin.

If I learn to program an Arduino, how much will a typical installation cost? £15-£20

What is needed to get started? Arduino Uno or Nano board, USB cable, Computer, some jumper cables, a few LEDS, resistors

Are there several levels of equipment? Yes but Arduino Uno or Arduino Nano will suffice for a long time

Will the initial cost cover fault finding if I make a mistake? No - fault finding is down to you. There are support forums but the Official Arduino one is a scary place to hang out even for an experienced user! -

Is fault finding difficult? Yes & No - most of he time the IDE compiler will indicate what is wrong, most common fault is not terminating a line of code with a semi colon. After a while you get familiar with common issues and know what/where to look for error.

If I fail (again, I got nowhere with PICs), is there a second hand market for the bits? - Not really

Will my 16 channel controller become obsolete? No

I already have trouble knowing which button turns on which item....

If you are interested in learning more about Arduino then

Click on the link

blogs/77106