NP-41 Emulator (may be)

[Etienne Victoria]

Hello Chris,

Great project and very interesting prototype/b0 unit.

I'll happily buy one (1) NP41S B0 + options for 85$ USD.
(55$ calc. + 10$ options + 10$ case + 10$ shipping)

Congratulations for the already amazing work !

My Np-25 permanently hangs on my car keychain... That is...when I drive :-)

Etienne

(03-14-2016 04:56 PM)Chris Chung Wrote:  With my left hand (NP41) competing w/ my right hand (NP41S). My plan is to finish the easy NP41S 1st.

I had used the monetary gains from the previous NP25 sales to fuel this project. Especially the high setup cost for the custom LCD glass. I plan to use the same strategy to support on-going projects. I will finish the NP41S (to some extend) and offer them for sale. The income (when accumulated enough sells) will be used to batch order the 41 segment custom glass, plus some SMD tool. And until then will the NP41 be offered.

I had seen enough support for both projects and there is no need to wait for 50 intended takers.

tl;dr NP41 (14 segment version) will be offered after NP41S gains track (2 or 3 dozen units).

And progress since last update, mainly on NP41S

• can now load one rom 4/8k via RealTerm.
• setup allows LCD contrast adjustment, battery voltage reader
• program mode has dynamic user code decoder
• alpha mode show up to 24 characters
  

The more important features that I need to work on is to allow firmware upgrade. Currently the firmware can only be upgraded via a TI Launchpad G2 development board ($10). I intended to work on a bootloader scheme so that we can use a USB-Serial cable to upgrade the firmware. Same cable is used to download ROM images. This, however will mean another version of PCB, or two jumper traces on this version. I think that most would want the firmware upgrade capability as there are many additional features that one can add. So I think it is a must for a general offer.

OTOH, I am still planning to offer up to 4 pre-release units. They will have the same functionality as what I have now. These units will be bundled w/ a Launchpad G2 for firmware upgrade (if you do not have one). I still do not have these ready yet. I am still waiting for the LCD modules from China. When they came it. I can delivery these in a few days. These units I am selling for US$55 assembled and tested. Add $10 if you need the LaunchPad programmer $10. Add another $10 if you want a similar case that I got. The case I am printing will not be perfect and there will be some slight warping on the top side, and they are functional. I hope these will be available in 2 weeks time (all I need are the LCD modules). Shipping will be US$10 as now we need a box.

You can reply and state NP41S B0 (for batch 0) order + options (LaunchPad, 3D case).

I do not want to guess if and how many takers are in for the B0 units (things are not matured yet), and if there are more than 4 takers in 2 days, I want to offer priority to those who had indicated that they want one of these since the beginning of this thread.

If there is no takers, I will be continuing to work on the "general" version and get them ready w/ the needed bootloader scheme.