Butterfly missing photocell?

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The_village_idiot
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Posted by The_village_idiot: Sat. Dec 22, 2007 - 09:26 PM
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I just received the tutorial kit from Smiley Micros, and noticed that my butterfly does not have the photocell on it. Is this going to get in the way of any of the lessons in his book? If not I'll go ahead and solder the connectors on and get started. I doubt I'll ever use the photocell so I'm not real concerned except that for all I know it is used in the lesson in the book. If anyone has the part number or even correct type of cell I can just order one and install it.

And yes I did think about sending an email to him about this, but with the holiday looming I thought I would get a better response time here in the forums.

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AVR Microcontrollers, megaAVR and tinyAVR
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daqq
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Posted by daqq: Sat. Dec 22, 2007 - 09:29 PM
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AFAIK RoHS does not allow the use of photoresistor, which has something in it. You know, you could eat it or something...

There are pointy haired bald people.
Time flies when you have a bad prescaler selected.

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Bronze Marktheusch
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Posted by theusch: Sat. Dec 22, 2007 - 09:54 PM
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Quote:

Search for Keywords: butterfly rohs
Search for all terms

Search found 12 matches
...

You can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig.

I've never met a pig I didn't like, as long as you have some salt and pepper.

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blader
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Posted by blader: Sat. Dec 22, 2007 - 10:04 PM
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hehe

like daqq said, the photodiode isn't RoHS certified so therefore removed. BUt just buy it and put it on yourself.

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smileymicros
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Posted by smileymicros: Sat. Dec 22, 2007 - 10:05 PM
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When the Butterfly went thru ROHS qualification, Atmel removed the photocell which contains cadmium. Since they no longer supply the Butterfly with the photocell, I split my products into the Butterfly-- which is just a raw Butterfly, and the Butterfly++ which has extra helpful components including the photocell. In the line immediately before the order table I say:

Quote:
The -- (minus minus) in Butterfly-- refers to the new Atmel AVR Butterflies, which due to RoHS no longer include the CdS light sensor. But you can get a suitable replacement light sensor with the Butterly++ Mini-Kit.
In bold no less, so short of adding sound to the website and shouting 'IT AIN'T GOT A LIGHT SENSOR!!!" I'm not sure what I can do. And, no you aren't the first person who thinks they got ripped over this issue.

And the light sensor is used in the book, but it is only supplementary to other similar exercises and not a core issue.

Smiley

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daqq
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Posted by daqq: Sat. Dec 22, 2007 - 10:15 PM
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You can get one for approx 1$ here, but unfortunately only old suplies. Dunno where you are nor if you can get it there.

Funny thing is, that NOONE seems to have a problem with NiCd batteries.

There are pointy haired bald people.
Time flies when you have a bad prescaler selected.

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The_village_idiot
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Posted by The_village_idiot: Sat. Dec 22, 2007 - 10:38 PM
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I'm not thinking that I got ripped for not having it, just concerned that it may be required for some of the lessons. In the really real world I doubt I would ever use it.

I think Radio Shack still has CDS cells and I need to go there to pick up some cheapo switches for a test panel for another project.

And (in my own defense) on the page that I ordered from It does clearly say that it has the CDS cell included:
http://www.smileymicros.com/inde...

Quote:

Parts List

Book:
1 C Programming for Microcontrollers
1 CD with
---Book Projects Source Code
---WinAVR C Compiler Tool Set
---AVRStudio
---Brays Terminal
---ATmega169 Data Book

Butterfly++ Mini-Kit:
1 AVR Butterfly
1 CdS light sensor
1 Battery Box with switch - 2AA
1 LED
1 Resistor
1 DB-9 Female Connector
1 9" wire

Projects Kit:
1 Solderless Breadboard
1 Jumper wire kit
10 LED Red 3mm
1 2-pin header - for Butterfly I/O
1 4-pin header - for Butterfly I/O
2 10-pin dual row headers - for Butterfly I/O
1 1N4001 Diode
1 9V Battery Snap
10 Resistor 1/8 W 5% 150 Ohm
30 Resistor 1/8 W 5% 2.2k Ohm
1 Opto Interrupter H21A1
1 Opto Isolator 4N25
1 Power Transistor TIP-115
1 Motor DC 6-12V
1 Potentiometer 10K
1 Switch DIP SPST 8pos
2' Wire 22awg solid - black
2' Wire 22awg solid - blue
2' Wire 22awg solid - green
2' Wire 22awg solid - red
2' Wire 22awg solid - white
2' Wire 22awg solid - yellow

I looked over the bag of parts and looked inside the box several times to see if it was something that I needed to solder in, but it was not there.

At the price of shipping to return it, it isn't worth the cost. I'll just put a different CDS cell on there and hope for the best.

And again, not bitching, just wanted to know if I needed it for the lesson, which I now know I kind of do need it. I'll take a look at the links and see what I find, my search before posting obviously used different keywords and brought zero results or I wouldn't have bothered to post at all. I'm not a complete noob to these places, but if the keywords bring up nothing what do you expect? I'm not going to drill down through every single post with the word "butterfly" in it!

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steve17
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Posted by steve17: Sat. Dec 22, 2007 - 11:10 PM
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Just about any CDS cell should work. Atmel put an extra resistor on the board in place of the sensor, for unknown reasons. You will probably get better results if you remove it.

It's described in this thread:
https://www.avrfreaks.net/index.p...

Just for the record, here are the specs on the genuine original Butterfly light sensor:

Attachment(s): 

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daqq
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Posted by daqq: Sat. Dec 22, 2007 - 11:20 PM
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steve17: Be wary! Not any photoresistor will work! AFAIK they made them both with BIG resistances and with LITTLE resistances.

See https://www.avrfreaks.net/index.p... for an example of a low resistance one.

There are pointy haired bald people.
Time flies when you have a bad prescaler selected.

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steve17
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Posted by steve17: Sun. Dec 23, 2007 - 01:01 AM
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Yeah, I see what you mean. 100 ohms in dim light! The ones I've seen are more like 1 million ohms in dim light.

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The_village_idiot
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Posted by The_village_idiot: Sun. Dec 23, 2007 - 01:04 AM
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Thanks, I'll read through the threads and see what I can find.

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smileymicros
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Posted by smileymicros: Sun. Dec 23, 2007 - 02:52 AM
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The_village_idiot wrote:
And again, not bitching, just wanted to know if I needed it for the lesson, which I now know I kind of do need it. I'll take a look at the links and see what I find, my search before posting obviously used different keywords and brought zero results or I wouldn't have bothered to post at all. I'm not a complete noob to these places, but if the keywords bring up nothing what do you expect? I'm not going to drill down through every single post with the word "butterfly" in it!

It should have been in the battery box. If it wasn't there then it was an oversight on our part and if you'll send me your address, I'll send you a light sensor. I can use a first class envelope, so it won't cost me much.

Smiley

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