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[on:]

Are there any alternatives to the TellyMate shield? I want to impliment it perminately, but I don't want to "waste" $30....

[Reply #1 on:]

I want to impliment it perminately, but I don't want to "waste" $30....

I own a TellyMate and think it's a very nice product at a fair price. That aside they did publish the design and code so you are free to build your own. It will run off a AVRmega8, 168 or 328 althought some of the newer software functions (expanded fonts) require the larger memory space of the 168 & 328.

How much do you wish to waste for a video interface?  

Lefty

[Reply #2 on:]

Well, I wanted to build my own... I knew that I would be able to copy the schematic, but I didn't know that the code was available... Is it arduino or avr?

[Reply #3 on:]

due to the very tight timing requirements its avr, but I think there is a hex file so you can just load up the isp sketch and upload though avrdude

[Reply #4 on:]

Have you tried the tvout library?:

http://code.google.com/p/arduino-tvout/

I haven't used it personally, but from the demos I have seen, its fairly nice...

 

[Reply #5 on:]

Yes use my library
Depends on what you are doing though making a tellemate would be better for text where as TVout is more suited to general graphics.

If you do use TVout I would suggest using the version found in the source section and not one of the ones in a zip file as the pinout has changed and I have a working Serial library.

[Reply #6 on:]

Just as an example, you could look up the Hackvision by nootropic design to show what is being done with the TVout library  

Using that library on another chip you could make your own tv shield realtively cheap.

Mowcius

[Reply #7 on:]

You can also run a second Arduino as a dedicated TellyMate...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pixelfrenzy/3774232393/

I guess it boils down to wether your preference is for graphics or text.
The TellyMate is primarily a text output device. Any 'graphics' output is done by redefining the character set.
The TVout solution is primarily graphics output (but text is clearly possible!).

There's also a kit version of the TellyMate available now.
I would not call it a 'shield', but it will straddle the Arduino if required.
It's a few quid cheaper than the Shield - Google's currency conversion says it'd be around 20USD including P&P.

Here's a picture of it straddling my Roboduino variant:

[Reply #8 on:]

Well, can someone point me to the code for the tellymate?

[Reply #9 on:]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=tellymate&l=1

scroll down firmware + hex

sheesh