X-Message-Number: 8490 From: (Randy) Newsgroups: sci.cryonics Subject: Cryo Member alert system Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 22:58:45 GMT Message-ID: <> Having been looking at another possibility for an emergency alert system for cryos. Radio Shack sells two versions of a programmable microcontroller: BASIC Stamp D (EEPROM with 256 bytes, 8 I/O pins, $35) and BASIC Stamp II (EEPROM with 2K bytes, 16 I/o pins, $50). These microcontrollers can be set up to monitor hardware inputs output signals, such as DTMF dialtones. They are programmed by custom BASIC editor that comes with the microcontroller and is loaded from your PC through the serial or parallel ports. They can be powered by a 9 volt battery. Here is an excerpt from Shack website of a free program using the 256 byte controller to page someone after receiving a certain input signal from monitored hardware inputs: > Filename : PAGER.BAS > URL : http://www.labyrinth.net.au/~donmck >--------------------------------------------------------------------- > Description : > > This program for the Basic Stamp is used to monitor 4 hardware > signals. If a change takes place, (after testing for a false trigg- > er) then a cheap 2400 baud MODEM is used to dial into a Telecom I wonder if we need a modem? > Alpha-Numeric pager. It leaves a message which consists of a 2 digit > I.D. (01 to 99) followed by the 4 signal levels of pins 3 to 0. > > Status of the signal levels message: 0=Low, 1=High. EG: "011110" > means Unit "01" has pins 3, 2, and 1 high, and pin 0 is low. > > A "Ring-In" feature is also included. By ringing the MODEM for a > short period, then hanging up, the Stamp will dial your Pager and > report the current hardware status of these four signals. > > This program uses about half of the available memory, so if the user > wishes to add enchancements such as "Multiple Ring-In's" say within > a minute, for a command selection, there is plenty of program space Does anyone know if this setup will work with Cryocare or Alcor pagers? Here's another problem: I was thinking of hooking up inputs to one of these microcontrollers to a working infrared detector I already have set up, and perhaps a couple of vibration-detection switches, which can be adjusted for sensitivity, and placed near areas where the cryonicist would normally be walking, or perhaps set under or in the mattress. Lack of change in the inputs hooked up these devices would trigger the sending of the appropriate dial tones. I have written simple programs would could accomplish this, but only on a PC or mainframe, which has a time clock. As the following excerpt from the Radio Shack website explains, there is no time clock: >> Does the BASIC Stamp include a real time clock function? No. If you need to keep track of time, especially dates and time, it is best to interface a real time clock to the BASIC Stamp.. Many are available from various manufacturers. The RTC’s with a serial interface are usually the best choice as they require fewer I/O pins from the BASIC Stamp to function properly. >> I wonder however, if square waves could be created and used as a rough timer. These microcontrollers do generate square waves. Randy Cryonics: Gateway to the Future? http://members.wbs.net/homepages/c/r/y/cryofan1.html *********************************** Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=8490