[chbot] Lcd Problem

[Ben Devine]

On 1/18/07, Andrew Errington <a.errington@lancaster.ac.uk> wrote:
> > Looking at doing a carputer. But Im still unsure, Im using the un-used
> > ps2 port to draw +5v for the lcd. Its mounted in a lightbulb box. Its
> > amazing how much difference a decent soldering station can help, I
> > tried this around 6months ago with a cheapie $30 soldering iron.
>
> Gnarly!  I built one a while back, for playing MP3s in the car.  It was
> most excellent- let me know if I can help with anything specific.
>
> My soldering iron of choice at the moment is the Dick Smith battery
> operated one T2502.  It has a fine tip, and stays cold (??! No, that's a
> good thing!).  When you press the button it heats up in about 10 seconds,
> and you can solder with it for ages (or for a short time).
>
> I see Dickie's now carries the ColdHeat soldering iron T2510.  I have heard
> these are very good.  The tip heats up almost instantly.
>
> To run my soldering iron I bought a set of Varta fast charge AA cells and a
> charger.  They recharge in 15 minutes.  I used to use a gas soldering iron,
> but I found I was using a lot of gas (mostly because it seemed to excape
> from the iron over a few weeks if it was not used), and it was fiddly to
> light and took a couple of minutes to warm up.
I might look into getting one as I have just been "borrowing" my works one.

> I sometimes miss having a 'proper' soldering station on my bench though.
>
> > > The next meeting will be 21 February, being the third Wednesday of an
> > > even-numbered month.
> >
> > Excellent.
> > I shall Attend.
>

On the way home from work Im going to pop in-to DSE and pickup
http://tinyurl.com/ysnc2e , It looks like a very good base for a
simple line follower,
Any Suggestion on what controller I should look at getting Picaxe, stamp, other?

Thanks,
Ben Devine