Operating Eight DS1820 Digital Temperature Sensor

The device is a fully featured, jammed packed temperature readout unit used to measure temperature from up to 8 digital temperature sensors all on the same 1-wire bus.

The only three wires needed to go to all temperature sensors consist of GND, VCC, and 1-wire data, wherein all sensors will connect to the same cable. It can measure temperatures in multiple locations having a range of -55°C to +125°C. Using an RS232, it can log up to 8 temperatures to a PC with the aid of a standard terminal program from the Readout Unit.

The communication settings include 8 data bits, 9600bps, and no parity without handshaking. The serial numbers of all devices connected to the display unit are being shown by the RS232 frame. After dumping the serial numbers, the temperature of the devices are then dumped to the terminal in real values. This makes life easier because no conversion is required on the PC side.

Other features that the readout unit provide includes displaying of up to 2 temperatures on the LCD panel, backlighting LCD with ON/OFF control, using the very cheap Atmel AT90S2313, and using DS1302 real time clock.

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