The better part of a decade of dreaming, a few months of solid CALCnet2.2 development, and a month of globalCALCnet (gCn) work has at last brought us to the first released beta of the software necessary to connect your calculators to the internet. As previously discussed here on Cemetech, calculator networks connected over gCn appear to the constituent calculators as a single, unified local network, so that users can chat, play games, and even access internet resources over globalCALCnet. For example, gCn has been connected to IRC (Internet Relay Chat) so that not only can gCn users chat with each other via their calculators from hundreds or thousands of miles away, but can also chat with IRC users around the world. The two files below respectively contain the software necessary to connect your calculators to globalCALCnet, and information on the hardware needed to connect a CALCnet2.2 network to your computer. With a simple Arduino microcontroller board and a few miscellaneous components, a CALCnet2.2 network of one, two, or a thousand calculators can be connected to a piece of computer software called gCnClient and thence to the rest of the world. The gCnClient has been built for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, so anyone should be able to use it. Full instructions are also included for programming your Arduino from any operating system to function as a gCn bridge. Please test out this beta software, make sure it works well, post photos of your gCn bridge/hub devices, and most importantly, chat and play games over globalCALCnet!

Downloads
gCn (globalCALCnet) Client v0.8 Beta
On the Setup of a globalCALCnet (gCn) Client and Bridge

I can't test this since I don't have an Arduino, so all I can say is keep up the good work. Smile
souvik1997 wrote:
I can't test this since I don't have an Arduino, so all I can say is keep up the good work. Smile
Thanks Souvik! You're not considering getting one? Sad If the price-point of around $30 is a big concern for a lot of people, I'm hoping to be able to design a cheap one, around $10 including all the parts, based on some great ideas that Ben Ryves tossed around with me.
I can easily buy an Arduino, but I don't know if I am allowed to. Sad
I may get an arduino, looking online, it is cheap. Look at my school, I will see if I can get the five finger discount on it...

/me runs
souvik1997 wrote:
I can easily buy an Arduino, but I don't know if I am allowed to. Sad
Oh, I see, that's unfortunate. Sad I wonder if a lot of community members are going to be in a similar position. Regarding the software, at any rate, Merthsoft seems to have no trouble using this release, and although graphmastur is having problems, I think his 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter is at fault.

@Qazz: Tsk tsk, I do not approve. Razz
Or I can ask the computer electronics teacher for one... he has a crapload of various circuit boards, he may or may not have one Very Happy
qazz42 wrote:
Or I can ask the computer electronics teacher for one... he has a crapload of various circuit boards, he may or may not have one Very Happy
That would be nice if he shared. Smile Speaking of hardware, I want to find a nice little enclosure to put my gcnBridge into at some point.
It helps that I am good at getting on people's good sides XD (thats how I got my silverlink....)
I really need to get Arduino actually, this looks great!

btw, Kerm, has anyone besides you actually tried this yet? Very Happy
qazz42 wrote:
It helps that I am good at getting on people's good sides XD (thats how I got my silverlink....)
Ah, very nice. Smile So, has anyone checked this out yet? I'm planning to write a globalCALCnet whitepaper; should I expand this PDF into the whitepaper, or leave it as a gCn readme and make a separate whitepaper about how gCn works?

Edit: Yunhua: When Elfprince13 was staying at my house this past week, he successfully tested it on his Mac, Merthsoft has successfully built and tested this with a pair of calculators and an Arduino from several hundred miles away, and graphmastur is trying to solve problems with his hardware. If you hung out in #cemetech you'd know all this, do you IRC? Wink
I have not finished it, but I was looking at the Arduino building section, looks simple enough. to be sure, I should get the same Arduino you have, right?
yeah, but I've been pretty busy for a while. Wink I think the last time I got on with an actual client was over a month ago, let me check...

EDIT: wait, it was a 8 days, but IIRC, it was only for 10 mins...
qazz42 wrote:
I have not finished it, but I was looking at the Arduino building section, looks simple enough. to be sure, I should get the same Arduino you have, right?
I know for a fact that it works with the Arduino Duemilanove. I am almost positive it will work on the newer Arduino Uno, and it may also work on the Arduino Diecemila, although I'm not positive that this older platform will have enough RAM.
Duemilanove is the type I am getting, woo!

I didnt read all of it but is a link to the sockets I would need in the pdf? I cannot seem to find one/it
qazz42 wrote:
Duemilanove is the type I am getting, woo!

I didnt read all of it but is a link to the sockets I would need in the pdf? I cannot seem to find one/it
The last item on this page for 45 cents each would work well:

http://www.futurlec.com/Audio-Phono.shtml
thanks, now to save some monies
qazz42 wrote:
thanks, now to save some monies
Excellent. I'd like to find a source for inexpensive Arduinos as well, although thus far I've been unsuccessful. TIFreak is actually the one that discovered Futurelec; they're four or five times cheaper than RadioShack for those components.
I have found one for just 20 or 25, cant find teh link though ><
qazz42 wrote:
I have found one for just 20 or 25, cant find teh link though ><
I found a bunch of knockoffs that look decent, although I don't know how the build quality is:

http://www.ecrater.com/p/9787437/atmega328-arduino-compatible-usb-board
http://www.jkdevices.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=61
http://iteadstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=161

If you search eBay, there are also a lot of sellers from Hong Kong that have boards that are near or less than $20 when you factor in shipping. The main downside is the slow shipping.
  
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