I have been told that models DC240, DC280, DC3400 and DC5000 use the same protocol.

Protocol for the Kodak DC280:

Hold DTR high for at least 470 milliseconds before starting communications.
Default speed is 9600 baud, 8 bit, no parity, 1 stop bit format.
Take a picture: [$7C,$00,$00,$00,$00,$00,$00,$1A]
I will add more of the specs later...


Steps to control the camera with a Basic Stamp II:
I have only tried this with the DC3400, but it should work with the DC280, DC240 and DC5000
First I cut the serial cable that came with the DC3400. I has six wires. Only three of them are needed to control the camera with the stamp. You could make your own connector instead of cutting the wires, I just found it simpler to cut them

  • Yellow - data
  • Orange - DTR
  • Brown - ground
  • I tried connecting straight to the Basic Stamp II, but that didn't work. The camera seems to need true RS232 levels. For this I got an RS-I serial adapter from AWC Electronics .

    I then connected the Stamp to the RS-I.

  • VDD to +5
  • VSS to ground
  • Pin 15 to R (data)
  • Pin 13 to CT (used to bring DTR high)
  • I then connected the DB9 header of the RS-I to the camera using the serial cord I had just cut.

      9 8 7 6
    5 4 3 2 1
  • Pin 2 to yellow (data)
  • Pin 5 to brown (ground)
  • Pin 8 to orange (DTR)
  • Then just set the camera to connect and run. Here is the sample code.

    '{$STAMP BS2}
    ' Bring the DTR high so the camera will know that it is about to recieve input
    high 13
    pause 970
    ' Use Yellow - data Pin 2
    ' Brown - ground Pin 5
    ' Orange - dtr Pin 8 (use CTS pin)

    Loop:
    BAUD_MODE CON 84
    ' Send out the command to take a picture
    serout 15, BAUD_MODE , [$7C,$00,$00,$00,$00,$00,$00,$1A]
    sleep 5

    goto Loop

    I am not an engineer and can't guarantee that this will not hurt your camera, so use at your own risk!

    Copyright 2002 Chad Phillips. This program is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License .

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