Max7219 Revisit

[Ga-Retired]

Hi everyone,
Just completed the 4digit counter using the Max7219 in the tutorial by Westaust55 using the great little 08m2+.Its working very well but due to my lack of discerning just how the code does what it does is the reason for this post.So with that in mind I wish to ask for some answers to a few questions.
1. I noticed that on Westaust55 excellent tutorial, all of the 'setup and register'commands were in decimal numbers,like,scan limit,decode,intenisty ect.don't know how these numbers were derived,I also have seen these functions using Hex for their setup and I think I've read the data sheet 10 times,I must be losing it!
2. I now want to use the Max7219 along with the 08M2+ driving a 2 digit Led display to read out temperature.So getting the data from the DS18B20 on pin C.4 to the Max7219 code wise is the next hurdle.I'm using C.0 on the 08M2+ for data out to the Max7219.
I know that using a Max7219 to drive a 2 digit display may be overkill but heck,got a bunch of them and I'm trying to learn how this baby works so why not!I know I may have left out some info, but I'm sure I have more questions to come.

Thanks everyone,your help is always appreicated and welcomed
my best,Jeff

 

[BeanieBots]

I've not read westy's tutorial but I have used the MAX7219.
I found the datasheet to be very clear about what registers needed to be set to what value to get the desired result.
Knowing westy, I would expect his code to be well documented explaining what each value does.
It does not matter if the values are expressed in hex, binary or decimal, they're just values. More often than not, configuration data is easier to understand in binary.
I suggest you have a good read of the datasheet as a starting point and then come back with any specific questions you might have.

 

[DirtBiker]

I've not seen Westaust55's write-up either, but I found this page helpful. Near the bottom of the code in the initialization subroutine there is a brief explanation of the each of the registers.