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Re: Another New Hardware Thought
In <f5t6h4-ada.ln1@escape.goid.lan> Charles Shannon Hendrix wrote:
> On 2007-05-05, Roger Johnstone <roger@roger.geek.nz.removethisbit>
> wrote:
>
>> Forget PCs. If you want a simple 8-bit computer system that's still
>> being actively developed and sold buy a microcontroller developer kit.
>> Some of the kits are available for very low prices, the documentation
>> is generally excellent and freely downloadable, and for many there
>> are free BASIC and C compilers available. If you program it in
>> assembly you'll even have the advantage of getting to know what
>> every memory bit and processor cycle is doing :o)
>
> What's a good source for them?
>
> I've not found any trainer boards or SBCs that were not kind of
> expensive.
The only microcontroller I've used is the Microchip PICmicro range, so I
don't really know what's available for the others. The PIC is an 8-bit
RISC microcontroller, available in versions with anywhere from 6 pins to
100+. Just to keep on topic: a PIC was used in the original Apple ADB
mouse.
http://microchip.com
A lot of hobbyists start with the Parallax BASIC Stamp. The original
version was a small module with a PIC containing a BASIC interpreter in
ROM, and an EEPROM chip which held the tokenised BASIC program. The
Stamp was then programmed from a PC via a serial port. They still sell
versions of this, and I see they're also now selling a chip containing
eight 32-bit CPUs, for US $12.95! The same chip is used in their $200
HYDRA video game development kit.
http://www.parallax.com/
Because I was doing development for work I skipped the Stamp route (easy,
but expensive in quantity since you're effectively paying a license for
the BASIC interpreter in each chip) and bought a programmer, prototyping
board and BASIC compiler from microEngineering Labs. Their BASIC can be
freely mixed with machine language.
http://www.melabs.com/
Recently I moved to PIC C from Forest Electronic Developments.
http://www.fored.co.uk/
Microchip's main rival in the hobbyist market is Atmel's AVR range. Like
the PICmicro they're an 8-bit RISC chip.
http://www.atmel.com/products/avr/
Dontronics sells a range of microcontroller development products which
should give an idea of what's available now.
http://www.dontronics-shop.com/
--
* Roger Johnstone, Invercargill, New Zealand -> http://roger.geek.nz
* PS/2 Mouse Adapter for vintage Apple II or Mac
* SCART RGB video cable for Apple IIGS