Re: Hardware musings

["Justin England" <justin@rapidcity.net>]

"Mark McDougall"  wrote ...
> Justin England wrote:
>
>> It should be fairly easy to find a USB to TTL device that could talk to a 
>> PIC, and the PIC could directly manage the drive.
>
> You can get PICs with USB built-in!
>

I haven't looked at PICs for some time, so I would imagine that PIC with a 
built in USB should be easy enough to find and still be cheap enough!

>> Again, I have forgotten most of what I knew about A2 hardware, but I 
>> can't imagine it being horribly difficult to "emulate" a disk ][ 
>> controller with a PIC considering it should have to ability to do the 
>> timing critical functions.
>
> I'm not intimately familiar with A2 hardware myself, but anything that can 
> be done in TTL shouldn't be overly difficult, though you're best looking 
> at a CPLD methinks...
>

I say PICs mainly because I am a programmer by trade.  It's been many years, 
but I did some firmware programming using a Motorola micro controller (can't 
remember which one) and needed micro second resolution on some timing issues 
while talking with other chips on the board.  Just a matter of frequency and 
counting clock ticks.

>
> IMHO, you definitely made the right choice! I did Comp Sci straight out of 
> high school, and found myself bored-as-batshit writing insurance 
> applications - uggh!! After 4 years I couldn't take it any more and went 
> back part-time to study Elec Eng. After 7 years part-time study - how I 
> wish I had made that choice first!! You learn the software basics in EE 
> anyway and obviously the rest of the course is far and above anything they 
> teach you in Comp Sci - and much, much more fun because you get to tinker 
> with projects exactly like you describe!
>

I have only limited professional experience with hardware / firmware design, 
and have only done small projects hobby-wise, mainly with STAMPS, and have 
really enjoyed doing it.  Therefore the reason for a Comp Eng degree.  Now 
that's what I originally started with out of high school, but half-way 
through I decided to start my own business and never got back to school 
until last year.  Hind sight being 20-20, I wish I would have finished my 
degree before starting my business. :)

Thanks,

Justin