Re: What is the quintessential Apple II?

["Dave Althoff, Jr." <dalloff.gcfn.org@sbcglobal.net>]

Michael J. Mahon <mjmahon@aol.com> wrote:
: Roger Johnstone wrote:
: > 
: > We made a new board with a single 8-pin micro on it which performed both 
: > functions. The resistor for the variable time is read by the micro 
: > charging up a capacitor, then timing how long it takes to discharge it 
: > through the resistor. I'm surprised no-one thought of doing that before ;
: > o)
: 
: Yes, that's a favorite trick for cheap analog input.

I hope you understand the significance of...I guess it was Roger's 
comment, including the "I'm surprised no-one thought of doing that before 
;o)", and *exactly* why he said it...

I've been away from here for a while, so I don't know what the 'apple ][ 
geek quotient' of the current population is.  But that is exactly how the 
Apple ][ paddle inputs work, discharging an onboard cap through a 150-ohm 
pot in the paddle...

Oh, and there are some really neat examples of using not just 
microcontrollers, but full-blown PLCs to flash lights.  In fact...at 
Mariner's Landing Pier in Wildwood, NJ, there is a Ferris wheel that has 
dedicated controllers on it to control 4,600 channels of LED lights.  
There's a video on-line showing a whole cycle of the light show, but I 
couldn't find it when I looked for it...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.
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