At 04:17 PM 12/5/00 +1100, Tony Nixon wrote: >Hi all, > >A while back there was some discussion on entry level PLD kits. > >Did anyone come up with something suitable? Depends what you mean by 'kits'. I do all my PLD stuff with Altera 7xxxSLC parts nowadays. I used to use their "classic" series but some parts have been discontinued and there is much better bang for the buck with the 7000S series parts. I mostly use the 7032slc44 (32 macrocells 44 pin PLCC package) and 7128slc84 (128 macrocells 84 pin PLCC package). I built several copies of the byte-blaster programmer and have had no problems at all. I have a paid for version of their software but you can simply download their free baseline software from their web site or request a copy on CD. I started out with the Intel line of parts and software (Intel was a second source for Altera) and find the latest generation of tools orders of magnitude better than what I started with. I guess what I am saying is that all the stuff is available for free - just not packaged all in one box. I just had a thought. Tony - you are at a university, are you not? You should be able to purchase the Altera student package at the university bookstore. You get a byte-blaster, a really nice evaluation boatd with 2 different family parts on it and a fully functioning version of he software with no expiration date for a couple of hundred dollars Australian. Check it out! dwayne Dwayne Reid Trinity Electronics Systems Ltd Edmonton, AB, CANADA (780) 489-3199 voice (780) 487-6397 fax Celebrating 16 years of Engineering Innovation (1984 - 2000) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Do NOT send unsolicited commercial email to this email address. This message neither grants consent to receive unsolicited commercial email nor is intended to solicit commercial email. -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different ways. See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details.