On Sun, Aug 11, 2002 at 09:22:03PM +0200, Wouter van Ooijen wrote:
> > The PICLIST Designer will be an amalgam of all the above tools:
>
> A few remarks:
> - forget the prototype area, it adds substantially to the cost and a
> novice will be afraid to sue it because it can be used only once.
                           ^^^
I know we Americans live in a litigious society, but this is ridiculous! ;-)

BTW I mistakenly called it a prototyping area. I have always meant
breadboard. Something like the Parallax Board of Education:

http://www.stampsinclass.com/html_files/bs_boards/boe_kits.asp

> Instead add a pin-header or the like that can be easily coupled to a
> 'sea of pads' board (can't find the correct english term right now).
> - don't provide the more expensive peripherals (like and LCD), just
> provide an suitable connector

This was always in the plans too. Honestly I don't know what the correct
connector is. My gut says that a dual row 40 pin header is the right item
if for no other reason that any standard IDE cable can be used to couple
the boards.

> - keep the price as low as reasonably possible, $100 seems too much to
> me, $50 is better, $30 would be perfect

No disagreement. But I threw out that number just in comparison to the
other products out there. The two direct competetors, the BOE above and
the the CCS prototyping board:

http://www.ccsinfo.com/spb.shtml

And neither comes close to the lineup we've been discussing. The BOE is
$109 and the SPB is $145 (add $45 more for a LCD/keypad extension).

Most folks won't buy the higher end stuff because they don't think that
it's worth it, or that they can do it cheaper themselves. And most of the
time it's spot on. But this design we're contemplating would be valued
on the open market somewhere in the $250 to $300 USD ballpark. So even at
$100 it's a superior value.

> - definitely exclude a wall-wart, but make sure the board rectifies and
> has an 7805 with room for a heatsink

I believe Sean was saying that wall warts weren't a problem. Most of the time
the problem I find with wall warts of all types is that while compatible
voltages and polarity isn't much of an issue, that trying to match that danged
connector will almost always drive you nuts. I'd almost prefer screw terminals.

> - take a 40-pin PIC, make it at least compatible with f877 anf f452

I think I can even be more specific here: 16F877A. 40 pins. 16 bit compatible.
100k write/erase cycles. If it doesn't cost too much it would be cool to
socket that chip so that later on if can be replaced with a 18F452.

>
> > > Now I will switch to more important work, like porting my Wisp628
> > > programmer PC software to Python...

> > Are you serious? Cool! Then I'll be able to run it on my Linux boxes.

>
> Fully serious, but up to now I have (occasional) unsolvable problems
> with serial communication using pyserial on XP. And next week I must
> (also) seriously start hunting for new (freelance) work. Anyone has some
> :) ?

I hope you find it quickly. I'll be looking out for that python release.

BAJ

--
http://www.piclist.com hint: The list server can filter out subtopics
(like ads or off topics) for you. See http://www.piclist.com/#topics