This contains quotes from a number of emails on the development project,
which were under a number of subject headings.

> If so, isn't it a good idea to reduce the project to
>only 18FXXX line (only for this project, of course) to
>eliminate the dilemma, you encountered:

No, because so much code and project info is available readily for the 16F
line. This has a conversion hassle to port it to the 18F line, and with a
16F877/A pin compatible to an 18F472 why bother with this restriction?

Roman said
>This *beginner pack* needs to be cheap and *entry-level*
>if it is to succeed. For you to state that the new device
>fills a higher need, and that the newbies are expected to
>keep struggling with transistor orientation in homemade
>programmers, seems contrary to the original needs that
>prompted the design of a beginner kit. :o)

This is my feeling too. The original kick to start the project was a
beginners attempt at getting a programmer going, and as we seem to get a
fair number of requests to help with this sort of problem, the idea was to
get the beginner over this hurdle, and on to doing "useful" things, where we
can give (hopefully) better targeted advice.

Byron said
>There seems to be two major points of contention that still floating
around.

>* The primary programmer vs. development board and...
>* Simple/cheap/reliable vs. comprehensive/standardized/reliable.

carrying on from Roman's point, I believe the PBK needs to fit the
"simple/cheap/reliable", but including the "standardised" as well :) This
gives the beginner the best hit at getting underway.

To my way of thinking having an LCD alpha display comes under the
"comprehensive" part of Byron's list. It would be nice to have, but if it
doubles the cost of the unit, I believe should be left off. However a 2
digit, 7 segment display should be included, as this makes it a very
versatile unit for the beginner.



From a quick think about what would be going on it, I believe it would fit a
Eurocard PCB (100 x 160 mm, that's 4 x 6 inches), and if that is what it
ends up being, then it would make sense to set it up with pads for a DIN
connector on the breadboard end. This would serve two purposes -:

1. the professional user can fit the card to a Eurorack as a system
component, by fitting a DIN connector, and probably some interface chips on
the breadboard area.

2. The beginner/experimenter can use the card by fitting a 40 pin (or other
size) pin header on the same connector pads, and use ribbon cable to connect
to other hardware, again probably with interface chips in the breadboard
area. It would also be possible to use a ribbon header to connect to an IDC
D series connector if this was the sort of connection desired.

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