Good day to all. I'm back from my very first trip to Masters and am pleased as punch=20 with my experience. I learned a LOT and now feel much more confident=20 in pursuing a couple of projects that have sort of been on the back=20 burner for a while. My first session was 'Transitioning from MPLAB 8 to MPLAB X'. MPlabX=20 is definitely a work in process - its nowhere near finished but seems=20 quite useable in its present form. The Netbeans environment has=20 brought some really nice usability features to the IDE. I'm glad I=20 took the session and strongly suggest that anyone contemplating=20 trying out MPlabX download and read the presentation (available at=20 the Microchip website). It won't take long but will help fill in the=20 missing documentation. The Plant Tour was seriously cool (I just *HAD* to see this!) - my=20 only previous visit to a fab was at our local university. Our tour=20 guide says that they have currently about 25,000 wafers in process at=20 any one time. Each wafer yields anywhere from about 64,000 to 250=20 devices, depending upon which part it is. I got the impression that=20 the Arizona fab is not running at full capacity and was told that the=20 Oregon fab is running at nowhere near capacity - Microchip figures=20 that they have enough fab capability to sustain their current rate of=20 growth for most of the current decade. I took a full day of BLDC motor control theory and labs and another=20 full day of MiWi RF communications (also with labs). Both were=20 extremely interesting and both will be useful to me in the near=20 term. I've got one project that I'm part-way through using Xbee Pro=20 modules - I'll stay with the Xbee modules for that project but will=20 definitely look at Microchip's MiWi Pro protocols for future projects. The presentation titled 'An Overview of Three New Peripherals Using=20 the New PIC10F320 Mid-Range Device' was a disappointment. The=20 presenter just didn't have his facts ready and just kept saying=20 'Refer to the data-sheet' anytime someone asked about specific=20 details. Its too bad - there was another session titled 'Sensorless=20 Field Oriented Control' (for BLDC motors) that I would have very much=20 liked to have taken in. Sort of a similar experience for the session on Melabs Pic Basic Pro=20 compiler. It was cool meeting the author of PBP and also Chuck=20 Hellebuyck but the presentation itself was a disappointment. Just=20 not enough 'meat and potatoes' content. The session titled 'Using the CCS C Compiler for Rapid Development of=20 Microcontroller Applications' was a very different story. This was a=20 hands-on lab with a couple of projects using the CCS IDE and=20 debugger. Even though I am definitely NOT a "C" person, I found the=20 labs easy to follow, understand, and do. I see myself spending some=20 significant time learning to use C in the near future. I highly=20 recommend that session for anyone who is contemplating using the CCS compil= ers. I took a couple of other motor-related sessions: 'BLDC : Cheap and=20 Easy Control of Brushless DC and Stepper Motors' and 'BDC Cheap and=20 Easy Control of Brushed DC and AC Induction Motors'. Both were=20 useful presentations. I also spent time taking Dr Bob's 'Web Devices Made Simple: TCPmaker=20 Hands-On' session. I thought highly enough of what I learned to=20 purchase a copy of his software. The last day (Saturday) was spent taking Olin Lathrop's 'Advanced=20 Assembler Techniques' and 'Precise Time Measurement and Sensing=20 Applications Using CTMU (Charge Time Measurement Unit)'. Both were good. Olin's presentation contained very, very useful information. He took=20 the time to explain WHY he structured his pre-processor the way he=20 did - he explained the pitfalls taking shortcuts (which I already=20 knew) and how his environment helps avoid those pitfalls. He's a=20 very good teacher. PIClist people I met: Matt Bennett, Denny Esterline, Larry Nelson=20 Sr, Olin Lathrop. Wish I could have met others. Matt reserved a table for the PIClist at lunchtime one day but I=20 didn't see any other PIClisters there. Regarding Olin Lathrop: I've spoken to him by phone several times=20 over the past few years - he has always come across as a reasonable=20 person (unlike his on-line persona). I was looking forward to=20 meeting him and actively looked for him. His manner of speaking when talking face-to-face was pleasant. A lot=20 of his on-line personality comes through when meeting with him in=20 person (he's not afraid to the word 'moron' when describing somebody)=20 but it seems much less offensive when talking face-to-face. I mostly=20 like Olin and actually meeting him was a positive experience. I hope=20 that he comes back to the PIClist. I'd be interested in reading about the experiences of anyone else who=20 attended Masters. Come on people! Talk up! dwayne --=20 Dwayne Reid Trinity Electronics Systems Ltd Edmonton, AB, CANADA (780) 489-3199 voice (780) 487-6397 fax www.trinity-electronics.com Custom Electronics Design and Manufacturing --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .