[sdiy] A uC question and a circuit for those who need it.

[Batz Goodfortune]

Y-ellow Tim and all.
         Very much appreciated from everyone who chimed in. I'll get back 
to you individually to address some specific issues shortly. But I just 
wanted to thank everyone in general.

At 09:04 AM 4/7/05 -0700, Tim Ressel wrote:
>Yo Batz,
>
>Personally I'd go with AVR and the GCC compiler. I've
>been using the duo for a year now and have had few
>problems. I'd also recommend a jtag ICE for debugging.
>It is a cash outlay, but it deftly alleves the "I'm an
>outsider" feeling when wondering why the code don't
>work.

I've pretty much come down on these two. ARMs and AVRs. A PG302 isn't 
exactly a jtag box but it's almost there. And I've got one of those so 
that's a help. I've not got anything to work with ARMs so that's a 
disadvantage right there. But not an insurmountable one.

I looked into the MSP430 as Fredrik Carlqvist suggested. Actually they look 
kinda neat but they're optimized for low power portable apps and don't seem 
to lean toward this kind of thing terribly much. I agree with everyone who 
suggested that it's better to chose a processor that's going to be around 
for a while. AVRs, PICs MCS51s and ARMs etc. I'm less than impressed with 
PICs. I don't know what they're good for but they give me indigestion. 
Maybe you guys get them at bargain basement prices but out here, they're 
about the most expensive small 8-bit machines around. Besides, the AVRs 
leave them in their wake by all accounts.

I'm at home with MCS51s and friends but mainly because I've accumulated an 
array of tools for working with them over the years. They were the bee's 
knees back in the 80s and ATMEL, having made tiny FLASH versions, meant 
that I could just jump right in. But they're a bit slow and cludgy compared 
to these slick new kids. Having said that, there ARE some VERY fast 
versions out there these days. And some 16 bit versions which are code 
compatible. I have some DALLAS/MAXIM varieties which run up to 400meg. One 
of which has it's own network interface and stack. Cute but no banana really.

So it's looking like either an ARM tailored for multi-media and scale up. 
Or an AVR and scale side ways. But I'm still looking into the other 
suggestions made. And of course it had been suggested that I use a DSP. Are 
there embedded DSPs these days? This is way out of my comfort zone. I think 
a DSP would probably be unnecessary but if there was something like an ARM, 
feature rich and flash programmed, then it might be worth a look. It could 
be worth the time and effort in the longer term? I don't know what's out 
there these days.


>Soon I hope to break into ARM land by getting a dev
>board and a copy of the Imagecraft compiler. AVRs are
>neat, but I miss my 32-bit processors.

Does that mean you intend to break your arm? It's probably just as well 
they didn't have an name that fitted the acronym LEG.

Be absolutely Icebox.

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