[sdiy] Microchip DSP kit $60 > AVR32

[Scott Gravenhorst]

Eric Brombaugh <ebrombaugh at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>On Mar 23, 2008, at 8:28 PM, Tom Farrand wrote:
>
[...]
>
>> DSP projects are very compelling but WAY beyond my tiny little brain!

That's what I thought to - until I actually started doing it.

>> All that stuff is magic as far as I can tell.  And of course there is
>> the cost of Matlab if you want to do things reasonably.  Guess I am
>> just stuck with various "old" stuff.
>
>It can be daunting, but in the long run it's just math. 

I can certainly second this.  I'm no math wizard, but I know enough (apparently) to
put together some very fun stuff using DSP.  I never thought I'd be able to do that,
DSP seemed mystical and magical before I started.

>Start small  
>with simple stuff like NCOs and lookup tables. Do some googling and  
>you can find resources for folks with all levels of experience - from  
>tutorials on the fundamentals to detailed examinations of arcane  
>algorithms.

IMO, that's exactly the correct way to get started.  It's what I did.  In my case,
it's DSP in an FPGA.  *Everything* I learned was through the internet.  The Verilog
language - just a tutorial and I was off and running.  I've found tons of
information on digital filters, physical model designs, you name it, it seems to be
there.

There are also some very helpful people (including Mr. Brombaugh and others)
connected to the internet.  My DSP success was made possible by these wonderful folks.

>If the cost of Matlab is holding you back, try out the freeware  
>alternative Octave (www.octave.org) - you can download WinXX and Mac  
>OS X binary packages that give you most of the functionality of  
>Matlab, including linear algegra, graphics & plotting, signal  
>processing and filter design.

Octave is definately very useful.  It is not a toy, it's serious software.

-- ScottG

-----------------------------------------------------------------

-- Scott Gravenhorst
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