[sdiy] Interesting article on top octave generators.

[Gordonjcp]

On Sat, Jan 04, 2025 at 12:05:13PM -0800, brianw wrote:
> One disadvantage of a CPU or FPGA solution is that the circuit doesn't do anything until you program it.
> 
> A board with 12 counters would be hard-wired to do the job, and it would function as soon as you power it up - no programmer needed. If you're only making one of these, the programming step probably doesn't make the project take much longer. But if you're manufacturing thousands of TOG replacements, then that programming stage could be significant. It requires extra connectors. Then there's alway the chance that marginal programming or bit rot in the Flash memory causes the board to "forget" how to generate anything at all. Hard-wired logic gates just work.
> 

If you're building thousands of them, you buy the chips already programmed for a penny more...

-- 
Gordonjcp