Prototyping board FAQ, other FAQs

Jed

Might I suggest that a faq/guideline sticky be put together for those of us wanting to take our STAMP off of the BOE and go to a prototype board. I know there are the schematics for the carrier board and super carrier board, but it would be nice to have some official guidelines that specify the types/size of caps to use on regulators, when to use an external regulator and when to use the on-board, when to add extra caps, when to use a diode on the regulator, how/if to terminate un-used pins, etc, etc, etc... I know a lot of it would depend on the circuit being designed but I think just a basic guide for getting off the BOE and onto a proto-board with what the minimum requirements are and what's recommended... would be really helpful to those of us who are new to not just the STAMP but electronics in general.

As a side note I also think some other stickies ought to be made for a lot of the commonly asked questions here, such as trouble shooting STAMP<->PC connections, etc. ... as well as just a basic "check here first, try this first, then ask" guide for the forums. Just some ideas.

Post Edited (Jed) : 3/5/2008 1:20:17 AM GMT

Ugha

I second that.

Its hard to find some of that info as a newbie.

terry_bear

Jed and Ugha,

Your posts bring to mind several thoughts... Jed, you seem to be asking Parallax to provide a condensed version of a course leading to a degree in electronics. I'm not trying to belittle your efforts at all, but micro-controllers encompass a number of complex fields. Parallax would be hard-put to cover every potential situation, and there are SO many trade-offs in electronics... Actually, Parallax does supply recommended values for the part used. Just look at the schematic. (caveat here; wattages for resistors and working voltages for capacitors not shown, probably because they aren't critical)

A very good alternative to the BOE is the Super Carrier (p/27130). It doesn't have servo sockets, but that is easily remedied, and you can mount your own experimenter-prot board in the prototyping area... I couldn't make my own prototyping board for much less than 19.95 after purchasing all the parts.

As for physical size of parts, there is so much variation, depending on the individual's needs, availability, etc. and on and on. If your goal is to improve on the BOE, then you need to do some research. If it's a cost issue, buy the Super Carrier

But remember, Parallax is in business to sell the various parts of the system that it developed, and is remarkedly free with information compared to some companies.

All of that said, please don't think that i'm putting you down, but please bear in mind that so much depends on specific applications, as Ugha can wel attest.

There is merit in your final suggestion concerning a sticky for troubleshooting, etc. In fact, there may even be one; I know that there is a huge FAQ that I haven't read... By there way there is another forum for suggesting changes, improvements, etc.. You might want to post there.

Ugha, have you found that it is really hard to find information, or rather that you tend to find more than you thought you wanted?

Keep on truckin' guys, and you'll get there

Terry

Ugha

Terry:
It's more like there are huge pieces of information missing. Pieces that someone seeking the "next step" of learning have
a hard time filling in.

Basiclly, there's not enough information out there for the layman.

Chris Savage

Terry is essentially right. The part that is missing is that we have provided exactly what you needed already. These forums are here for the free exchange of microcontroller information. The sandbox is a non-topic forum where several subjects have come up in the past which may help you. For example, one thing that comes up every now and again is how to solder. This isn’t something we have an educational curriculum for, but which you can easily ask about and get feedback from many members and possibly links to tutorials. Where possible we try to provide adequate documentation on how to use a product, source code and schematics. As far as putting this together there are some basics covered in such books as, “What’s a microcontroller?” however the internet is also a resource. Google can yield more information about soldering that we could possibly cover in one of our books for example. I hope this helps. Take care.

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Chris Savage
Parallax Tech Support

terry_bear

Ugha, and Jed too,

The best advice that I can give is Google, google, google. And read, read, read. The information is out there, but aside from signing up for a class at your local Junior College you will have to dig for it.

A good place to start is the follwing site: http://www.play-hookey.com/dc_theory/

Read and think about every single highlighted word until you understand it... If you skip any you WILL end up having to go back and revisit that part (there or on another web site) at some later date. By the way, AC circuit theory is just DC circuit theory with reactance added (now there is an over-simplification for you!)

Regards,

Terry