I can only speak for myself, but I have been working quietly as the public beta helped wring out a few pesky annoyances and users asked for updates which Bean very generously accommodated.
Ken - you seem to mention that you might not be able to reach all your customers that use SX. Is it possible to mine your sales data and anyone who bought some quantity of SXs to get a a phone call or e-mail about the EOL? I imagine this thought has been discussed at Parallax, just your words made it sound like there are difficulities in this.
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Timothy D. Swieter, E.I. www.brilldea.com - Prop Blade, LED Painter, RGB LEDs, 3.0" LCD Composite video display, eProto for SunSPOT www.tdswieter.com
Hey Tim - yes, we've extracted all of our sales data for 100+ unit orders and e-mailed the notice to each customer. The difficulty that I mentioned comes from distribution. Many SX chips are sold through our distributors in different corners of the world. We don't have direct contact with their customers, so we count on the distributor to reach each of these customers. We have quite a bit of communication ahead of us in the next month.
There's a lot more done but it won't be released until I'm finished with it. As I stated above, now the SX/B 2.00 is finally settled (I'm not complaining, it's a better product now that it's been in public beta).
I personally moved to the SX because it is a little more complex than a Stamp (and cheaper too!). As I am trying to get a B.S. in electrical engineering, I felt this would be a better challenge for me. Then I discovered how powerful they were!!! It's sad to see them go as they are a rockin microprocessor. Looks like I'll have to start learning Spin! (Already have thanks to Jonnymac and his articles in N&V!)
I started using Parallax because of the SX. I started on the Basic stamp as a college course but couldn't justify the pricing of the chips. I was going to go Microchip, but then I saw the SX as good solution. I'm leaning on selling off my SX stuff and switching to Microchip and the Pic Basic. Of course because as a hobbiest the amount I spend on chips isn't a huge chunk of Parallaxes sales.
I think its a sad day that this will be the EOL.· I really liked this chip because of its capibility's and the PRICE.· I had made a few commercial things (mostly coin Op items)·and the chip being so cheap really helped.· I couldnt afford to use the BS2 and other chips, so this is going to be rough.· I liked how small this chip was as well, it could fit in very small boxes, not sure how the prop size is but I would imagine its much bigger.· I have to be honest (sadly) but I am going to have to look into the pic at this point.· Its especially hard because everyone in the forumns was pretty helpful and hopefully will still support questions, as I have·LOTS OF THEM [noparse]:)[/noparse].
Do look at the Propeller. While it's not as cheap as the SX, the Propeller is only $8 in single lots and only needs a $1.50 EEPROM and <$1 crystal plus a resistor and a couple of bypass capacitors.
It would be somewhat silly to think you can get PIC questions answered in a Parallax forum -- there's plenty of other sources for that stuff. As Mike suggests, the price of the Propeller has come down enough to make it viable in many applications.
The Propeller can do a lot more advanced things, yes, but that doesn't mean it is difficult to use or get started with. There are excellent labs and documentation and cheap tools to get started with the propeller. The overall Propeller footprint can be quite small, except for the through-hole device.
There isn't a need to fear the Propeller, come on over to the forum portion dedicated to the Prop and you will find those who are super advanced with the Prop and you will find plenty of people that are exploring microcontrollers for the first time.
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Timothy D. Swieter, E.I. www.brilldea.com - Prop Blade, LED Painter, RGB LEDs, 3.0" LCD Composite video display, eProto for SunSPOT www.tdswieter.com
The 16-bit PICs and dsPICs are worth looking at - up to 40 MIPS, a very nice architecture and peripherals, and excellent support from Microchip. They are very cheap and some are available in 18-pin DIL. Microchip is working on 60 MIPS versions.
Leon
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Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM
Suzuki SV1000S motorcycle
Parallax currently has 13,400 sx28 (dip)chips in stock. Before the lifetime buy they are going to make. Sounds to me like we wont have to worry for, ohh I don't know, 5-10 years?
I tried to explain this in the EOL notice, but there are always more parts available than you see on our web site. At present we have about this many:
Chip Quantity on Hand (QOH)
SX48BD-G 134,987
SX28AC/SS-G 134,467
SX20AC/SS-G 41,280
SX28AC/DP-G 19,311
Total 330,045
We will be adding to this quantity a very significant amount when we order more wafers in September.
Chips in Parallax live in different places: under test, in our China factory, or in one of our three warehouses in Rocklin. The web site only shows the quantity available in what we call "Warehouse A" - the place from which our sales staff most commonly fill orders. The other storage locations allow us to separate chips that are in different stages of the pipeline or have purposes other than retail direct sale off of our web site (i.e., booked orders, for example).
How long these will last? Nobody knows!
Ken Gracey
Parallax Inc.
Post Edited (Ken Gracey (Parallax)) : 8/6/2009 6:58:28 PM GMT
I would say the SX28 dip chip would be what to start with. The 48's have some timers that the 28 lacks, but in general the 28 will do 95% of what the 48's will (less I/O pins).
StarMan said...
One more thing to add to Bean's list: Code protection.
As a manufacturer, I like to have as many barriers to competitors as I can get.
Chris I.
What do you mean? The SX has a code protection fuse that can be enabled through SX/B. Just type "PROTECT" in the DEVICE directive. Most of my projects have DEVICE directives that looks like this:
Timothy D. Swieter said...
I think Chris was comparing the SX to the Prop. The Prop doesn't have such protection device and Chris was saying he liked that SX does.
Oh, I see. There's too much going on in this thread!
The propellers code can be copyed right off the external EEPROM. That is the lack in code protection. mctrivia's PropMods previeouly had code protection, I don't know if they still do or not.
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If it's not Parallax then don't even bother. · I have changed my avatar so that I will no longer be confused with others who use genaric avatars.
Mini-Din/PS2 connectors are for sale! 5 for $1! PM me if you wish to make an order. Cheap·shipping unless specified!··········150 left!!··
Good grief... After being a BASIC Stamp fan since the mid '90s, I finally decided to upgrade to something more capable. I placed my first order for SX stuff on 7/29/09. Two days later, the EOL announcement. Great timing, eh?
Comments
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Timothy D. Swieter, E.I.
www.brilldea.com - Prop Blade, LED Painter, RGB LEDs, 3.0" LCD Composite video display, eProto for SunSPOT
www.tdswieter.com
Ken Gracey
Parallax Inc.
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Timothy D. Swieter, E.I.
www.brilldea.com - Prop Blade, LED Painter, RGB LEDs, 3.0" LCD Composite video display, eProto for SunSPOT
www.tdswieter.com
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Toys are microcontroled.
Robots are microcontroled.
I am microcontroled.
If it's not Parallax then don't even bother. :-)
·
I have changed my avatar so that I will no longer be confused with others who use genaric avatars.
Mini-Din/PS2 connectors are for sale! 5 for $1! PM me if you wish to make an order.
Cheap·shipping unless specified!··········150 left!!··
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Shawn Lowe
When all else fails.....procrastinate!
Russ
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Shawn Lowe
When all else fails.....procrastinate!
There isn't a need to fear the Propeller, come on over to the forum portion dedicated to the Prop and you will find those who are super advanced with the Prop and you will find plenty of people that are exploring microcontrollers for the first time.
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Timothy D. Swieter, E.I.
www.brilldea.com - Prop Blade, LED Painter, RGB LEDs, 3.0" LCD Composite video display, eProto for SunSPOT
www.tdswieter.com
Size
Cost
Start-up Time
And for many products these parameters are pretty high up on the requirement list.
Bean.
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Does that byte of memory hold "A", 65, $41 or %01000001 ?
Yes it does...
·
He does not mean "start up time" in the sense of from time to purchase to time to deploy. (or maybe he means both...)
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John R.
Click here to see my Nomad Build Log
Leon
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Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM
Suzuki SV1000S motorcycle
Post Edited (Leon) : 8/6/2009 2:22:06 PM GMT
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Shawn Lowe
When all else fails.....procrastinate!
I tried to explain this in the EOL notice, but there are always more parts available than you see on our web site. At present we have about this many:
Chip Quantity on Hand (QOH)
SX48BD-G 134,987
SX28AC/SS-G 134,467
SX20AC/SS-G 41,280
SX28AC/DP-G 19,311
Total 330,045
We will be adding to this quantity a very significant amount when we order more wafers in September.
Chips in Parallax live in different places: under test, in our China factory, or in one of our three warehouses in Rocklin. The web site only shows the quantity available in what we call "Warehouse A" - the place from which our sales staff most commonly fill orders. The other storage locations allow us to separate chips that are in different stages of the pipeline or have purposes other than retail direct sale off of our web site (i.e., booked orders, for example).
How long these will last? Nobody knows!
Ken Gracey
Parallax Inc.
Post Edited (Ken Gracey (Parallax)) : 8/6/2009 6:58:28 PM GMT
As a manufacturer, I like to have as many barriers to competitors as I can get.
Chris I.
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Shawn Lowe
When all else fails.....procrastinate!
What do you mean? The SX has a code protection fuse that can be enabled through SX/B. Just type "PROTECT" in the DEVICE directive. Most of my projects have DEVICE directives that looks like this:
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-Paul
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Timothy D. Swieter, E.I.
www.brilldea.com - Prop Blade, LED Painter, RGB LEDs, 3.0" LCD Composite video display, eProto for SunSPOT
www.tdswieter.com
Oh, I see. There's too much going on in this thread!
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-Paul
Chris I.
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Just call me micro.
If it's not Parallax then don't even bother.
·
I have changed my avatar so that I will no longer be confused with others who use genaric avatars.
Mini-Din/PS2 connectors are for sale! 5 for $1! PM me if you wish to make an order.
Cheap·shipping unless specified!··········150 left!!··
>:-(
Ross