I saw his module at UPENE. It looked great! Budget restrained me from buying it (I wasn't going to spend over $25 there) but I almost got the LCD board (he only had faulty board there and wouldn't get more for 2 days). In the end I just got some Boss Boards but the boards are very well made and designed. It looks like something that a beginner would see and say "Well! That looks neat! I wonder what it can do....." Great Job on it!
P.S. @Nick - I remember my project that I blanked out on at UPENE. I was going to build a talking keyboard.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ Computers are microcontrolled.
Robots are microcontrolled. I am microcontrolled.
But you·can·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 generic avatars (and I'm more of a Prop head then a BS2 nut, anyway)
Gadget Gangster gave me a "Propeller Platform" to test out some breakout boards that I'll probably wind up selling on his site...
Got it together and working in about 10 minutes or so. It's really great board to test out things (like my LCD breakout boards [noparse]:)[/noparse]
Just a few comments (Know I'm looking a gift horse in the mouth here, but·can't help it)...
Could have almost put this thing together without reading the instructions if there were just a few extra labels on the board.
Here are some labels I'd suggest adding to any future versions:
(These are really like complaining about what color things are painted, not technical criticism).
1. Label the 5V and 3.3V regulators. I had to look at the traces to see which was which (like I said, without looking at the instructions).
2. Label the resistor values for the LEDs.
3. Put a "+" mark on the positive terminal of the polarized Ta cap.
4. Label the 10k resistor value for R4, if possible.
With those labels, I think I could have cut assembly time down to 5 minutes...
Couple of fine details:
Where in the world did you get an LED where the long lead is negative (power LED)? I've never seen that. Personally, I would have gotten them all to have the same long lead as positive and actually put a plus "+" label for each one.
Also, the LEDs are a little too bright for my taste...
R5 is a little bit of a dilema. I know why you put it there, but why not put it in? I would just include this resistor. It's not really required, I know, but it does no harm, and could actually help is some rare circumstance.
Maybe lable U3 as "extra" or "spare" or something so we know where to put the real EEPROM chip (without looking at instructions).
I soldered in the crystal before I saw there were pins for it... Oh, well. I'm not going to change the crystal here anyway.
All that said,
GREAT JOB GUYS! I think this is a great board that rivals the protoboard as my recommendation for beginners. In fact, if you're planning on interfacing with an LCD (and not a VGA monitor), I think this is the best choice.
PS: What do you think about a board that would plug in to the top of the Prop Platform with ports for TV, VGA, PS2 keyboard/mouse, and maybe an SD card? Maybe throw in a small proto area...
it might be better to make it plug in underneath, or make sure it can sandwich between the Platform and the LCD board. I can think of several instances where you might want both keyboard, monitor and LCD - e.g. for debugging, reprogramming an embedded system on site.
@Jon & Nick - excellent work! Jon, what I appreciate about your projects is how open-ended and flexible things turn out to be. Even on a dedicated project, like a light controller, there is a lot of room for other possibilities.
On the VR's I agree, I always have to look at the photo. I'll add labels on the next production run. Agreed on that Tantalum cap, too. For the resistors, I didn't think adding values to the silkscreen would help as most folks (including myself) have to look up the color codes, anyway.
I might have found the oddest red LED one can buy. I'm stuck with it though, because a lot of projects on the site use that LED in their setup and call it out in their howto. Jon's design called for a different resistor to keep the red from being too bright, but I did't stock it. Sounds like something I should add.
I've always soldered my crystal directly in, too. I think most folks are concerned about heat damage. Maybe a few swap crystals.
BTW - I now offer both modules pre-assembled. I just did a small run, but if there's interest, I'll make more available.
@Rayman - I have a ton of ideas for modules! I'll shoot you an email and we can figure something out.
@Counterrotatingprops - That's exactly what I did for my Propeller platform, the inner row has pin headers that point down, and the outer row has sockets that point up. That way I can click it into a breadboard or click it into a prototyper.
The propellor board ive been using to practice with SimpleIDE, is the now discontinued Gadget gangster USB platform, well i have had problems even lighting up a LED. Im using a 6volt power supply. There was a lot to read here , i should be using a 9volt i think. Is that the MAX voltage i can use ?
Comments
P.S. @Nick - I remember my project that I blanked out on at UPENE. I was going to build a talking keyboard.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Computers are microcontrolled.
Robots are microcontrolled.
I am microcontrolled.
But you·can·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 generic avatars (and I'm more of a Prop head then a BS2 nut, anyway)
Got it together and working in about 10 minutes or so. It's really great board to test out things (like my LCD breakout boards [noparse]:)[/noparse]
Just a few comments (Know I'm looking a gift horse in the mouth here, but·can't help it)...
Could have almost put this thing together without reading the instructions if there were just a few extra labels on the board.
Here are some labels I'd suggest adding to any future versions:
(These are really like complaining about what color things are painted, not technical criticism).
1. Label the 5V and 3.3V regulators. I had to look at the traces to see which was which (like I said, without looking at the instructions).
2. Label the resistor values for the LEDs.
3. Put a "+" mark on the positive terminal of the polarized Ta cap.
4. Label the 10k resistor value for R4, if possible.
With those labels, I think I could have cut assembly time down to 5 minutes...
Couple of fine details:
Where in the world did you get an LED where the long lead is negative (power LED)? I've never seen that. Personally, I would have gotten them all to have the same long lead as positive and actually put a plus "+" label for each one.
Also, the LEDs are a little too bright for my taste...
R5 is a little bit of a dilema. I know why you put it there, but why not put it in? I would just include this resistor. It's not really required, I know, but it does no harm, and could actually help is some rare circumstance.
Maybe lable U3 as "extra" or "spare" or something so we know where to put the real EEPROM chip (without looking at instructions).
I soldered in the crystal before I saw there were pins for it... Oh, well. I'm not going to change the crystal here anyway.
All that said,
GREAT JOB GUYS! I think this is a great board that rivals the protoboard as my recommendation for beginners. In fact, if you're planning on interfacing with an LCD (and not a VGA monitor), I think this is the best choice.
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My Prop Info&Apps: ·http://www.rayslogic.com/propeller/propeller.htm
Post Edited (Rayman) : 10/21/2009 1:18:40 PM GMT
Thought about this?
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My Prop Info&Apps: ·http://www.rayslogic.com/propeller/propeller.htm
Post Edited (Rayman) : 10/21/2009 2:41:35 PM GMT
it might be better to make it plug in underneath, or make sure it can sandwich between the Platform and the LCD board. I can think of several instances where you might want both keyboard, monitor and LCD - e.g. for debugging, reprogramming an embedded system on site.
@Jon & Nick - excellent work! Jon, what I appreciate about your projects is how open-ended and flexible things turn out to be. Even on a dedicated project, like a light controller, there is a lot of room for other possibilities.
- H
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I might have found the oddest red LED one can buy. I'm stuck with it though, because a lot of projects on the site use that LED in their setup and call it out in their howto. Jon's design called for a different resistor to keep the red from being too bright, but I did't stock it. Sounds like something I should add.
I've always soldered my crystal directly in, too. I think most folks are concerned about heat damage. Maybe a few swap crystals.
BTW - I now offer both modules pre-assembled. I just did a small run, but if there's interest, I'll make more available.
@Rayman - I have a ton of ideas for modules! I'll shoot you an email and we can figure something out.
@Counterrotatingprops - That's exactly what I did for my Propeller platform, the inner row has pin headers that point down, and the outer row has sockets that point up. That way I can click it into a breadboard or click it into a prototyper.
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Gadget Gangster - Share your Electronic Projects