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Peter Montgomery's Article in Circuit Cellar — Parallax Forums

Peter Montgomery's Article in Circuit Cellar

Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax EngineeringPosts: 14,406
edited 2010-04-19 17:27 in General Discussion
Peter,

I don't know if anyone else has said anything or not, but I finally got to the March 2010 Circuit Cellar (http://www.circuitcellar.com/) last night and read your article on the Serial Network Hub.· Before I realized who wrote the article the SX28 on the board caught my attention.· Besides keeping an interest in the SX and the specifics of your application, the·network topology and interface structures could be applied many microcontrollers and this article would be good reading for anyone wanting to serially network control systems using CAT-5 cable.· Just wanted to say thanks for an article that held my attention.· Lately they've been few and far between.· Best Regards.

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Chris Savage

Parallax Engineering
·

Comments

  • JonnyMacJonnyMac Posts: 9,211
    edited 2010-03-18 21:43
    I've seen that dude up close and personal; Peter is a good friend and we do tech "show-and-tells" over lunch fairly frequently. It's a very impressive piece of gear and I know, first-hand, that Peter put a lot of effort into it. For those interested in what Peter is talking to with that hub, have look at his web site:

    www.socalhalloween.com

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    Jon McPhalen
    Hollywood, CA
  • PJMontyPJMonty Posts: 983
    edited 2010-04-07 00:14
    Chris,

    Glad you liked the article. Part two is coming out in the April issue. It's a two parter because not only am I describing the RS-485 hub, but also the design decisions and ideas behind the network topology and implementation of my system.

    I try and "pimp" my favorite processors in the articles I have written for CCI. I have actually written three articles (two of them are two part articles) about my Halloween animatronics and network system. All the articles have featured the SX because I use it in a lot of projects.

    Jon,

    Thanks for the compliments. Your check is in the mail...

    Thanks,
    PeterM
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2010-04-07 16:40
    Just got the new issue Monday. I can't wait to see the second part. Thanks again Peter!

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    Chris Savage

    Parallax Engineering
    ·
  • Shawn LoweShawn Lowe Posts: 635
    edited 2010-04-07 19:34
    I don't suppose someone could post the article here? I don't subscribe to Circuit Cellar

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    Shawn Lowe


    When all else fails.....procrastinate!
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2010-04-07 21:50
    Shawn, sadly that can't be done without permission from the magazine.

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    Chris Savage

    Parallax Engineering
    ·
  • Shawn LoweShawn Lowe Posts: 635
    edited 2010-04-07 22:15
    Figured. Thanks anyways!

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    Shawn Lowe


    When all else fails.....procrastinate!
  • StarManStarMan Posts: 306
    edited 2010-04-08 03:38
    I don't subscribe either but I got on the CC web site and bought the article for $2.00.· I have an interest in RS485.· It was a good article.· I'll also be buying Part 2 when it comes out.
  • Shawn LoweShawn Lowe Posts: 635
    edited 2010-04-08 13:45
    StarMan said...
    I don't subscribe either but I got on the CC web site and bought the article for $2.00.· I have an interest in RS485.· It was a good article.· I'll also be buying Part 2 when it comes out.
    Hmm, didn't know that was an option. Thanks for the info!

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    Shawn Lowe


    When all else fails.....procrastinate!
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2010-04-09 16:46
    Peter, finally read part 2 last night. Great work! Take care. I hope to see more from you in the future.

    P.S. - I did not know you were also into Zilog...as a Z80 programmer for over 10 years I sometimes find myself wondering why I never tried anything new from them.

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    Chris Savage

    Parallax Engineering
    ·
  • PJMontyPJMonty Posts: 983
    edited 2010-04-16 23:05
    Chris,

    I really like the Zilog Z8 Encore chips for a number of reasons:
    • A completely free IDE with a completely free, completely unrestricted C compiler
    • Parts that range from 8 pins to 80 pins, in both surface mount and through hole
    • Cheap ($50 and less) dev kits with USB based debugging hardware that supports the entire Z8 encore family
    • Hardware debugging at either the C source or assembly level, with single stepping, breakpoints, etc
    • More RAM for a given EEPROM size than most other vendors chips

    Everyone has their own favorites, of course, but I find the combination of attributes listed above hard to beat for an 8 bit, single CPU chip. If you're interested, here's a link to the 64xx line of Z8 Encore chips. It's $39 and includes the debugging hardware. BTW, the debugging hardware is not built into the dev kit, so it can be used on any board you design:

    Z8 encore 64xx Dev Kit

    I only post this here since it's a non-competitive product with the Parallax line.

    Thanks,
    PeterM
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2010-04-19 17:27
    Thanks Peter! It's definitely worth checking out. Thanks again.

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    Chris Savage

    Parallax Engineering
    ·
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