Thinking of diving into the Prop region
Buck Rogers
Posts: 2,190
Hello!
Any suggestions regarding where to begin, with regards to the Propellor Chip? Such as what to buy, and what to use for development?
I looked at the Spin Stamp, and I believe its an interesting gizmo. But not exactly suited to what I have in mind. Then I looked at the actual Prop chip, and it certainly is.
But there are problems. Like what to use it with, and how.
Suggestions please folks.
Any suggestions regarding where to begin, with regards to the Propellor Chip? Such as what to buy, and what to use for development?
I looked at the Spin Stamp, and I believe its an interesting gizmo. But not exactly suited to what I have in mind. Then I looked at the actual Prop chip, and it certainly is.
But there are problems. Like what to use it with, and how.
Suggestions please folks.
Comments
Welcome!
As for what to use the Prop chip with, I presume you're asking what sort of gadgets you can interface to it? In any case, there's the Object Exchange (OBEX), which has tons of code examples that show how to work the Propeller in many ways.
http://obex.parallax.com/
If you're just starting out, there's always the Propeller Education Kit (PEK), which has on-line free pdfs of various labs to help walk you through how to work with this chip.
http://www.parallax.com/StoreSearchResults/tabid/768/txtSearch/pek/List/0/SortField/4/ProductID/415/Default.aspx
Also, see the "Stickies", which are located at the very top of the Propeller Forum index.
I tend to use the Demo Board for quickie circuit assembly and then I move it to a Propeller Proto Board when I'm ready to do some soldering. Of course, these boards are free for me so I tend to eat them for lunch. But, if I had to stick to a budget I'd still go the same route.
The Demo Board breadboard can be quite small, so you might prefer to use the Propeller Professional Development Board. Big monster breadboard.
If you don't want to consume Propeller Proto Boards you could also get a bunch of our bare prototype through-hole boards that are sized the same as the Propeller Proto Board. You can port power, ground and the I/Os you want to need to these bare boards. Then it will become much less expensive to dedicate hardware to boards.
If you want to get into programming it straight out of the box, then I'd go with the demo board, as it has TV, VGA, Keyboard, Mouse, Audio In/Out, and some spare IO and a little white board, so that is the easiest fastest way to get started.
If you want to do your own soldering with the propeller, then get the Proto-board, as you can then add whatever you want to the prop, but you'll have to set up some stuff before you can start, TV/VGA/Keyboard etc...
Hope this helps.
Baggers.
Some people that are used to 'Development Boards' love them because all or near all the additional parts are attached and not in a place where you can loose them (like on the floor). Mostly you need wires and a few penny a piece resistors to do whatever you desire. (Of course, you can always find something expensive to add on. Right now I am dreaming of video capture with a small NTSC camera.)
Depends on what you want to do and your skills and budget.
The Proto Board (USB version) is a cheap way to go but buy the VGA/PS2 connector set too. If you are good at soldering and have a VGA socket you cn use it but two things for this - you cover the 2xPS2 sockets and you have to keep a VGA cable plugged in while soldering as it needs to be lifted of the pcb slightly. The USB section can be modified to make it a PropPlug for another prop later. TV is easy to add - just 3 resistors and a connector or cut and RCA audio lead and wire directly to the pcb.
If you can afford the Demo Board, its another good choice, particularly if you don't like soldering.
There are other pcbs too... The Backpack, Gadget Gangster and others.
When you get further along we can guide you into retro computing where using one of the dedicated pcbs you can run ZiCog and its derivatives and CPM, if that takes your fancy. We use external memory for this.
No matter what you choose, we're all here to help!
http://www.parallax.com/Store/Microcontrollers/PropellerProgrammingKits/tabid/144/CategoryID/20/List/0/SortField/0/Level/a/ProductID/415/Default.aspx
This way it will let you know more about the hardware/ setup so you can eventually do better things with it(Like solder together your own propeller kit). That is what i did.....Good luck
Art
Hello!
Well it took me a while. Judging from the date on my opener, it took me one year and eight months to complete things. I bought a Prop Proto Board. It is the USB version, and it came well recommended by your excellent staff, Ken.
I originally thought I printed out the ones for the Prop Protoboard USB and the Prop Protoboard serial, it seems I printed out two of just the serial.
I bought it at the Maker Faire held here in Queens, and again at the Hall of Science. It took me all of two days to decide.
In fact after I try out the usual examples, I am going to obtain the accessory kit for this fellow, and add the necessary items. Soldering and I do get along so it is not a problem. Well not yet.
It turns out, most of the people that were at the show, almost knew me straight off, including the two people who facilitated the ordering process. The one hang up was that of the network (Internet) not being available, since the local service provider deliberately underestimated the bandwidth for the whole show. It seems the people behind the Maker Faire are aware of this.
Other then that it was good to see people I've either heard about, or spoken to, or exchanged witty e-mail with over the past few years.
Although Ken I was also looking forward to seeing you there, but given the complications with these events, I do understand the meaning behind why not.
I don't think your research/startup cycle is all that bad. It took me a really long time to get some CNC equipment running at home. And if I dare walk away from it for a month or more it seems like obsolescence starts taking over: upgrade software, make sure I can remote to the CNC controllers, etc. Thankfully the Propeller is a constant in this way and we have the support of the forums.
You probably met Kristina, Jessica, KevinMc, KevinC, and David. More of us wanted to go, but it was right between a series of other commitments.I watched part of the Maker Faire on UStream, but mostly stayed home this weekend to get ready for the week at Parallax.
We have accessories for the QuickStart in the works, too.
Hello!
Yes indeed. I understand. Running a company that's the size of yours is something that only you can do. And you do it so well.
Yes, Jessica took my order, (well helped in finding the thing, and handing me the paperwork.) agreed that the board I have here is a good choice. I came back after checking on something, and spoke with Kristina, the form will be entered on the Tuesday. I'll probably call then.
After some interesting steps in configuring a powersupply here, I have now gotten this board to work. Next will indeed be obtaining that accessories kit.