QuickStart musings
blittled
Posts: 681
With the QuickStart board coming out at Radio Shack (hopefully) at the end of this month I was thinking of some things. It will be more visible to the general public such as the 14 year old boy who scraped all his lawn mowing money together to start a hobby in electronics (that was me years ago) or a curiosity seeker. What will they need for information?
I don't know what documentation will be packaged with the QuickStart board. Hopefully there is info about the excellent tutorials on Parallax Semiconductor. But if they are as curious as I was starting they they'll eventually make it to these forums.
When I started in the forums there was a lot activity in documentation such as Tricks and Tips, Bamse's video tutorials and others. Also games were popular and there were many tools such as Gear being developed. Many of these resources are now buried in the forums and would be hard for a newbie to find which is a little sad since these would be treasures for a newbie. Yes, we do have some stickies referring to some of this but they are outdated. For example there is a link for the Propeller Tool 1.2.6. Also some external links point to sites with listings of all sorts of goodies but each link in the list on that site is a broken link since it hasn't been updated with the new url for the forum.
What I was thinking of is that a Quickstart stickie be started and the forum community could put in some info that would of interest to a newbie. Also it should include Quickstart projects that require little or no hardware and whatever hardware is used should be able to be found at Radio Shack. Maybe these projects then could be compiled into a document called "Quickstart Quick Projects"
I just feel that if there was an easy to find resource with tons of info and inexpensive easy projects for the Quickstart board it would be more appealing to many of the people who frequent Radio shack that are not avid Prop users
A question to Parallax: Are you going to sell the upcoming breadboard add on for the Quick Start at Radio Shack? If so you should also sell the breakout boards for the RCA connectors. That way a tutorial can be written up on how to make a Quickstart be somewhat Demoboard compatible. I know there is an issue with no 5V on the QuickStart but some interesting video and sound projects could still be done.
I don't know what documentation will be packaged with the QuickStart board. Hopefully there is info about the excellent tutorials on Parallax Semiconductor. But if they are as curious as I was starting they they'll eventually make it to these forums.
When I started in the forums there was a lot activity in documentation such as Tricks and Tips, Bamse's video tutorials and others. Also games were popular and there were many tools such as Gear being developed. Many of these resources are now buried in the forums and would be hard for a newbie to find which is a little sad since these would be treasures for a newbie. Yes, we do have some stickies referring to some of this but they are outdated. For example there is a link for the Propeller Tool 1.2.6. Also some external links point to sites with listings of all sorts of goodies but each link in the list on that site is a broken link since it hasn't been updated with the new url for the forum.
What I was thinking of is that a Quickstart stickie be started and the forum community could put in some info that would of interest to a newbie. Also it should include Quickstart projects that require little or no hardware and whatever hardware is used should be able to be found at Radio Shack. Maybe these projects then could be compiled into a document called "Quickstart Quick Projects"
I just feel that if there was an easy to find resource with tons of info and inexpensive easy projects for the Quickstart board it would be more appealing to many of the people who frequent Radio shack that are not avid Prop users
A question to Parallax: Are you going to sell the upcoming breadboard add on for the Quick Start at Radio Shack? If so you should also sell the breakout boards for the RCA connectors. That way a tutorial can be written up on how to make a Quickstart be somewhat Demoboard compatible. I know there is an issue with no 5V on the QuickStart but some interesting video and sound projects could still be done.
Comments
GadgetGangster has a new product in the works which will help here...
...more later!
OBC
@blittled - I really like this idea! An easy to get to,quick to digest place to go do get the software, get a few quick, easy, cheap (I just spent my money on the card) projects that appeal to the average kid that might buy a QuickStart (or beginning adult) . Grab the software, download a couple tutorials to show off the lights and buttons, plug a couple parts into the header...grow from there. I can't see a kid with their new toy wading too deep into the forums or Parallax.com to get started....and reading the application note series on Parallaxsemiconductor.com probably doesn't pop into the 14 year old brain. There's also a good chance mom and dad aren't into electronics.
There is material on most subjects, but it is widely scattered and not organized (at least not according to the way my brain works).
For example, the demo code for the prop demo board is not in the OBEX (which is the first place I look), but only on the demo board product page (which is the last place I look). Also using the "search" function forum never works, but googling forums.parallax.com:<topic> is the method folks recommend.
Some would argue that this type of knowledge that one "just has to know" or "just learn over time through experience"; but I would counter that this is a very good indicator of poor documentation/organization.
I started in on a thread to list and organize all the materials a beginner might need, but quickly found the task to be too big for my limited time and exposure.
For instance, it's not readily apparent how one would use a battery pack with a QS.
I've added a few things to most of my QS boards to make them easier for me to use. I soldered female headers to the Vss and Vdd holes on the right side of the board. I also soldered a pair of male headers to the Vin hole and the Vss hole next to it. I frequently use these two pins to connect a battery pack to my QS boards. I've also added a label to both sides of the 40 pin header identifying each pin. There's a picture of the label (and other QS projects) on this thread.
I given several QS boards away. It would be nice to be able to refer the recipient of the board to a good tutorial on using it.
Duane