Where has all the old tech gone? (Long time standing...)

Kotobuki

Hi,

First post in many moons, first with this new account. I have been using (and having fun with) the Basic stamp for over five years, now I am teaching one of my grandkids how to use it. I took the BOE and mounted it to a slope front enclosure along with three large breadboards. With my own projects, I am bumping up against the limits of the BS2 series, especially with math functions. I have started to experiment with the Micromega 32 bit floating point chip, and am finding it to be quite useful. I cannot wait to start learning about and using the Propeller. That will be next year's goal.

I have also ordered the last of any accessories that the Emac company will sell for their 8085 Primer Trainer system. I now have lots of spare parts and accessories to last for years. Seems no one in the West sells microprocessor trainers anymore. The only place to find them is in India, where there is a strong manufacturing and customer base for them. But to get one shipped here is neigh unto impossible. I have been teaching myself the 8085 assembly language and using a special EMOS monitor, am able to use a PC as a RS-232 terminal to download programs and upload results. There doesn't seem to be any interest left in basic (lower case "b") uProcessor design or use. I plan on using the 8085 as part of an on-board computer for sensor input processing on a robot project that I have just started. Yeah, I just purchased the very last old school Hexcrawler from the Crustcrawler company. It was their print ad model that had been stashed away. I love this unit as it is so large, that there is more than enough space for all kinds of electronics.

I also found a source for the defunct Javlin Stamp and development board. I have programmed in Java for years, and now will get to play with a PIC version of it. It is too bad that it is no longer in production. It seems like a good idea and a neat product.

So the gist of my post is this... As technology progresses, power and performance increases at staggering rates, surface mount replaces through hole, lead free solder (which has IMHO a whole host of bad issues) replaces the reliable 60/40 for the sake of EU environmental correctness... (and yes, I have over 40 Lbs of 40/60 in various gauges), there will be those of us who still use and appreciate the older and often simpler technologies. Sure, the latest Intel processor has more power than ten thousand 8085 chips, but, it is easier to program at the machine level, and for simpler tasks such as sensor input processing, very appropriate. Thus, with this post, I wish to encourage the Parallax company to continue its extraordinary work in promoting the BS2 series, to continue to develope its Prop series, and to not drop too many more products such as the Javlin and SX. I have been very happy with the support, help and products of Parallax, and will continue to use (and purchase) them for many years to come.

Best,

Joe

Matt Gilliland

Hi Joe -

I wish to encourage the Parallax company to continue its extraordinary work in promoting the BS2 series, to continue to develope its Prop series...

We shall! And Welcome to the Forums :-)

User Name

I appreciated your Pete Seeger inspired title! I certainly agree with many of the sentiments you've expressed. Thankfully we can still buy 'real' solder in the US - but I feel for all the manufacturers that have to make do without.

The SX would not have gone away if Parallax had anything to say about it. They were extremely gracious to purchase a huge quantity before it disappeared. But it was a shell-shocker to me too.

Fortunately the Propeller is incredibly easier to exploit than the SX. I spent some time moving code over and was amazed at how much the Prop could absorb so easily and with enormous capacity to spare. In the process, timing was rendered much much simpler. No more cycle counting for time-critical MODEM functions. So life does get better and better in most ways, even for those of us who relish the simple.

Kotobuki

User Name wrote: »

I appreciated your Pete Seeger inspired title! I certainly agree with many of the sentiments you've expressed. Thankfully we can still buy 'real' solder in the US - but I feel for all the manufacturers that have to make do without.

The SX would not have gone away if Parallax had anything to say about it. They were extremely gracious to purchase a huge quantity before it disappeared. But it was a shell-shocker to me too.

Fortunately the Propeller is incredibly easier to exploit than the SX. I spent some time moving code over and was amazed at how much the Prop could absorb so easily and with enormous capacity to spare. In the process, timing was rendered much much simpler. No more cycle counting for time-critical MODEM functions. So life does get better and better in most ways, even for those of us who relish the simple.

Yes, I guess that my problem is that I came of age when computers were still fun to use, and it was still not certain that the PC would be the defacto platform. (I still have my original Commodor 64 and Quest for Tires cart...) That is why I love the BS2 units... They are fun to use and design with. Don't get me wrong, I have a very modern PC, but it was outdated by the time I got it bought and unpacked. I am no Luddite, but gee, that old C64 was fun to use. A whole lot of us were quite disappointed when the Commodor company went out of business, and never delivered their Z-80 cart that they promised for the thing. One was supposed to be able to plug in the Z80 unit and switch between the C64 and Z80 with a keystroke. Now, believe it or not, I belong to a very small group of computer weirdos that remember and are trying to resurect the use of the 8089 I\O processor. (You wouldn't happen to have a copy of ASM-89 floating around anywhere would you? :-) Intel refuses to even acknoledge the 8089 or its development tools. The 8089 was not included in the original IBM PC, so was never used for much outside of the DEC 9 track tape drives and a few early hardcards. The neat thing is that I can forsee when a bunch of smaller, RISKier, simpler chips (such as the Prop, from what I have read) will soon be used in ways that will rival the big CISC machines, for a lot less money and electricity. That will in a way harken back to what I thought would be the eveloution of computer tech way back when I was just a pup.

Best,

Joe

Gadgetman

you can still get the 'micro Professor' trainer, with the Z80 CPU.

http://www.flite.co.uk/microprofessor-mpf-1b-z80-training-system.htm

They also have 'a few' other trainers.
(but be prepared for your wallet to commit suicide... )

I recently received the P112 SBC which is now Z180-based and support a bit more RAM than the Z80...

But as for real 'standalone' systems with a keypad and some sort of output there's not all that much new these days.
The FIGnition runs FORTH, has 8 keys and a video output.

The fact is that the market for a 'trainer' isn't all that large any more, and they have to compete with the Arduinos and their clones, the Pie and a host of other 'tethered' boards because these days a PC + an Arduino board doesn't cost that much more than a good trainer.

Heater.

Kotobuki.

I belong to a very small group of computer weirdos that remember and are trying to resurect the use of the 8089 I\O processor.

WTF?

You cannot be serious?

Back in 1980 something I was part of a team that designed an industrial control board based on the 8086 with space reserved for an 8087 maths coprocessor and an 8089 IOP.

I never did see either of those chips as I moved on before they arrived and anyway the world moved on to other things very rapidly.

Sadly I don't have the software tools for the IOP any more.