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Fritzing Projects would be very helpful to newbies like me — Parallax Forums

Fritzing Projects would be very helpful to newbies like me

uptonupton Posts: 6
edited 2014-03-07 11:21 in General Discussion
Several years ago I bought a Basic Stamp Homework board. I really like Parallax and it's fine documentation. I have not had much time to learn electronics because of my job. So I have had a hard time implementing the projects in the three published books on the Basic stamp. I (like many others probably) find it difficult to convert schematics to a breadboard layout. I have had the same problem with Picaxe. So I drifted to Arduino since there are many excellent books with breadboard Fritzing diagrams.

I recently began fiddling with my Stamp again - working with PBasic and good documentation is enjoyable. I would like to buy my next mc from Parallax out of loyalty. But I wish there was a book about Stamp with Fritzing diagrams in it. I think Picaxe and Parallax are maybe missing out on a large niche market of microcontroller newbies.

I know this may sound silly to the many of you guys whom are good in electronics but I think the Fritzing breadboard diagrams have definitely helped grow the Arduino market. I wish Parallax would sponsor Edwards, Williams, Kuhnel or someone to publish a book (or a later edition) with Stamp projects along with color Fritzing breadboard diagrams. I have looked all over the net and cannot find any Fritzing /Stamp projects

By the way, whatever happened to the Javelin Stamp?

Comments

  • FranklinFranklin Posts: 4,747
    edited 2014-03-06 10:39
  • uptonupton Posts: 6
    edited 2014-03-06 14:06
    They are great. That is the the good thing about Parallax & Andy. But I have worked thru these. I wish someone would publish a book with more projects and with the breadboard diagrams like Parallax, Pebble or Fritzing. The fault is mine for the lack of electronic knowledge. I am currently working my way thru (slowly) "Circuit Analysis" by A. Robbins.
  • FranklinFranklin Posts: 4,747
    edited 2014-03-06 21:41
    Here is a good resource. http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/
  • uptonupton Posts: 6
    edited 2014-03-07 08:36
    Thanks Franklin. Also trying to learn PSpice. and LabView.
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    edited 2014-03-07 08:51
    Check below in the "Similar Threads" to see if there is more information that can help.
  • PJAllenPJAllen Banned Posts: 5,065
    edited 2014-03-07 10:46
    upton wrote: »
    They are great. But I have worked thru these.

    How is it that you have not or cannot transition from that fritzing paradigm?
    Fritzing isn't providing a learning experience.
    Permanent training wheels.
  • GordonMcCombGordonMcComb Posts: 3,366
    edited 2014-03-07 10:59
    I think you'll see that more and more of the projects on the Learn site (learn.parallax.com) include a breadboard layout, either alone or in addition to a schematic. At least for the ones I did for the Kickstart projects, these were all hand-made. That takes time, especially when doing three or four different boards. Time = money, so not every project will have a fancy breadboard layout. (I'm not keen on the style of the breadboard diagrams in Fritzing. To do it in Fritzing still requires a schematic, which has to be in their format. Fritzing schematics are not very attractive, IMO. For the purposes of teaching, the best schematics are done by hand. So using Fritzing doesn't really save any time, unless you accept their style of graphics, or are willing to hand-edit the resulting SVG output.)

    While I agree it's good to learn schematics, like most things in life you have to start somewhere. Breadboard layouts are increasingly popular in order to bring in more newcomers. Everyone is doing them these days. But there are limits to what a breadboard depiction can show. For a breadboard view, the more complex the design, the harder it is to visualize, and the easier it is to make wiring mistakes. So, there's a place for breadboard layouts, and schematics.

    Andy and Steph are still putting out some Stamp stuff on the Learn site, though it looks like the the thrust now is Propeller Activity Board and related newer products. The Stamp is getting a little up there in age. I think you'll find the latest ed materials are for the latest products. In any case, do snoop around the Learn site. It may have added content you haven't seen before.
  • uptonupton Posts: 6
    edited 2014-03-07 11:12
    Thanks Mr. McComb. I really like your books - I have two of them and am thinking about buying you new one "Arduino Robot Bonanza".
  • uptonupton Posts: 6
    edited 2014-03-07 11:21
    Guess you are right PJ ... about the permanent training wheels. Probably need to get my confidence level up and not worry about making mistakes.
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