Placing BeMicroCV-A9 backorder
Peter Jakacki
Posts: 10,193
in Propeller 2
I placed a backorder today for some more BeMIcroCV-A9 boards since they are not actually discontinued, simply not in stock and still available with lead times. They are saying 17-18 weeks which means I will have my order by the end of October which will come soon enough.
At present I am prototyping a controller board with the CV-A9 plugged into underneath. This all fits into a standard case with a clear lid and is quite suitable and designed for deploying in the field. In my case they will be preproduction units in limited quantities but I am making the controller/motherboard general-purpose enough plus it will have a footprint for the real P2 chip when it's available. So I started with a matrix board proto to give me an immediate start and from this I can finalize the configuration of the motherboard. In the meantime I have posted some information in my Tachyon P2 thread and dropbox as I put this together.
Using a CV-A9 as a CPU module for a motherboard makes the motherboard a lot more general-purpose as you can make up your own custom plug-in modules and add them to the motherboard. The final PCB will also use the 80-pin edge connector with DACs for the VGA although I can use VGA at present using I/O and resistors.
Basic configuration of the actual motherboard itself.
D.P. has indicated he will take at least 2 CV-A9s plus motherboards. Please let me know in this thread or pm if you need as I can add to my order as well.
At present I am prototyping a controller board with the CV-A9 plugged into underneath. This all fits into a standard case with a clear lid and is quite suitable and designed for deploying in the field. In my case they will be preproduction units in limited quantities but I am making the controller/motherboard general-purpose enough plus it will have a footprint for the real P2 chip when it's available. So I started with a matrix board proto to give me an immediate start and from this I can finalize the configuration of the motherboard. In the meantime I have posted some information in my Tachyon P2 thread and dropbox as I put this together.
Using a CV-A9 as a CPU module for a motherboard makes the motherboard a lot more general-purpose as you can make up your own custom plug-in modules and add them to the motherboard. The final PCB will also use the 80-pin edge connector with DACs for the VGA although I can use VGA at present using I/O and resistors.
Basic configuration of the actual motherboard itself.
- 2 x SD cards
- IoT5500 module (WIZnet W500)
- 3 x plug-in user modules
- ESP8266MOD with int+ext ant
- Serial Bluetooth
- DS3231 RTC
- QSPI Flash
- 128kB EEPROM (why not)
- USB A
- 3.5mm stereo
- VGA (needs DAC board but can do 8 color mode as is)
- Switcher supply 24VDC in
D.P. has indicated he will take at least 2 CV-A9s plus motherboards. Please let me know in this thread or pm if you need as I can add to my order as well.
Comments
BTW, if it is just as easy for anyone to place a backorder then you don't need to go through me anyway but I will have some extras plus the motherboards. By all means place an order yourself for the CV-A9 but let me know too so that we can keep track of it and maybe an accumulation of orders might cut the leadtime as Arrow may just be waiting for a minimum run anyway.
As much as I like to be up to date on the P2 (besides reading the forums)
and starting the P2 with Tachyon is sure the best way ;-),
I hardly have time for my P1 & ESP8266 projects.
Since quite some time I have a DE2-nano sitting here still in it's original package ... and now to small for a real P2&Tachyon
No HyperRAM footprints ?
I would probably package the board in the enclosure that it is designed for rather than ship a naked pcb as the case provides immediate protection during shipping anyway. The user just needs power from 7V to 35V or could even run it in a limited capacity with USB power. In that regard too I normally favor not dedicating the serial port to USB, it is too limited for one and it is just as easy to use my enhanced PropPlug compatible adaptors for this anyway. Besides I have serial Bluetooth sitting on that same port which can talk to the P2 while the "USB" port is not used so I can use a smartphone if need be.
(Edit: that doesn't mean I can't have a dedicated USB though as my USB modules are designed to be embedded and present a microUSB.)
Now that I have some time today hopefully I will put my matrix board version of the motherboard together and post some final photos, it is looking quite good and I can't wait to start firing up some of those peripherals too.
@jmg - just been waiting to see who was going to say "wot!? no HyperRAM?"
However a HyperRAM footprint is not your normal easy peasy SMD as we are talking BGA and that has to be done just right. I don't have a need for HyperRAM on the MB itself but certainly i could include it on the optional 80-pin edge connector card which would include the VGA DACs. If we are talking hires video we should be talking HDMI (why don't monitors come with SDI too?) rather than VGA. But the FPGA build would have to be revised or added for this optional board anyway.