graduating from bs2 homework board

tangramkid

hey all,

i'm pretty sure this is a well-documented question, but i can't seem to find where. i've been working with a homework board, and i'd like to start keeping projects instead of disassembling them to start new ones. so i'm looking for a cheaper alternative to the basic stamp, once i have the wiring and programming figured out. is the cheaper alternative to the stamp i have to go strait to low-level PICs? The regular BS2 is about the same price as a homework board. is there a cheaper basic stamp that i'm overlooking?

thanks.

Robert Schwartz

You can use SX's. With SX/B, the transistion from Stamps to SX's is relatively painless. In a lot of situations, you can use a Basic Stamp 1, which will save money. The OEM version of the basic stamp saves money, but you need to build it.

tangramkid

thanks. that's exactly what i needed to know.

Forrest

The SX Kit is a good idea - but it will cost you $99 to buy the SX Tech kit Lite (which includes the SX Key Programmer). If you like using the BS2, you could get the BS2 OEM kit (requires soldering) for $30 at www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=27291

Using the BS2 OEM, you'll be able to build your circuits on breadboards or solder them on perfboards and then you'll be able to easily move the BS2 OEM from project to project. Breadboard and perfboards are inexpensive - if you search around on the web you'll find them for $5-$10 each.

Lastly, there's an interesting board sold by HVW Technologies that uses a Parallax BASiC Stamp SX interpreter chip. Like the BS2 OEM, it designed to be plugged into a breadboard or perfboard - and it costs $43 in kit form (you'll need to solder it). The advantage of the BASIC SX is it runs 2.5 times faster than the BS2 and it has 8 times the memory.

dandreae

Actually the SX tool kit lite is on special for $89.00 at this link:· http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=45180
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The SX tool kit Plus is on special for $99.00 at this link:· http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=45181

Dave

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Dave Andreae

Tech Support
dandreae@parallax.com
www.parallax.com

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tangramkid

yeah i've seen a lot of talk about the SX on the forums. for my purposes, the added speed and memory would probably go unused anyway, so it looks like the BS2 OEM kit is the way to go for me.