You are correct Tom, this will be very much like the SX Proto Boards with the same dimensions so that it can fit into all the BOE/SX protoboard platforms (think BOE-BOT compatible form factor). Most "non-essential for all applications"·elements will be a "populate it yourself" situation to keep production cost down. Since there will be a limited amount of area availible for these elements (roughly the dead space on the SX Proto Board), we will have to make a determination of whats included/whats not. We will be using this thread as guidance when making the decision.
I'd like to revise my inputs a bit. Having worked on over 100 pcb layouts, and re-looking at SX28 (in hand) and SX48 (picture) layouts, I note several problems with 'all our wishes'.
To keep the existing size (3 x 4"), adding a 3.3v regulator is going to cut into 'our space' for the desired and requested PS/2 and VGA connectors plus the other items. I can see maybe it also would use up space for pads/traces for a RS232 i/f. How about keeping the same mounting hole dimensions, but increase the board a bit on each side?______ Or does this cause problems mechanically with existing designs?
The programming i/f using either a PropPlug or PropClip is an expensive way to go, IMHO. I'm not sure how they'd work with the RSTn Prop input unless a 5 line i/f were used. The PropPlug/Clip approach only uses 4 lines. Ooops! Some more thinking on this detail, up front.
Be nice to see (somewhere on board edge) pads to mount a DB9, ala Phil's neat PropSTICK, with pad/traces for a MAX3232 (in DIP16 pack) plus the discretes (5 caps, 3 resistors and a transistor). Just pads, no components mounted for this board; user buys his own parts.
Possibly, the 'strain relief holes' on front and right edges could be eliminated to gain some space.
Would the SMD EEPROM be in the user's 'through hole area'?_____
The SX28 and SX48 have 2 zones for SOIC8. Looks like a DIP8 could also be connected, with some jumpers. Maybe extra EEPROM space could be here. Is there a need to two, consuming valuable user space?
Also, probably should at least use the left side of the 'user's area' pads for the Prop I/O connections. (Possibly two columns of pads connected horizontally on the left!)
My vote for what it's worth... SMALL AS POSSIBLE/REASONABLE, least amount of extras that we can add ourselves. Maybe a connector for the usb programmer.. ADC doesn't seem like something that will be useful to EVERYONE, but if it doesn't increase the footprint/price I have no complaints. No big serial/vga connectors or the like.. If people want a board with tons of connectors and gadgets on the board, that sounds like it would defeat the purpose and should be a different product. It's amazing how resourceful you can get when you've got to squeeze as many parts as you can on a tiny board... keeps you from getting lazy and wasteful
I think the board is a pretty good idea, esp at that price.
One idea I had is have common·add on parts that you can be added to the order(for this or just in general). That way customers can add things like 15 pin VGA, RCA video jacks, PS/2 ports that they can solder on or add themselves, and still keep the cost down for everyone else. It would also save the customers from·having to go to a 3rd party to hunt·down the·parts that those customers would pick up.
Various people have various needs. If you meet all the needs, the board is more than full. I am looking at my Demo Board. I don't need the VGA. It eats up space and the pins connected to it are no longer general purpose because of the resistors. Some people like RS-232. Those with a new computer would rather have USB. Perhaps the board can be designed with several "APPMOD like" connectors; probably much smaller in pins than 2x10. Then several daugher boards could be made to plug in: VGA, composite TV, RS-232, keyboard/mouse, audio amp, LEDs, RJ-45 conector, etc. The basic board probably should not have a connecor. A hobbyist can add the connector to make a reconfigurable board, i.e., plug and remove daughter boards as needed. A low run production part can have the daughter board solderd to the board.
Edit:· Perhaps to use with daughter cards designed for MoBoProp
Post Edited (John Abshier) : 10/5/2006 4:45:39 AM GMT
I just noticed the new BS2px motherboard and daughter boards and the reference to a Propeller motherboard that will use the same daughter cards. Nice design. It's clearly a different form factor than the BOE. With the industrial customer expected, the use of two Atmel coprocessors provides a lot of power that the Stamps have never had and always had to be offloaded. They're ready to go with standard I/O (ADC,PWM,Servo control, etc.) yet can be reprogrammed for other needs. The Propellor won't need them and will be easier to support as well.
On the subject of I/O, a board would need at least a way to program it. I would vote for a USB with the cool little FTDI part over a DB-9 and MAX-232. A DB-9 is so, 1980's. If an FT232R is too expensive, how about leaving some pads for it and a USB connector?
Another really nice feature of the Demo Board is the 5v supply. Gotta have 5v for most of the parts I'm using.
Also, with all the suggestions for pads and traces for all kinds of optional connectors and parts, what about putting some of these pads on the bottom or back side of the board? It could always be mounted up on four stand-offs.
Everything in the original concept looks good, keep it simple. But as intended for permanent use, why bother with a power switch ? A jumper area would be more to the point for power selection. Why use a barrel connector for the supply? For permanent use, a solderable connection would make more sense. Why include the power led? If someone really wanted one, they could easily add their own. This may sound like trivial things, but sometimes the simple and the just taken for granted things can save a lot of money.
Get it as bare as you can get it, with just the Propeller, Power, Xtal, EEPROM and A/D networks.
The EEPROM should be 64KB if possible, though.
Also, I liked PJV's suggesion of grouping pins.
If they can be 'populated' with row headers, it would make it easy to plug in daughterboards.
(The header strips may even be packaged together with the daughterboards since you don't need them before...)
VGA and PS2 may be nice, but how many needs it?
I'd rather have a RS232 port.
That, and possibly a row of LEDs...
(LEDs - the ultimate debugging tool?)
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Don't visit my new website...
I have now become a minimilist, in light of the disclosure of the new MoBoProp board. I guess I am down to power supply, EEPROM, crystal, USB programing port. Now I have to re-think what I would use the proto board for.
64k EEPROM·with SDA and SCL lines routed to where they can be accessed. Pullup resistor on SCL if Chip says there·are no compatibility issues.
Power light with three-position switch (0 = off, 1 = power to all supplies except a few servo ports, 2 = power to all places)
3” x 4” size, with mounting holes the same as the BOE, Super Carrier, and SX Proto Boards (this enables use on our Boe-Bots, or within any future enclosures or other mounting-hole specific products we may release)
Dual power supply: 5V, 3.3V, and Vss
Two (2) 47 uF capacitors across the 5V power supply for servo management
Friendly power rails along the edge of the board for multiple connection points
Several·rows of connected·0.1" pads for easy point-to-point soldering, providing 1x2 or 1x3 connections
(4) 3-pin locations for servo connections, or other 3-pin devices made by Parallax (serial LCDs, Ping))), PIR, etc), and a jumper to supply these ports with Vin or Vdd.·
Ample through-hole area for your projects
Strain-relief holes for wires leading off the board
PropPlug programming connection
USB2SER programming holes, to enable this method of programming will require desoldering the PropPlug programming header and resolder it into the 4 holes for the USB2SER.
Unpopulated dual ps/2 and VGA. We are looking into using·NorComp 999-H15-PS2-571 which is a dual PS/2 with a VGA plug stacked on top, the pinouts are compatible with the standard for each part if the user wants only PS/2 or VGA. If we use this part, we will make it availible seperately for those wanting all three.
4 A/D ports near the Propeller,·we may have it so these are capable of being disabled to regain the I/O pins·
No breadboard (however there will be enough space for the user to place one over the prototype area).
I will address the two most requested items that we chose not to include.
We did not include the RS/232 DB-9 because sales show this is not the interface most people use and·inclusion would require a substantial amount of board real estate. I will be releasing an Ap-note using Beau's already published circuit to instruct those users wanting this programming interface on how to construct a RS/232 to PropPlug interface.
We will not provide an APmod header because this dedicates an area to a specific pinout. Those wanting this functionality can connect thier own pin header in the prototype area and make the necessary connections to provide thier own APmod interface.
Thank you for your input, all suggestions were considered. If we didn't implement your suggestion please understand we had to consider the greatest good for the greatest number.
One minor point: 47uF x 2 seems a bit wimpy for its intended purpose of filtering servo transients. Some pads, at least, for a larger (1000uF) radial-lead electrolytic might be useful. A large cap on the 3.3V supply would also help with hold-up if the +5V supply feeding the 3.3V regulator goes south momentarily. Since it's a proto board, power supply abuse is a near certainty.
Paul Baker said...
Ken and I have discussed your input and here·are the list of features we have settled on.
That was fast. Good. Now all we have to do is wait.
Have added 'comments'; √ = Approve, ? = possibly won't use, ??? = see comment at bottom.
The design is currently defined as follows:
√ * Surface-mounted P8X32A-Q44 Processor, socketed crystal clock
√ * 64k EEPROM with SDA and SCL lines routed to where they can be
accessed.
Pullup resistor on SCL if Chip says there are no compatibility issues.
√ * Power light with three-position switch (0 = off, 1 = power to all supplies
except a few servo ports, 2 = power to all places)
√ * 3” x 4” size, with mounting holes the same as the BOE, Super Carrier,
and SX Proto Boards (this enables use on our Boe-Bots, or within any
future enclosures or other mounting-hole specific products we may release)
√ * Dual power supply: 5V, 3.3V, and Vss
√ * Two (2) 47 uF capacitors across the 5V power supply for servo management
? * Friendly power rails along the edge of the board for multiple connection points
? * Several rows of connected 0.1" pads for easy point-to-point soldering,
providing 1x2 or 1x3 connections
? * (4) 3-pin locations for servo connections, or other 3-pin devices made by
Parallax (serial LCDs, Ping))), PIR, etc), and a jumper to supply these
ports with Vin or Vdd.
???* Ample through-hole area for your projects
? * Strain-relief holes for wires leading off the board
? * PropPlug programming connection
? * USB2SER programming holes, to enable this method of programming will
require desoldering the PropPlug programming header and resolder it into
the 4 holes for the USB2SER.
√ * Unpopulated dual ps/2 and VGA. We are looking into using NorComp
999-H15-PS2-571 which is a dual PS/2 with a VGA plug stacked on top,
the pinouts are compatible with the standard for each part if the user
wants only PS/2 or VGA. If we use this part, we will make it availible
seperately for those wanting all three.
? * 4 A/D ports near the Propeller, we may have it so these are capable of
being disabled to regain the I/O pins
√ * No breadboard (however there will be enough space for the user to place
one over the prototype area).
For the '???', what will be the dimensions of the unconnected thru-holes?___ It would be desirable to accomodate at least one 2x20 0.6" spread IC socket zone and a 2x20 0.1" spread header area,
Will have to work around the lack of RS232 i/f.
Appreciate the fast turnaround on this design
Phil, We'll look into bumping up the cap values, we do want to be able to easily support servo operation.
Harley, we will fit whatever the board will permit, I cannot say at this point if it will fit your requirements.
One point I forgot to mention (since its a non-feature), there will be no SOIC pads on the board. There are cheap means for converting suface mount packages to thru hole. Part of the reason for their inclusion on the SX boards is to provide easy addition of a 8-SOIC EEPROM, but there will already be an EEPROM on the Propeller ProtoBoard.
You might consider making a little kit consisting of panel-mount mouse, keyboard and TV connectors available. These sort of boards seem ideal for boxing up already bread-boarded systems and it would save hassle in sourcing the components.
Instead of making the caps bigger, I would run the servos from a 2nd 7805, independent of the one running the Prop. I've used a servo with the BS2 board of education and it was constantly causing brown out resets of the BS2. I decided circuits are much more reliable and easier to debug if 5 volt supplies for different parts are kept small and separate, and I would never run anything like a motor or servo from my logic power supply.
Here is the top side image of Propeller Proto Board, the caps that will be used are 1000uF not 100uF as stated on the board. The keyboard/vga/mouse connector will be availible in a seperate parts kit, along with the resistors for the VGA, the pins are compatible with standard PS/2 and vga for those only wanting one or the other. We expect the boards to be availible sometime in Q1 '07.
I really hope you need quantity 10, along with the other users on the Prop Discussion Forum. As long as everybody needs 10 units (okay, at least 2-3), we can offer these at our target price. The marketing rationale would be that it's better for us to spend Parallax funds on promoting Propeller to you via low-cost Prop Proto Boards instead of printed advertisements, so help us prove out our plan!
In two weeks I'm personally delivering this design to our office in China. I'm bringing the specific U.S. raw materials with me (Prop chips, the SVGA/PS2 connectors, etc.). When I arrive there I shall set the parts on the table in the manufacturer's office and explain to them that our customers want the design, quickly, long before Christmas holidays. We will order circuit boards before we go to dinner. I won't leave until the project is launched and headed in the right direction.
This way, all of us will have the Prop Proto Board for our projects when we're home for the week before New Year's Eve.
We'll do our best to make this happen quickly, properly and efficiently.
I really hope you need quantity 10, along with the other users on the Prop Discussion Forum. As long as everybody needs 10 units (okay, at least 2-3), we can offer these at our target price. The marketing rationale would be that it's better for us to spend Parallax funds on promoting Propeller to you via low-cost Prop Proto Boards instead of printed advertisements, so help us prove out our plan!
As ya'll hit your target price of sub $10 for the SX boards, I purchased 10 direct and I think I've almost cleared Mouser out of their SX52 Proto Boards.
If the target price is SUB $15 for the Propeller Proto Board, put up a link like ya'll did for the Propeller D40, and I put my order in today.
Thanks Paul for the glimpse of the Propeller Proto Board.
It gives us a good idea how compatible it is to our needs.
It looks like there is there are a number of 'free' hole/pads one in from the upper, left and bottom pads conected to signals, power/ground. Such that there are 20 vertically and 13 horizontally isolated, except for the upper right where the 3-pin header zone is and a few 5 rows below that, right?____ Such that a 40-pin DIP Propeller could be mounted 'vertically', say beginning to the right of the 3.3v pads at the upper-left?____
Questions;
1. What are the items to right of C2 for? looks like 4 R or C and two pads each.
2. Outside the upper-left of the Prop are more R/Cs. Might this be for TV video and audio?___
3. And above them, is that a connector?___
4. Is that the power-on LED is just behind J1 power jack?____
Looks really good. Appears this could be useful right now for one of my projects; especially if the first two questions at tope are YES.
Harley said...
Thanks Paul for the glimpse of the Propeller Proto Board.
It gives us a good idea how compatible it is to our needs.
It looks like there is there are a number of 'free' hole/pads one in from the upper, left and bottom pads conected to signals, power/ground. Such that there are 20 vertically and 13 horizontally isolated, except for the upper right where the 3-pin header zone is and a few 5 rows below that, right?____ Such that a 40-pin DIP Propeller could be mounted 'vertically', say beginning to the right of the 3.3v pads at the upper-left?____
Questions;
1. What are the items to right of C2 for? looks like 4 R or C and two pads each.
2. Outside the upper-left of the Prop are more R/Cs. Might this be for TV video and audio?___
3. And above them, is that a connector?___
4. Is that the power-on LED is just behind J1 power jack?____
Looks really good. Appears this could be useful right now for one of my projects; especially if the first two questions at tope are YES.
Yes a 40 pin dip can be fit into the prototyping area, not something designed for, but it will fit.
1. Those are the output resistors for the ADC channel, the holes are for inserting and soldering single space breadboard wire to bypass the ADC resistor and have it be a general I/O pin.
2. Those are also part of the ADC networks (4 channels),·there·is no TV circuit on the board. It wasn't heavily requested and it is a simple circuit to include in the breadboard area.
3. That is the reset switch and above that is the 3 position power switch.
4. Yes.
That'll be a nice board! It has a nice balance of features without going overboard.
Now, okay, I hate to be a pill, but I do want this board to succeed. So I have to ask: where are the bypass caps? There should be at least two near the Prop' s Vdd pins, on opposite sides of the package, and one near the EEPROM. I don't see any. Also, I'm really glad for those 1000uF caps (!), but make sure you have the proper output caps on the regulators besides. Check those ESRs against the regulator data sheets! You may need to add a tantalum or a high-value ceramic near the output pins to meet specs. And please beef up the supply rails where room permits: .03" minimum, .04" preferred. (I'm sure there's stuff on the bottom that we can't see, but I just wanted to make sure...) Finally, did you miss a ground connection on pin 1 of the EEPROM, or is that a N/C on the one you're using?
And please forgive my critique if I missed something that's there after all.
If you guys hit the target $15 price, I'll get at least 3 to five boards right away; and I am pretty sure some of my friends would buy a bunch too!
The digikey link expired [noparse]:([/noparse] could someone post the actual part number so I can find it? That connector could be most useful for some of my projects...
Comments
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Paul Baker
Propeller Applications Engineer
Parallax, Inc.
Post Edited (Paul Baker (Parallax)) : 10/4/2006 4:59:19 PM GMT
I have a HW board, and this is the only thing I think it really lacks.
I'd like to revise my inputs a bit. Having worked on over 100 pcb layouts, and re-looking at SX28 (in hand) and SX48 (picture) layouts, I note several problems with 'all our wishes'.
To keep the existing size (3 x 4"), adding a 3.3v regulator is going to cut into 'our space' for the desired and requested PS/2 and VGA connectors plus the other items. I can see maybe it also would use up space for pads/traces for a RS232 i/f. How about keeping the same mounting hole dimensions, but increase the board a bit on each side?______
The programming i/f using either a PropPlug or PropClip is an expensive way to go, IMHO. I'm not sure how they'd work with the RSTn Prop input unless a 5 line i/f were used. The PropPlug/Clip approach only uses 4 lines. Ooops! Some more thinking on this detail, up front.
Be nice to see (somewhere on board edge) pads to mount a DB9, ala Phil's neat PropSTICK, with pad/traces for a MAX3232 (in DIP16 pack) plus the discretes (5 caps, 3 resistors and a transistor). Just pads, no components mounted for this board; user buys his own parts.
Possibly, the 'strain relief holes' on front and right edges could be eliminated to gain some space.
Would the SMD EEPROM be in the user's 'through hole area'?_____
The SX28 and SX48 have 2 zones for SOIC8. Looks like a DIP8 could also be connected, with some jumpers. Maybe extra EEPROM space could be here. Is there a need to two, consuming valuable user space?
Also, probably should at least use the left side of the 'user's area' pads for the Prop I/O connections. (Possibly two columns of pads connected horizontally on the left!)
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Harley Shanko
h.a.s. designn
Post Edited (Harley) : 10/4/2006 10:01:45 PM GMT
One idea I had is have common·add on parts that you can be added to the order(for this or just in general). That way customers can add things like 15 pin VGA, RCA video jacks, PS/2 ports that they can solder on or add themselves, and still keep the cost down for everyone else. It would also save the customers from·having to go to a 3rd party to hunt·down the·parts that those customers would pick up.
·
Edit:· Perhaps to use with daughter cards designed for MoBoProp
Post Edited (John Abshier) : 10/5/2006 4:45:39 AM GMT
Another really nice feature of the Demo Board is the 5v supply. Gotta have 5v for most of the parts I'm using.
Also, with all the suggestions for pads and traces for all kinds of optional connectors and parts, what about putting some of these pads on the bottom or back side of the board? It could always be mounted up on four stand-offs.
It will be excellent, I'm sure.
Jim C
kelvin
The EEPROM should be 64KB if possible, though.
Also, I liked PJV's suggesion of grouping pins.
If they can be 'populated' with row headers, it would make it easy to plug in daughterboards.
(The header strips may even be packaged together with the daughterboards since you don't need them before...)
VGA and PS2 may be nice, but how many needs it?
I'd rather have a RS232 port.
That, and possibly a row of LEDs...
(LEDs - the ultimate debugging tool?)
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Don't visit my new website...
Ray
The design is currently defined as follows:
- Surface-mounted P8X32A-Q44 Processor, socketed crystal clock
- 64k EEPROM·with SDA and SCL lines routed to where they can be accessed. Pullup resistor on SCL if Chip says there·are no compatibility issues.
- Power light with three-position switch (0 = off, 1 = power to all supplies except a few servo ports, 2 = power to all places)
- 3” x 4” size, with mounting holes the same as the BOE, Super Carrier, and SX Proto Boards (this enables use on our Boe-Bots, or within any future enclosures or other mounting-hole specific products we may release)
- Dual power supply: 5V, 3.3V, and Vss
- Two (2) 47 uF capacitors across the 5V power supply for servo management
- Friendly power rails along the edge of the board for multiple connection points
- Several·rows of connected·0.1" pads for easy point-to-point soldering, providing 1x2 or 1x3 connections
- (4) 3-pin locations for servo connections, or other 3-pin devices made by Parallax (serial LCDs, Ping))), PIR, etc), and a jumper to supply these ports with Vin or Vdd.·
- Ample through-hole area for your projects
- Strain-relief holes for wires leading off the board
- PropPlug programming connection
- USB2SER programming holes, to enable this method of programming will require desoldering the PropPlug programming header and resolder it into the 4 holes for the USB2SER.
- Unpopulated dual ps/2 and VGA. We are looking into using·NorComp 999-H15-PS2-571 which is a dual PS/2 with a VGA plug stacked on top, the pinouts are compatible with the standard for each part if the user wants only PS/2 or VGA. If we use this part, we will make it availible seperately for those wanting all three.
- 4 A/D ports near the Propeller,·we may have it so these are capable of being disabled to regain the I/O pins·
- No breadboard (however there will be enough space for the user to place one over the prototype area).
I will address the two most requested items that we chose not to include.We did not include the RS/232 DB-9 because sales show this is not the interface most people use and·inclusion would require a substantial amount of board real estate. I will be releasing an Ap-note using Beau's already published circuit to instruct those users wanting this programming interface on how to construct a RS/232 to PropPlug interface.
We will not provide an APmod header because this dedicates an area to a specific pinout. Those wanting this functionality can connect thier own pin header in the prototype area and make the necessary connections to provide thier own APmod interface.
Thank you for your input, all suggestions were considered. If we didn't implement your suggestion please understand we had to consider the greatest good for the greatest number.
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Paul Baker
Propeller Applications Engineer
Parallax, Inc.
One minor point: 47uF x 2 seems a bit wimpy for its intended purpose of filtering servo transients. Some pads, at least, for a larger (1000uF) radial-lead electrolytic might be useful. A large cap on the 3.3V supply would also help with hold-up if the +5V supply feeding the 3.3V regulator goes south momentarily. Since it's a proto board, power supply abuse is a near certainty.
-Phil
Have added 'comments'; √ = Approve, ? = possibly won't use, ??? = see comment at bottom.
The design is currently defined as follows: √ * Surface-mounted P8X32A-Q44 Processor, socketed crystal clock √ * 64k EEPROM with SDA and SCL lines routed to where they can be accessed. Pullup resistor on SCL if Chip says there are no compatibility issues. √ * Power light with three-position switch (0 = off, 1 = power to all supplies except a few servo ports, 2 = power to all places) √ * 3” x 4” size, with mounting holes the same as the BOE, Super Carrier, and SX Proto Boards (this enables use on our Boe-Bots, or within any future enclosures or other mounting-hole specific products we may release) √ * Dual power supply: 5V, 3.3V, and Vss √ * Two (2) 47 uF capacitors across the 5V power supply for servo management ? * Friendly power rails along the edge of the board for multiple connection points ? * Several rows of connected 0.1" pads for easy point-to-point soldering, providing 1x2 or 1x3 connections ? * (4) 3-pin locations for servo connections, or other 3-pin devices made by Parallax (serial LCDs, Ping))), PIR, etc), and a jumper to supply these ports with Vin or Vdd. ???* Ample through-hole area for your projects ? * Strain-relief holes for wires leading off the board ? * PropPlug programming connection ? * USB2SER programming holes, to enable this method of programming will require desoldering the PropPlug programming header and resolder it into the 4 holes for the USB2SER. √ * Unpopulated dual ps/2 and VGA. We are looking into using NorComp 999-H15-PS2-571 which is a dual PS/2 with a VGA plug stacked on top, the pinouts are compatible with the standard for each part if the user wants only PS/2 or VGA. If we use this part, we will make it availible seperately for those wanting all three. ? * 4 A/D ports near the Propeller, we may have it so these are capable of being disabled to regain the I/O pins √ * No breadboard (however there will be enough space for the user to place one over the prototype area).For the '???', what will be the dimensions of the unconnected thru-holes?___ It would be desirable to accomodate at least one 2x20 0.6" spread IC socket zone and a 2x20 0.1" spread header area,
Will have to work around the lack of RS232 i/f.
Appreciate the fast turnaround on this design
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Harley Shanko
h.a.s. designn
Harley, we will fit whatever the board will permit, I cannot say at this point if it will fit your requirements.
One point I forgot to mention (since its a non-feature), there will be no SOIC pads on the board. There are cheap means for converting suface mount packages to thru hole. Part of the reason for their inclusion on the SX boards is to provide easy addition of a 8-SOIC EEPROM, but there will already be an EEPROM on the Propeller ProtoBoard.
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Paul Baker
Propeller Applications Engineer
Parallax, Inc.
Post Edited (Paul Baker (Parallax)) : 10/5/2006 7:52:02 PM GMT
Graham
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Paul Baker
Propeller Applications Engineer
Parallax, Inc.
Any 'ball park' price on the PS/2 and vga connector?
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Mike
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Paul Baker
Propeller Applications Engineer
Parallax, Inc.
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Mike
I really hope you need quantity 10, along with the other users on the Prop Discussion Forum. As long as everybody needs 10 units (okay, at least 2-3), we can offer these at our target price. The marketing rationale would be that it's better for us to spend Parallax funds on promoting Propeller to you via low-cost Prop Proto Boards instead of printed advertisements, so help us prove out our plan!
In two weeks I'm personally delivering this design to our office in China. I'm bringing the specific U.S. raw materials with me (Prop chips, the SVGA/PS2 connectors, etc.). When I arrive there I shall set the parts on the table in the manufacturer's office and explain to them that our customers want the design, quickly, long before Christmas holidays. We will order circuit boards before we go to dinner. I won't leave until the project is launched and headed in the right direction.
This way, all of us will have the Prop Proto Board for our projects when we're home for the week before New Year's Eve.
We'll do our best to make this happen quickly, properly and efficiently.
Ken Gracey
Parallax, Inc.
Ken,
As ya'll hit your target price of sub $10 for the SX boards, I purchased 10 direct and I think I've almost cleared Mouser out of their SX52 Proto Boards.
If the target price is SUB $15 for the Propeller Proto Board, put up a link like ya'll did for the Propeller D40, and I put my order in today.
These things are great for one off projects.
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Mike
It gives us a good idea how compatible it is to our needs.
It looks like there is there are a number of 'free' hole/pads one in from the upper, left and bottom pads conected to signals, power/ground. Such that there are 20 vertically and 13 horizontally isolated, except for the upper right where the 3-pin header zone is and a few 5 rows below that, right?____ Such that a 40-pin DIP Propeller could be mounted 'vertically', say beginning to the right of the 3.3v pads at the upper-left?____
Questions;
1. What are the items to right of C2 for? looks like 4 R or C and two pads each.
2. Outside the upper-left of the Prop are more R/Cs. Might this be for TV video and audio?___
3. And above them, is that a connector?___
4. Is that the power-on LED is just behind J1 power jack?____
Looks really good. Appears this could be useful right now for one of my projects; especially if the first two questions at tope are YES.
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Harley Shanko
h.a.s. designn
1. Those are the output resistors for the ADC channel, the holes are for inserting and soldering single space breadboard wire to bypass the ADC resistor and have it be a general I/O pin.
2. Those are also part of the ADC networks (4 channels),·there·is no TV circuit on the board. It wasn't heavily requested and it is a simple circuit to include in the breadboard area.
3. That is the reset switch and above that is the 3 position power switch.
4. Yes.
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Paul Baker
Propeller Applications Engineer
Parallax, Inc.
Now, okay, I hate to be a pill, but I do want this board to succeed. So I have to ask: where are the bypass caps? There should be at least two near the Prop' s Vdd pins, on opposite sides of the package, and one near the EEPROM. I don't see any. Also, I'm really glad for those 1000uF caps (!), but make sure you have the proper output caps on the regulators besides. Check those ESRs against the regulator data sheets! You may need to add a tantalum or a high-value ceramic near the output pins to meet specs. And please beef up the supply rails where room permits: .03" minimum, .04" preferred. (I'm sure there's stuff on the bottom that we can't see, but I just wanted to make sure...) Finally, did you miss a ground connection on pin 1 of the EEPROM, or is that a N/C on the one you're using?
And please forgive my critique if I missed something that's there after all.
Thanks!
Phil
If you guys hit the target $15 price, I'll get at least 3 to five boards right away; and I am pretty sure some of my friends would buy a bunch too!
The digikey link expired [noparse]:([/noparse] could someone post the actual part number so I can find it? That connector could be most useful for some of my projects...
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Paul Baker
Propeller Applications Engineer
Parallax, Inc.