EricW Posted July 13, 2004 Share Posted July 13, 2004 I just love it when a plan comes together. For my microcontroller programming course, I bought an ancient board complete with power supply and breakout board for $32 delivered (board alone retails for $170!) off ebay. The loot showed up on my doorstep 2 days later - count 'em - 2 DAYS from across the continent. 24 hours later (had to buy a connector) - it's up and running. Had a couple hiccups and a little confusion, but this is hands-on learning, baby! I love this sh*t! [by the way, Motorola 6800 series microcontrollers are the sh*t. Unlike WinHell products, they were made by sentient life forms. Simple enough one can actually just read the book and figure it out - which is simply unheard of in electrical engineering.] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Pinto Posted July 13, 2004 Share Posted July 13, 2004 Wow. You're good, dude. Of course I realise you're speaking Martian, but making things successfully with your own hands certainly gives your Mojo a boost. Hey, maybe you could help me with my technical problem? I have a jigsaw puzzle and the box says 3-7 years, but it's been 10 years and I still can't figure it out (rimshot). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted July 13, 2004 Author Share Posted July 13, 2004 Actually, it wasn't talent - it was just dumb luck mainly. There were a 100 things that could have gone wrong, but none of them did. That's what's so cool. (Now - I can stay home and debug my programs instead of driving 40 miles to the U each day.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 I've been doing similar things--using similar resources (eBay, friends, garage sales, forum members) and methods--in creating a PC out of something more like sheer willpower than out of reliable, super-new components. And lo, the thing WORKS!!!! And I'm still adding gizzies to it. The box is about way stuffed already... (but surely there's room for another HD and that CD-R..!) Let's just say, Eric, I feel your gain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcoliver Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 Eric, is that the thing that you program via hex codes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted July 15, 2004 Author Share Posted July 15, 2004 Eric, is that the thing that you program via hex codes? Yes. But you can use assembler language (the usual method) and have a program translate the commands into the hex codes for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcoliver Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 Nice. I took an elective about that thing in college. During our finals, I only had to program it to do basic arithmetic (add, subtract, divide and multiply). It took me 15-hours to get the program to work completely! IIRC, it had to do with the inability to insert lines in your code once entered so you had to redo everything... But it was fun and I learned a lot then, most of which I've already forgotten now... Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 It is very cool to make any high technology work with your own hands. I used to love prowling electronic surplus stores and dragging old crap home. Strapping some power to the rail and seeing the lights pop on is always a big kick, especially when you actually have a use for the hardware. The best high is when you hookup a custom circuit made on proto-board and it works just like you knew it would, first time out. It doesn’t always -- Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDave Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 Anyone seen Batteries Not Included? Reading this just reminded me of that film, for some reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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