Should I bother with basic stamp? - Page 2 - Electronic Circuits Projects Diagrams Free

donniedj · 3rd February 2008, 05:49 PM

"Should I bother with basic stamp?"

My answer is no.

blueroomelectronics · 3rd February 2008, 07:38 PM

I remember in the early Stamp days the testiomonials from just about every source. I had a couple of Stamps when ages back but they are so slow and expensive, also the code is not designed for anything much more complex then a state machine. I still like BASIC for quick code and love the Swordfish BASIC for PICS. When I need tight mustitasking code I'll write it in assembler and I'm still learning C.
With a proper PIC programmer you have a lot of options and cheap PICs to work with.

Hero999 · 3rd February 2008, 07:44 PM

I've heard about BASIC stamp, are they what I thought they are, just a ROM with a BASIC interpreter?

I don't see the point, interpreters are good for rapid delvelopment (where code changes frequently) but they're slow. From what I gather microcontrollers are slow to start off with and once the code is flased, it isn't chaged very often, if at all. A BASIC interpreter would just slow the already slow CPU down even more and ofer no benifit.

If you want BASIC, then I don't see why you can't get a compiler that converts the program to machine code before programming the chip.

blueroomelectronics · 3rd February 2008, 09:11 PM

Yes a BASIC Stamp is just an ancient 16F57 with eeprom and a P-code interpreter. Has a built in eeprom loader and simple serial port. They are popular in some magazines like Nuts & Volts.

**Nigel Goodwin** · 3rd February 2008, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueroomelectronics

Yes a BASIC Stamp is just an ancient 16F57 with eeprom and a P-code interpreter.

You mean 16C57, not F57

They are very clever though, just way too expensive and slow - bear in mind, at the time the STAMP came out there were no BASIC compilers, and all tools were DOS only. WinPicProg was the worlds first Windows PIC programmer software, a long time before MicroChip released any Windows tools.

One reason I don't use simulators is when I started it was a DOS tool, and you wouldn't believe how horrible it was!

blueroomelectronics · 3rd February 2008, 10:05 PM

You're right even worse the 16C57. Talk about some well written bit O code though... They had to get it right as there is no way to fix it later.

**Nigel Goodwin** · 3rd February 2008, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueroomelectronics

You're right even worse the 16C57. Talk about some well written bit O code though... They had to get it right as there is no way to fix it later.

Not really, development in those days used a 16C57JW, which were UV eraseable (and VERY expensive) - once you've got the final code done, you then blow OTP versions for sale.

hosh · 4th February 2008, 02:19 PM

I wasn't worried about what language to program in. Its been so long since I wrote any basic code, or Vb for that matter, that I'll have learn any language I use. I was just curious from a beginners perspective for learning the ins and outs so to speak.

Buy the way just got confirmation from ebay that my junebug was shipped.

VISN · 6th February 2008, 05:42 AM

Well, the Basic Stamp is/was a good tool for the right job, for example you are building a robot. You don't want to learn about the internals of a microcontroller, or electronics even, when your hobby/goal is a servo controller or something.
You just need that black box controller.
I wouldn't use one ( unless I had to ), the price is too high, when I can rather more efficiently hack up something with my own uC. The newer BS stamps (>BSII) dont use the 20Mhz/5 Mips 16C series running at whatever the BS onboard clocking ( something around 16Mhz IIRC) , but the SX series which for 50MHZ will give you 50Mips. I don't know the actually clocking/ basic lines/sec though.

blueroomelectronics · 6th February 2008, 03:09 PM

If you want the ease of BASIC and speed of a compiler I've used the free SE edition of Swordfish on my robot kit (PIC18F2525). Excellent compiler all around and far far better than any BASIC Stamp.

hosh · 13th February 2008, 02:03 PM

Not worried about ease of basic. I really want to learn C.

But I did just leave positive feedback about the junebug I just received. I will play with it tonite!

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3rd February 2008, 05:49 PM	(permalink)
donniedj	"Should I bother with basic stamp?" My answer is no.

3rd February 2008, 07:38 PM	(permalink)
blueroomelectronics	I remember in the early Stamp days the testiomonials from just about every source. I had a couple of Stamps when ages back but they are so slow and expensive, also the code is not designed for anything much more complex then a state machine. I still like BASIC for quick code and love the Swordfish BASIC for PICS. When I need tight mustitasking code I'll write it in assembler and I'm still learning C. With a proper PIC programmer you have a lot of options and cheap PICs to work with. __________________ Bill Smart Kits build Smart People http://www.blueroomelectronics.com

3rd February 2008, 07:44 PM	(permalink)
Hero999	I've heard about BASIC stamp, are they what I thought they are, just a ROM with a BASIC interpreter? I don't see the point, interpreters are good for rapid delvelopment (where code changes frequently) but they're slow. From what I gather microcontrollers are slow to start off with and once the code is flased, it isn't chaged very often, if at all. A BASIC interpreter would just slow the already slow CPU down even more and ofer no benifit. If you want BASIC, then I don't see why you can't get a compiler that converts the program to machine code before programming the chip. __________________ I also post at the following sites: http://www.stop-microsoft.org http://www.heated-debates.com Screen name: Aloone_Jonez

3rd February 2008, 09:11 PM	(permalink)
blueroomelectronics	Yes a BASIC Stamp is just an ancient 16F57 with eeprom and a P-code interpreter. Has a built in eeprom loader and simple serial port. They are popular in some magazines like Nuts & Volts. __________________ Bill Smart Kits build Smart People http://www.blueroomelectronics.com

3rd February 2008, 10:05 PM	(permalink)
blueroomelectronics	You're right even worse the 16C57. Talk about some well written bit O code though... They had to get it right as there is no way to fix it later. __________________ Bill Smart Kits build Smart People http://www.blueroomelectronics.com

4th February 2008, 02:19 PM	(permalink)
hosh	I wasn't worried about what language to program in. Its been so long since I wrote any basic code, or Vb for that matter, that I'll have learn any language I use. I was just curious from a beginners perspective for learning the ins and outs so to speak. Buy the way just got confirmation from ebay that my junebug was shipped. __________________ Don't touch that wire........Um......are you ok?

6th February 2008, 05:42 AM	(permalink)
VISN	Well, the Basic Stamp is/was a good tool for the right job, for example you are building a robot. You don't want to learn about the internals of a microcontroller, or electronics even, when your hobby/goal is a servo controller or something. You just need that black box controller. I wouldn't use one ( unless I had to ), the price is too high, when I can rather more efficiently hack up something with my own uC. The newer BS stamps (>BSII) dont use the 20Mhz/5 Mips 16C series running at whatever the BS onboard clocking ( something around 16Mhz IIRC) , but the SX series which for 50MHZ will give you 50Mips. I don't know the actually clocking/ basic lines/sec though.

6th February 2008, 03:09 PM	(permalink)
blueroomelectronics	If you want the ease of BASIC and speed of a compiler I've used the free SE edition of Swordfish on my robot kit (PIC18F2525). Excellent compiler all around and far far better than any BASIC Stamp. __________________ Bill Smart Kits build Smart People http://www.blueroomelectronics.com

13th February 2008, 02:03 PM	(permalink)
hosh	Not worried about ease of basic. I really want to learn C. But I did just leave positive feedback about the junebug I just received. I will play with it tonite! __________________ Don't touch that wire........Um......are you ok?