another 8051 question

[amsung2]

now i know the Gurus here don't really like people asking questions about 8051s, but i couldn't help it, i really need help...

when the timer in 8051/89c51 is innitialised, it counts up to ffffh, in the mean time, can the other registers be used for other purposes, or do i need another microcontroller to do the job?i mean, is SET TR1 is followed by other instructions such as add mov etc that have nothing to do with the working of the timer, and happen independantly of the timer?
my project is regarding RTC, so i need accuracy. i don't want to burden the microcontroller and get errors as a result, but at the same time i don't want to have 2 microcontrollers eating up the power....
i intend to use the CF in the TCON to generate a pulse at any of the port pins, and then use this pulse to drive the other microcontroller.
can i use a single ocsillator to provide the clock to both the microcontrollers or do i need 2 oscillators?

 

[blueroomelectronics]

Are you still building a clock? Do you have to use the ancient 8051 I mean it's older than the ancient 16F84!
I have complete schematics and source code for a PIC based clock on my site, just download the Dragonfly manual.

 

[colin mac]

The timer works on it's own. It's separate hardware.

 

[johankrava]

8051 is probably the most used core for 8-bit microcontrollers!

8051 timer/counter is independent of other hardware, i.e. you set it up and then do other things. When the timer will reach end value you will get interrupt if you have enabled it.

 

[geometrikal]

8051s are alive and well. I had an 8051 based chip doing video detection at 10fps!

Unless this is for a clock building project i would suggest using a Real Time Clock chip to keep the time. A dallas I2C one should be good.

 

[rushi53]

now i know the Gurus here don't really like people asking questions about 8051s, but i couldn't help it, i really need help...

when the timer in 8051/89c51 is innitialised, it counts up to ffffh, in the mean time, can the other registers be used for other purposes, or do i need another microcontroller to do the job?i mean, is SET TR1 is followed by other instructions such as add mov etc that have nothing to do with the working of the timer, and happen independantly of the timer?
my project is regarding RTC, so i need accuracy. i don't want to burden the microcontroller and get errors as a result, but at the same time i don't want to have 2 microcontrollers eating up the power....
i intend to use the CF in the TCON to generate a pulse at any of the port pins, and then use this pulse to drive the other microcontroller.
can i use a single ocsillator to provide the clock to both the microcontrollers or do i need 2 oscillators?

I am not sure about the oscillator part, but as per my view u will need 2 oscillators.

and now regarding timer,
Yes, you can run other commands when timer is running.
I have designed this project before 3 years and have done it using timers.
and it worked well

Please let me know if you need any more help

 

[blueroomelectronics]

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