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Just starting and need some advice

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Taipan

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Hi,

I have been reading as much as I can over the last few days to try and decide where to start, but I am still confused. I have a BS2 and a BX-24 from a few years back. I am starting on a new project that requires more I/O's than either of those. So I was looking at the Cubloc controllers, but have decided I would rather learn more about microcontrollers by building my own and learning assembly to program it. So where to start, I was looking at the Atmega series, but after finding this site have been readin all about PIC's. I am going to need some pretty complex code and will also need a lot of memory to store variables, I would like to have at least 64K for the program and probably the same amount to store variables. Can someone suggest a chip that will suit and is going to have plenty of tutorials and support around for it? This is a long term project, so I really do want to learn from the ground up, but I would like to start with a chip that will suit my final project. Thanks in advance.
 
Hmm....I haven't used PICs yet (please don't kill me Nigel and all others :oops: ) but it looks like you just need to find one that suits your needs.

If you're coming from a Basic Stamp an OOPic would be a nice choice, it runs object oriented code and is a great way to move into more complex programs.

Just my thoughts...
 
The OOPics are quite interesting, although it took me a while to find any specs on them. They don't seem to have a lot of memory space, but thanks anyway.
 
Taipan said:
Hi,
I am going to need some pretty complex code and will also need a lot of memory to store variables, I would like to have at least 64K for the program and probably the same amount to store variables.

What makes you think you will need this much space? To fill 64k with assembler will take you an awful long time. Just start learning how to program and then decide on the chip you need. I think you will be surprised how little memory is required when you don't have the MS infection.

Mike.
 
Pommie said:
What makes you think you will need this much space? To fill 64k with assembler will take you an awful long time. Just start learning how to program and then decide on the chip you need. I think you will be surprised how little memory is required when you don't have the MS infection.

I agree, it's amazing what you can do in just 1k or 2k of PIC memory - if you really do need masses of RAM or ROM, then you need to be looking at the high end PIC's, like the 18F series.
 
Thanks for the input, I think I'll learn on something in the lower end and become more experienced with the programming before I look at higher end chips.
 
BASIC Stamp and OOPIC are pointless in my opinion, in fact they border on scams.

Despite the marketing, OOPIC does not run object oriented programming of any sort. It's more like C which has been severely crippled and only runs on an overpriced piece of hardware they sell. You can do the same thing with C just as easily, it compiles to assembly instructions for a PIC itself, and so all you need is a PIC chip and a programmer (or bootloader).
 
Oznog said:
BASIC Stamp and OOPIC are pointless in my opinion, in fact they border on scams.

Despite the marketing, OOPIC does not run object oriented programming of any sort. It's more like C which has been severely crippled and only runs on an overpriced piece of hardware they sell. You can do the same thing with C just as easily, it compiles to assembly instructions for a PIC itself, and so all you need is a PIC chip and a programmer (or bootloader).

I second Oznog's comments. Also, Atmel AVRs are cheap. You can get basic for either PIC or AVR if you want simple programming. Free for the Atmel AVR
 
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