On Sat, Nov 12, 2022 at 5:18 PM Chuck Guzis via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > MCUs make a lot of very complex stuff simple. A tape controller that > would have required a couple of large PCBs now can be put on a > filing-card size pcb--and most of that is connectors.
You've hit a raw nerve there. I've recently being doing battle with an old-ish tape controller board that has a microcontroller with internal ROM and 3 ASICs amongst other things on it. I'd much prefer a cardcage of boards containing simple components. I do not understand this desire to miniaturise everything. > Almost anything > electronic sold today has an MCU in it--even a lithium cell. And that is why I hate modern electronics and buy very little of it. > > One thing that a small MCU has over a 555 is that it can be programmed > once and you can be assured of its frequency stability. No fooling with > pots and caps to get the thing to work the way you'd like. Now wait a second. I've not come across a simple microcontroller with a crystal in the same package. If you're going to use an external crystal, then I can do that too, with a couple of divider ICs. If you use the internal clock option of the microcontroller, it can drift. If I use R's and C's on a 555 I can choose ones with the stability, temperature coefficient, etc that I need. > > I'm certain you'd be tickled to see your beloved HP 9800 series box > re-imagined in TO5 germanium point-contact transistors and relays. Isn't that called an HP9100.Much the same functionality as an HP9810, but discrete transistors. Some of them are germanium (albeit junction ones). And yes I do love it. -tony >
