For making a blinking LEDs, it is hard to beat a 74LS74. However, a PIC, is probably less expensive! :)
On May 26, 2013, at 13:33, Bob Camp <li...@rtty.us> wrote: > Hi > > If you head over to the auction sites and do a bit of creative digging / > bidding, the Arduino clones are amazingly cheap. They easily beat the $12 or > so Freescale and TI demo boards by a wide margin cost wise. Bang for the buck > wise, indeed the demo boards win out. For blinking a LED, running out of > horsepower isn't a major concern with any of them. > > Bob > > On May 26, 2013, at 1:19 PM, Chris Albertson <albertson.ch...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> A fan controller (8-pin DIP package) is simple enough to build on perf >> board. But mostly I agree that it is best to buy these on PCBs. You can >> use them right out of the box. I do have an Arduino and it's advantage is >> that you can build very fast. I had a device that measured the resistance >> across a pot and displayed the value on a 2x16 LCD working about 40 minutes >> after I got the Arduino un-boxed. It is easy and fast. But they cost a >> few $$ >> >> A cheaper alternative I think I like is TI's "launchpads" They come on >> little credit card sized PCBs and the concept of very much the same as >> Arduino. TI sells several. One is a $13 ARM Cortex M4. It is a complete >> development system. The other is a MSP430 version for $10. But with the >> MSP versionyou can remove the uP after it is programmer if you like, or >> leave it on the board. These prices include shipping. $13 is good pice >> for an ARM on a breakout board. >> >> They also sell an assortment of "booster boards" that plug in and provide >> all kinds of interfaces, pretty much the same concept as Arduino "shields" >> >> More info here: >> /launchpad/overview_head.html<http://www.ti.com/ww/en/launchpad/overview_head.html> >> >> On Sun, May 26, 2013 at 9:18 AM, Jim Lux <jim...@earthlink.net> wrote: >>> On 5/26/13 9:00 AM, Chris Albertson wrote: >>>>> >>>>> But for many applications, the inevitable overhead >>>>> (power, heat, external components, OS, etc) simply >>>>> eliminates the gain of having a better/faster CPU. >>>>> >>>>> Sometimes I end up using a 6 or 8 pin PIC with only >>>>> a few lines of code to to solve complex problems where >>>>> a (F)PGA/CPLD design would be a lot of work and a >>>>> 16/32bit microcontroller simply overkill. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> As it turns out there are a LOT more simple jobs than there are >>>> complex jobs. This is why they make and sel a lot motr 8-t >>>> controllers than they sell 32-bit controllers. >>>> >>>> For example I want to control the cooling fan for a rubidium >>>> oscillator's heat sink. I only need three pins, 1) the temperature >>>> sensor, 2) Fan tachometer pulse, fan voltage. A $1 "tiny AVR" 8-pin >>>> chip can handle this just fine and we are talking about 20 lines of >>>> code maybe after the pins are set up. Using an ARM and running an OS >>>> would be silly overkill. >>> >>> The other thing is packaging and peripherals..not to mention development >>> time. It might be more "cost effective" (where cost is some complex >>> conglomeration of your time and money) to always use the same part, even >> if >>> overkill. >>> >>> Some people are happy to layout a new PCB, get it fabbed (or make it >>> themselves) or deadbug it. Others might want a board with terminal >> strips. >>> Or you might want something that you have a box for or maybe you like >>> mounting it inside. >>> >>> >>> I think everyone has their favorites, and most folks tend to have >> relatively >>> few candidates at any given time (it's difficult to switch among various >>> processors on a day to day basis). Right now, I tend to use Matlab on PCs >>> for big things, with some python. For smaller needs, I've been using lots >>> of Arduino Uno R3s and Teensy3s, because of the packaging. Both using the >>> Arduino semi-C tool chain and also the non-arduino compilers. (having a >> USB >>> boot loader, etc, does make life easier). >>> >>> I've used PICs and Rabbits in the not too recent past, but the Rabbits >> don't >>> have as nice a development environment, and there's no equivalent of the >> $20 >>> Arduino, nor the plethora of cheap interfaces to things like relays and >> what >>> not. >>> >>> I haven't looked much at whether a low cost PIC on a board with >> peripherals >>> is available. They've always been a "build a circuit" either with >> perfboard, >>> deadbug, or small PCB, and that makes it take a few more hours or days. >>> >>> For the "I want to finish the project this weekend starting Saturday >>> afternoon", the whole arduino world is pretty convenient, at least as far >> as >>> getting the hardware put together and a first load of software running. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com >>> To unsubscribe, go to >>> https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts >>> and follow the instructions there. >> >> >> >> -- >> >> Chris Albertson >> Redondo Beach, California >> _______________________________________________ >> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com >> To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts >> and follow the instructions there. > > _______________________________________________ > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com > To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts > and follow the instructions there. _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.