This should be fun

[Charles (Upstate NY)]

With my 5 month long house remodel out of the way and time on my hands I'm finally going to get started on my Hammerhead PI. I purchased the pcb a while back, any suggestions on component substitution that would improve performance? I don't care what it cost, I'm only building one so I'd prefer to use the very best components not the most economical.

I'm hoping to learn something about PI's by building this thing then I'm diving right into a microcontroller based PI. Since I have 20+ years writing computer software I figure that's more my kind of PI. I picked up some light reading to get started yesterday.

[Carl-NC]

Nice to see you back!

[bugwhiskers]

Hi Charles N-C.

Have you seen the thread in Tech Forum title Universal PI micro ?

regards

bugwhiskers.

[Charles (Upstate NY)]

Nice to see you back!

Thanks Carl, I dropped by lurking a few times inbetween drywall dust and paint splatters. Glad that's over, never again! My next house will be built in 2007!


Charles

[Charles (Upstate NY)]

Hi Charles N-C.

Have you seen the thread in Tech Forum title Universal PI micro ?

regards

bugwhiskers.

Yes, Beachcomber sent me a link to it the other day. He's an instigator!

[Tinkerer]

Hi Charles,

Do you still make these coil shells? Is there any chance of making a mold for spiral wound coil shells? There has been a lot of talk recently about PCB coils and spiral coils for PI's, including a preamp at or on the coil. Lots of new ideas around for PI's.....

Tinkerer

[Boattow]

recommendations

Charles,
I can't recommend any substitutions of parts to increase performance on the hammer head. I doubt that you'll find that simply substituting any parts will do much to improve it. So good luck there.

I can recommend a development board for your PIC experiments and development. I have both an Easypic 3 and Easypic 4 development board from
http://www.mikroe.com/

I bought the Easypic3 and even before I got a chance to use it, they came out with the easypic4 so I bought it. It by far does the most and the cost couldn't be more reasonable. It actually has an ICD built in which is invaluable for debugging your code. Also, if you would rather program in C, they have a C compiler for free. The only limitation is 2K lines of code. This will be suitable for most projects. If you buy the board, you can go back at any time and buy the compiler at a discount if you should decide you need a version with no limitations. I don't work for them, I've just bought many different development platforms over the years and this is by far the best price and features of any around.
Here is the US distributor. I've ordered from both with success.
http://www.circuit-ed.com/

Good luck,
Boattow

[Carl-NC]

BT,

I had thought about buying the EasyPic 4, but heard that they deliberately made it incompatible with Microchip's software, including the assembler. Is that so, and how is the software they provide? Do you have the graphics display?

- Carl

[Boattow]

Hi Carl

Well, the company sells compilers of high level languages so they aren't assembly friendly you might say. They sell pascal, basic, and C compilers and provide lots of example code in each language. I have always done my programming in assembly and am very comfortable with it and so have avoided high level languages. The way of the world though seems to be C. If you want to code in Assembly, then you could use MPLAB and build the hex file. You can then use Mikroelektronika's PICflash software to program the PIC in the Easypic4. It seems to work very well. This could be cumbersome to someone used to doing all their development within Microchips MPLAB IDE as I do utillizing a Warp12 programmer. I don't find it a problem though. If you download the C compiler it also has the picflash software with it. That way you can have a look at it and see if it looks like you want to give the development board and software a try before you buy.

I do have the graphics LCD that they supply with the development board. Finding information on controlling/using graphics LCDs seems to be difficult. They supply an LCD with the Samsung KS0108 controller. I found some great info on the Toshiba T6963. On the EPEMag website, there is an article for free download that goes into great detail on configuring and using the controller. I've been playing with that one. Mikroelektronika sells a couple of LCDs with the Toshiba controller as well as some interface cards. I also bought a couple off of ebay. It's a little more expensive but I find it easier to use since I could find good comprehensive information on using it.
Hope this helps,
Boattow

[Qiaozhi]

Well, the company sells compilers of high level languages so they aren't assembly friendly you might say. They sell pascal, basic, and C compilers and provide lots of example code in each language. I have always done my programming in assembly and am very comfortable with it and so have avoided high level languages. The way of the world though seems to be C. If you want to code in Assembly, then you could use MPLAB and build the hex file. You can then use Mikroelektronika's PICflash software to program the PIC in the Easypic4. It seems to work very well. This could be cumbersome to someone used to doing all their development within Microchips MPLAB IDE as I do utillizing a Warp12 programmer. I don't find it a problem though. If you download the C compiler it also has the picflash software with it. That way you can have a look at it and see if it looks like you want to give the development board and software a try before you buy.

I do have the graphics LCD that they supply with the development board. Finding information on controlling/using graphics LCDs seems to be difficult. They supply an LCD with the Samsung KS0108 controller. I found some great info on the Toshiba T6963. On the EPEMag website, there is an article for free download that goes into great detail on configuring and using the controller. I've been playing with that one. Mikroelektronika sells a couple of LCDs with the Toshiba controller as well as some interface cards. I also bought a couple off of ebay. It's a little more expensive but I find it easier to use since I could find good comprehensive information on using it.
Hope this helps,
Boattow

The book "PIC in Practice, A Project-Based Approach" by D W Smith and published by Newnes has a chapter (10) entitled "Alpha numeric displays". This chapter details the use of a 16 character by 2 line display, which incorporates an HITACHI HD44780 LCD Controller Driver Chip.

[Boattow]

Graphics display

Yes, but Carl was asking about Graphics displays. There is plenty of information around regarding the use of Character LCDs.

Incidentally, one of the things I liked about the Toshiba controller is that it has a built in character set where the Samsung does not.
Good luck,
Boattow

[Qiaozhi]

Yes, but Carl was asking about Graphics displays. There is plenty of information around regarding the use of Character LCDs.

Incidentally, one of the things I liked about the Toshiba controller is that it has a built in character set where the Samsung does not.
Good luck,
Boattow

OK - my mistake.
It would be interesting to see any examples you have of programming the graphics display.

[Charles (Upstate NY)]

Hi Charles,

Do you still make these coil shells? Is there any chance of making a mold for spiral wound coil shells? There has been a lot of talk recently about PCB coils and spiral coils for PI's, including a preamp at or on the coil. Lots of new ideas around for PI's.....

Tinkerer

I'm out of the coil shell hobby I'm afraid, I just make my own shells now. That said the average Joe with a few woodworking tools can make a vacuum forming machine and mold their own shells.

[Charles (Upstate NY)]

Charles,
I can recommend a development board for your PIC experiments and development. I have both an Easypic 3 and Easypic 4 development board from
http://www.mikroe.com/
Boattow

Good lord look at all the cool gadgets, I will definately look them over thanks!

[Boattow]

Some more info..

Hi all, I have been using PICs for 8 years. I have a hand full of different development boards and programmers. I've spent a fair amount of money. As discussed earlier the EasyPIC4 is the most bang for the buck by far. It includes a built in USB programmer and software as well. The only drawback as Carl noted is that the programmer is proprietary which simply means you have to use their included software to use it. As I stated in my reply, the software works very well. If you want to use another compiler package, you would just need to compile to a HEX file and then use their programming software to program the PIC (you lose the ICD capability though). The reason I'm bringing this up is because I'm on the PIClist and the EasyPIC gets good reviews there too. If you are interested in reading info on PICs or need help and want to ask questions, the PIClist is a great resource. There was a post I thought some people here might find useful if you are considering it so I thought I would post it here. If you do plan to use the board but not their compilers, you could order an EasyPIC3 board. I have one that I haven't even used yet but I think I'm going to hang on to it just for the programmer.
Good luck,
Boattow
HERE IS THE POST FROM THE PICLIST:
================================================== ====
I use the EasyPIC4 extensively, so please allow me to comment on
your post.

> You can buy it domestically at
> http://www.circuit-ed.com/easypic4.htm For $169

I really like the board, the programming software, and the
development tools. And I my experience with Circuit-Ed was
fantastic!

> ... it's one of those boards which you can do a lot of
> things without having to resort to circuit building.

This is all true. The board is extremely flexible. Using the
DIP switches, you can enable or disable all of the board's many
peripherals.

> You should be able to do all of the "R&D" on your
> project with this tool. You can use the multiplexed
> LED to test out the display stuff. You can use the
> buttons for the inputs. And so on.

Correct again. You can do an awful lot with everything that's
on the board. And if necessary, you can run a small cable from
the connectors to a breadboard containing any additional
circuitry.

> One disadvantage I see is that the onboard programmer uses
> a proprietary interface which means that programming and ICD
> will need to be through the mikro tools. All this means is
> that when programming, you'll need to use their software for
> the programming itself (using a .hex file from your chosen
> programming tool), and that the debugging part probably will
> only work with their compilers.

You nailed it. Fortunately, their PICFLASH programming tool is
simple, flexible, and reliable. It, and the board, accomodate
just about all of the Flash-based PICs.

But, as you noted, the ICD debugger only works with their
compilers. You can program chips with code from Microchip's
MPLAB but there is no ICD capability when programming in
assembly language.

> It does look like the demo versions of their compilers will
> build small programs without restriction, and that they are
> priced reasonably.

The 2K code limit is pretty generous. I bought the full C
Compiler about nine month ago, but I haven't installed it yet
since the demo is doing everything I need.

If you have any further questions about the board, I'd be happy
to (try to) answer them.

Andrew