Hi again,
I'd like to know what you have done with pic controllers.
Where do you obtain the parts you need?
I don't want to pay a dollar for a LED at the mall and I don't need 100 of them from a dealer on ebay !!
I found a book on netlibrary.org about pic microcontrollers.
Excerpt:
This chapter begins our applications. The first project is a speech synthesizer
that can be embedded into another circuit or project to add speech capabilities.
You may want to create a talking toaster that will tell you when your toast is
ready, or a talking VCR. The circuit is activated and the speech selected by
using high or low logic signals to port A.
Speech synthesizers (or processors) are available in two formats. The first
format uses sampled (digitally recorded) speech stored in ROM or EEPROM.
The second approach uses phonemes of English to construct words. A phoneme
is a speech sound.
Each format has its advantages and disadvantages. Digitally recorded
speech has excellent fidelity, but has a limited vocabulary because of the large
storage capacity required. The phoneme approach has an unlimited vocabulary, but the speech fidelity isn't as good as that of sampled speech. Even so,
the phoneme approach usually suffices as long as a mechanical (robotic-type)
voice is acceptable. This is the approach we are using.
The total cost of this project, including the PIC microcontroller, should be
less than $25.00. Included in this price are an audio amplifier, filter, volume
control, and speaker.
Mark J. Senk | 412-386-6513 | [log in to unmask]
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-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Martin McCormick
Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 11:34 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Building Equipment
I like using perf board and wire-wrap for digital projects as well aseven some RF projects. You must solder leads to components since component leads are round and do not bite in to the wire-wrap wire.
I also have played around with PIC microcontrollers and the Motorola 68HC11 which is another embedded controller.
The idea of a circuit description language is a very good one. Things like PIC's and other microprocessors simplify the construction details since more of the circuit is in firmware, but documenting a circuit has been one of my biggest problems so one can come back to it in months or years and tell what is what.
My favorite soldering tool for small parts is a Wahl cordless soldering gun. I also have a bigger gun for the big stuff like coax connectors and anything else that sucks the heat away too fast for a little iron to work well.
I do have a question. I have occasionally used cotton work gloves to shield my fingers when using a standard plug-in iron. you can safely, but lightly touch the tip because the cotton insulates your fingers but the cotton easily burns through and the glove is ruined as soon as the hole burns in a finger.
Is there any heat-resistant fabric that feels about like cotton but doesn't burn as easily?
If there was something like that , one could use a regular iron more easily.
Guns, of course, can start cold so you can touch everything, but guns also apply more heat as they warm up than an already-hot iron.
An already hot iron, however, can do lots of damage if you don't watch where you put it on the work. A normal tip temperature is about 700 degrees F.
Another advantage of light gloves is that you really don't want to get human finger prints on what you are soldering because the solder flux isn't capable of cleaning the oil off that well.
I am 56 years old and have been building and tinkering since I was in grade school so I am always looking for a new angle to try.
Martin McCormick WB5AGZ Stillwater, OK Systems Engineer OSU Information Technology Department Network Operations Group
"John J. Boyer" writes:
>It's nice to see that there are several people interested in building
>equipment on the list, since what I want to do in ham radio is build
>and try out equipment. When I was younger I used to build quite a lot,
>including soldering. I built transistor circuits, but I used a modified
>version of a breadboard. Nowadays techniques are quite different.
>
>I wonder how many of you remember Bob Gunderson of the New York
>Institute for the Education of the blind. He was fand away my favorite
>teacher.
>
>The Braille Technical Press and later the Technical Files used to
>publish circuit diagrams. I'm thinking that a circuit-description
>language like Spice might be used to describe circuits for the blind.
>Another possibility would be to develop or find a language based on xml.
>I have been working on transcribing xml to braille for several years.
>
>Let me know your ideas.
>
>Thanks,
>John
>
>--
>John J. boyer; President, Chief Software Developer JJB Software, Inc.
>http://www.jjb-software.com
>Madison, WI USA
>Developing software for people with disabilities
>
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