Trigger 0 Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 Hi All, I felt it appropriate to introduce myself as a first post. I have had a couple of Launchpads for a while now but haven't had too much time to get started with them. I hope to change that soon when I have a proper workbench set up - I had to move out of my old workshop a while back. I hope that I will be able to learn more about this cool little device during the coming months and will, no doubt, be asking all manner of questions. Hopefully too I will at some future point be able to help others too. I am glad that this forum and website exists. Owing to advancing years and an "ozone layer" that has more holes in it than a J-Cloth my questions might seem a bit dumb but with help that should pass - I hope. Anyway, glad to be on board and look forward to learning. Cheers, Trigger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cubeberg 540 Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 Welcome @@Trigger! Feel free to ask anything - everyone was a beginner at one point Do you have any projects in mind - or just looking to get started with the LP? BTW - I had the opportunity to visit Ireland a couple of years ago - absolutely beautiful country and very friendly people. One of my favorite memories was a family having a picnic in the ruins of an old tower - something we don't exactly get in the US! Trigger 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chibiace 46 Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 Hey. Trigger 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trigger 0 Posted May 20, 2013 Author Share Posted May 20, 2013 Hi Cubeberg and Chibiace, Thanks for the replies and greetings. I have been looking around the forums but I am worried that I am going to ask something dumb and end up getting flamed or told a bunch of stuff that I cannot understand. I have a few launchpads that I got a couple of years back because I thought that I would have a lot of time to do stuff. A lot of other things happened shortly afterwards and I am trying to make a fresh start. I have very little experience with MCU's. I just did the flashing leds thing and getting the LP to turn a servo motor via a pot. When I started in electronics I was on my own and had NO assistance - I used to watch people do stuff and then I'd try and copy it. It has been like that with most stuff that I have learned. I have a few health issues too but I am "functional". My first goal is to try and get the LP to turn a small geared motor (2 rpm) fwd/rev to control a tuning capacitor on a magnetic loop antenna - I'm a radio ham. The next goal would be to do the same with a stepper. My ultimate goal in that set of projects is to get my TI Chronos - it should be here any day now - to "talk" to a Launchpad wirelessly and tune the antenna from my wrist. THAT would be very handy for working from within a tent, especially in rainy weather. Magnetic loop antennas can have thousands of volts spinning around them even at low power levels <5watts - which is what I am interested in. Anyone can lob a grenade into a pond and get all the fish but landing a 20lb salmon on 3lb line is a different affair entirely. I ordered the new Newnes book about the MSP430 and will be trying some stuff from that. Anyone that can help me get towards those things will never be stuck for pints in the West of Ireland. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cubeberg 540 Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 Hopefully you've found the right place I've always found everyone here to be extremely helpful - I knew little to nothing a couple of years ago (although to be honest - I mostly pick up what I need for a specific project). The only thing I've ever seen anyone get an unfriendly reply from are students who like to post their assignment with "give me the answer" requests There is a lot of getting started material, code and boosterpacks available here - feel free to start a thread if you have questions. Project threads are great for getting help with something that's in-progress. Just remember to break things into chunks - projects are easier to work on one piece at a time. Sounds like you've got some great ideas to get you started! I actually just ordered the Newnes book myself - interested to see the sections on the Educational Boosterpack. I've got one - but haven't really played around with it yet. Are you planning on starting with Energia or Code Composer? Trigger 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trigger 0 Posted May 25, 2013 Author Share Posted May 25, 2013 Hey Cubeberg, Thanks for the reply. I am glad that you like the ideas. I am a radio ham and I think that my projects will be geared towards that for now. I KNOW that some of my questions will just show up my lack of knowledge but with luck that will fade. I will wait until the book arrives and then get stuck in again. I plan on using Energia so that I can do stuff with the Arduino too - mainly because my Nephew has one and I can share stuff with him. The other area I am interested in is assistive technologies that can enable people with disabilities to get into ham radio too. I thought about trying to get a Launchpad to convert audio pulses (i.e. Morse Code) into action that could operate a small x6 matrix of actuated pins to convert the audio pulses into braille letters. That might be beyond the capabilities of the LP but maybe not. Any ideas are welcome. I will wait for a bit before I start making any ambitious posts. I appreciate all the advice. Cheers, Tryg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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