nickey 0 Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 I've already posted a few questions and have been getting some really good help back. Thanks. I have a long history in computers and programming (I go back to the days of paper-tape and punched card decks if any of you can comprehend that)... then I spent the last majority of my career in management, so my brain is pretty well 'fried'. I am having to learn C++ from scratch, but my logic reasoning is still intact. I also like to play with discrete circuits which is what led me to micro-controllers since you can do more with less complexity. Just a tinkerer now and making things for my own enjoyment and use. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bluehash 1,581 Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 Welcome nickey! If you want to test something out quick, there are sample MSP430 projects in the Projects section. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GeekDoc 226 Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Welcome nickey! Great bunch here. Perfect place for us tinkerers! My first exposure to computers was in high school, using a teletype with a paper tape reader/punch on the side. I've punched a few cards in my days as well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nickey 0 Posted April 10, 2011 Author Share Posted April 10, 2011 Thanks Geekdoc, I'm sure there are a few of us old players around. My continued amazement is how fast the industry grew and how complex computers are now in everyone's hands including 2 year olds. Its fun to have a circuit and program development environment back in my hands. I'm looking forward to finding new things to make. Before I came to micro-controllers recently, I made lighthouse (to scale) replicas out of wood and mounted on stone and then made an internal battery powered circuit with an LED to simulate a beacon light fading on and off to look like it was rotating.. Then I made a few jewlery boxes for my granddaughters that sprang to life with 8 colored LEDs inside blinking independently (used an op-amp and counter chip). Now I am completing an aerator pump working off of two 3 position rotary switches and driving a relay and LEDs with the MSP430G2211 chip. Still working on the input voltage to regulate 12v lead-acid to 3.3v, but everything else seems to work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JMLB 24 Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 the punch cards concept is still used if you think about it. When you need to darken the circles on a survey (using only an HB pencil). My high school use that to take attendance. one of my friends, from high school, wrote a software for it to generate a hex file for a motorola chip Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RobG 1,892 Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Hello nickey, for 12V to 3.3V checkout TI's, Maxim's, or LT's line of step-down converters. nickey 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nickey 0 Posted April 11, 2011 Author Share Posted April 11, 2011 thanks, I have the voltage reg working now.. used an LM317 circuit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RobG 1,892 Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 LM317 is linear, meaning you get ~30% efficiency in your case. I guess it's OK if you power LP from a big battery, but keep that in mind for other projects. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nickey 0 Posted April 12, 2011 Author Share Posted April 12, 2011 RobG, thanks for the info on choices other than LM317. I looked at TI and then LT at their stepdown converters, but unless I am reading them wrong, they all seem to be packaged for surface mount. I don't have that kind of accuracy in my tinkering space and so unless they also have some with nice big pins on them I don't know if I can ever use them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RobG 1,892 Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 Check out MC34063AP/MC33063AP from TI, they are available in DIP. nickey 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nickey 0 Posted April 12, 2011 Author Share Posted April 12, 2011 thanks Rob, those look great, I just ordered some samples from TI. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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