A general hardware question

octal · Post by **octal** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 1:31 pm

Hi everybody.

First: It would be nice if David accepts to add a special section ("OFF TOPIC" or "GENERAL") on this forum for general questions not related directly to Swodfish or its libs so we could post questions of general interrest instead of leting us polluting sf sections

Second: Just as a matter of curiosity (I know it's a bad virtue) I would like to know :
Which hardware users are using mostly for development (using Swordfish basic) (boards, emulators ...)

Third: My Oscilloscope is becoming less healthy ... euh euh euh..., and I would like to buy something useful. What do you suggest? I prefer to have something that connects or that is slotted into PC.
I would like also to buy a Logic analyser (also connectable or sloted into PC). Have you got good references ? is there any PC solution for a combined Scope+Logic Analyser?

Regards
Octal

Doj · Post by **Doj** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 6:57 pm

Hello octal,

I use PDS and Swordfish for Pic code writing, Bascom for 8051/AVR and I make all the hardware(or rather I have a young lady in the lab who makes it) for testing it, I also have Proteus for initial testing/development and it works great with PDS and Swordfish.

All the testing I do on hardware is with the Picoscope 3224:-
http://www.picotech.com/pc-scope.html

It is very good and has loads of abilities that I do not use, storage of events can make debug very much easier!

MarkW · Post by **MarkW** » Tue Sep 11, 2007 8:10 pm

Hello Octal,

I use the SF IDE to write in and a ME Labs USB programmer. I only do ICSP on our projects. All the prototypes have a five pin programming header on the board for development. For debugging I built a couple of TTL to RS232 converter boxes and use a homebrew VB program as a monitor. I also have a Tektronics TDS-2022 scope for troubleshooting.
Pretty minimal but it seems to work for what I do.

Mark

Francis · Post by **Francis** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 8:33 am

Yes, I'll definitely go along with Tektronix recommendation.
I can't remember my model number but you can get PC interface.
Upside: Superb bit of kit. 8 years old and good as new.
Downside: It's not cheap gear from the back end of Beijing.

My expriences with PICO stuff has been pretty good too I must admit with some nice features.
BUT if you need fast sampling rates and want to go the PICO route then that's pretty pricey. So I'll stick with Tektronix I think.

octal · Post by **octal** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:29 am

Hi,
thank you for your answers.
well, I think that for future developments I'll buy a logic analyser and an oscilloscope separately. I did not found on internet any provider that makes an all in one device (at an affordable price), and this will give me the benefit of having two mesurement instrument usable simultaneously.

As a logic analyser I found this one http://www.pctestinstruments.com/ I think it's very nice and the software has also (integrated in) a protocol analyser (specifically I2C/SPI/RS232...) with very high (and acceptable for what I'm doing) sampling rate...
have anyone tried it or had any experience with it?

Regards.
Octal

johngb · Post by **johngb** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:41 am

Looks good value for money particularly with the Dollar/Euro rate as it is.

octal · Post by **octal** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 9:20 am

Yes John ... less than 290 euros

A general hardware question

A general hardware question

Development hardware