Kiwacan PCB

manuka

Senior Member
Rest easy men-April Fool is past. It's not one of mine (although no doubt a spin off), but the KIWACAN <A href='http://www.picaxe.orcon.net.nz/kiwacan.jpg' Target=_Blank>External Web Link</a> PCB looks appealing for commercial level/educational soldered Picaxe-08M prototypes. Dick Smith have something similar that's nowhere near as professional looking. Stan
 

astein

New Member
They look very nice! Here in the US, only single solder pad proto-boards are easily available. I had to get veroboard off ebay. It seems like the UK and Australia have much more &quot;hobby-friendly&quot; environments.
 

mikek

Member
In the US, Radio Shack has a decent assortment of perf boards, as does All Electronics (www.allelectronics.com). There are other sellers too, but they don't come immediately to mind.
Mike
 

moxhamj

New Member
You can tell it isn't Stan's. Look at all those wires all over the place!

There are various designs out there - I think all the big electronics stores have their own custom design that is similar or a direct copy of a breadboard.

 

manuka

Senior Member
Quite true- I've been a neat wiring fanatic <A href='http://www.picaxe.orcon.net.nz/duo.jpg' Target=_Blank>External Web Link</a> all my (electrical) life, &amp; deplore breadboard &quot;rats nests&quot;. Stan

EXTRA: <b>WulfDen </b> (apparently in Vermont,USA) seems to have taken on Picaxe items, &amp; also offers his own PCB =&gt; <A href='http://www.wulfden.org/stamps/picaxe.shtml' Target=_Blank>External Web Link</a>



Edited by - manuka on 02/04/2007 04:17:26
 

Dippy

Moderator
Actually I reckon that Kiwican is one of Stan's - I recognise the felt tip.

Oh no, Stan's last post - isn't that photo worn out yet? :))

On the subject of board: Farnell and RS and many others (I assume) are overflowing with various sizes/shapes/specs of proto board. S/S D/S, surface mount / DIP / Plug-in / SMD multiadaptor / Extender and Eurocard. And plug-in too, including the best maker BIM.

As an example, check Farnell Cat.1 pages 696 to 709. You haven't got a catalogue? Hard luck old chap.

Take your PIC.
 

tarzan

Senior Member
My money is on Andrew Hornblow. Check out that shade of blue.
http://www.picaxe.orcon.net.nz/andrew08.jpg <A href='http://www.picaxe.orcon.net.nz/andrew08.jpg' Target=_Blank>External Web Link</a> compare to http://www.picaxe.orcon.net.nz/kiwacan.jpg <A href='http://www.picaxe.orcon.net.nz/kiwacan.jpg' Target=_Blank>External Web Link</a>

Edited by - tarzan on 02/04/2007 12:09:29
 

Dippy

Moderator
Yup, you may have won the contest Tarzan.

I reckon he could have printed the label the right way up though and I bet he never tidied his bedroom as a kid.
 

manuka

Senior Member
For the record (&amp; for the felt pen detectives)- that Kiwacan PCB featured at a recent NZ govt funded course for electronics teachers, with the pix forwarded to me by the organiser.

In fact Andrew (who regularly introduces 10 yos. to Picaxes)&amp; I have been discussing a cheaper 08(M) specific PCB design similar to this, with the programming R's,links &amp; even 08M footprint silk screened on. We've Chinese PCB links that could mass produce them for small change as well. Any interest or input? This is NOT to dismiss Rev.Ed's great PCBs, but more in recognition that initial <b>breadboard </b> layouts are extremely well established in NZ &amp; Australia. Small breadboards (such as those shown above) can be bought here for ~US$3 (via Techsoft <A href='http://www.techsoft.co.nz/' Target=_Blank>External Web Link</a>. For younger users the subsequent paint by number parts lift over has immense educational merit. It's easy to forget that youthful minds are still developing, &amp; can not always grasp the abstract pathways of veroboard lashups etc.

RS &amp; Farnell etc are of course very much on the web, so forget their 3000 page catalogs. In general however their PCB &amp; solder version board prices are much too high for schools use,typically exceeding the value of the attached components.

The Picaxe label is deliberately shown inverted, since it will be stuck to the 08M following normal IC orientation. The 08M of course has unusual supply pin outs,meaning the 08M &amp; label have to be upside down for the +ve supply to be at the top.

Stan.



Edited by - manuka on 02/04/2007 13:11:34
 

inglewoodpete

Senior Member
Stan, I have been giving the subject some thought over the past few months. My favorite is the 08M due to its small number of pins (less confusing) and the relatively large programme space. I started out with the AXE092 schools experimenter but I have found this too restrictive at times.

The idea would be a (small) board containing the minimum operating circuit as described in Rev-Ed's Intro Manual. A possible option would be to have a single LED/resistor connected to pin0/leg7 to indicate that a dowload is occurring. The board would have an 8-pin dil connector on the underside so the unit could be plugged into a breadboard (or a &quot;motherboard&quot;). The top of the board would have 2 or 3 connectors: battery/power, download and possibly an 8-pin header so that any PICAXE pin can be accessed. A further option could be to have a 4-way dil switch with pull-down resistors for each input but this would add to the cost.

In reading the forum over the last year, I have noticed that many beginners have difficulty making the transition from Rev-Ed's intro boards to the breadboard, particularly in the area of the download circuit.

My idea allows the basic PICAXE to be programmed and run on the bench before plugging it into a breadboard. Once the unit is plugged into the breadboad, the power and other connections can be removed as required and fed from the breadboard.

In a classroom situation, it would then be an easy matter to unplug the unit from the breadboard to isolate a wiring fault.

Any further thoughts?

Edited by - inglewoodpete on 03/04/2007 01:19:40
 

manuka

Senior Member
Good points! Pity you aren't in Inglewood (Taranaki - NZ) as Andrew lives in nearby Opunake &amp; you could get in touch.
My main interest with any 08M PCBs is to link &amp; encourage initial designs to be breadboarded,<b>prior </b> to a final soldered prototype. IMHO soldering should be the LAST stage in a Picaxe project(not the first!)- this is a crucial point with youngsters who are still getting to grips with soldering skills...

Stan

Edited by - manuka on 03/04/2007 03:54:49
 

inglewoodpete

Senior Member
I guess its a chicken-and-egg situation. What should come first?

My idea was that the 08M module would be a part of the classroon equipment so would only be soldered up once. The development process would be something like:

1. Programme the PICAXE module to prove the (very) basics of the software development. At least the PICAXE can be programmed reliably.
2. Prepare the breadboard and plug in the module. Prove the wiring layout.
3. Replace the 08M module with a programmed 08M chip in the breadboard.
4. Transfer the whole thing to stripboard/PCB as required. At any time you can revert back to the PICAXE module if problems develop.

As an aside, my great grandparents lived just a few kilometres from Inglewood in the Taranaki. I guess Andrew can't remember back 120 years!

Let me know if Andrew wants to discuss the minimalist PICAXE module idea any further.
 
Two discoveries over Easter weekend have me thinking and much enthused&#8230;
The 14M looks like it will &quot;drop in&quot; to the same right hand end of the proto board AND solder board with no fuss or modification required. Same +ve -ve and programming port positions I think? This will be great for kids that run out of I/O.

I am dead keen on the idea of using the 13 cent 3 pin programming socket and 2 x 3 cent resistors on ALL projects as it allows for debugging, serial coms LCD interface and always the option to change that tune that is driving everyone nuts. Saves a lot of stabbed fingers bent and missing pins too.

I am all in favour of staged construction; assemble the base circuit on the kiwacan and solder and TEST load a blank or test program before going any further. A spare supply of boards assembled to this stage allows for quick recovery at this &#8220;break point&#8221; in class or project work. Debug and recycle the dud&#8217;s later.

My favourite starter project has a 4m7 pull down resistor touch switch and sleep 1 loop. Touch contacts pull pin3 up to +ve and trigger a play command. A typical LED or two + piezo type project lasts for months off a single $1 lithium cell in sleep mode. I usually run with a sleep 1 cycle systolic piezo toggle &#8220;tick&#8221; and 10 uS LED &#8220;I am alive&#8221; blink. DisableBOD will now make them last for years.

http://www.picaxe.orcon.net.nz/kiwacan.jpg

Easter Bunny news to end on relates to the 3 volt lithium cell and the all new and improved FAB DisableBOD command. Perfect for the 08M and 14M simple kids type project. DisableBOD saves HEAPS more power in sleep mode! I managed 2uA idle from the 08M today. Pushing it I managed to keep an 08M alive down to 1uA at 1.3 volts.


 
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