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 "motherboard"
. 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