Pixaxe Projects for the evilGenius

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rigidigital

Senior Member
Hi, I only just recieved in mail the Book from Amazon , "Pixaxe for the evil genius" it looks good from a ten minute perusal. Hoping it gets me underway with some projects, I also use the propeller butstill have much fondness for pixaxe and this group of hearty helpers !
 
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westaust55

Moderator
Pixaxe Projects for the Evil Genius - by Ron Hackett

Yes, and it is keeping up with the times and covers the new M2 series of PICAXE chips including those shortly to be released (14M2, 20M2 and . . . 08M2).

The step by step approach in the construction side of various adapters and a power supply will also help get the newcomers to electronics underway.

Some photos are a bit dark, but Ron has provided nice clear colour copies on his website.

A great effort by Ron who will be proactive and is also setting up an addenda page on his website to keep readers on track.
 
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ad8bc

New Member
I had the honor of writing the first Amazon review for this book. I was most pleased with how it was written -- well enough for beginners to electronics, and interesting enough for an electrical engineer to keep reading. I like his technique of making permanent stripboard versions of interfaces that are used frequently, saving breadboard time later.

Full review below:

Amazon Review said:
I'll be honest here. I was purchasing a completely unrelated book, and I needed to spend a few more bucks to get free shipping at Amazon. Having just ordered a PICAXE development board and a few PICAXE chips to play with, I did a quick search and found this book. I have already bought and studied "Programming and Customizing the PICAXE Microcontroller" book by David Lincoln (also highly recommend) so I didn't think I needed another PICAXE book. But I bought it anyway.

And I'm glad I did.

Mr. Hackett did a fine job on this book. It is well written, very illustrative (although the publisher could have lightened a number of the illustrations, many were very dark and you had to squint), and follows a very nice outline.

What impresses me the most, besides the thoroughness of the programming information, is the design suggestions that he made. I have, since I was 10 years old (I still have that first breadboard 25 years later), been a breadboarder. I have built and modified many circuits on breadboards. It is a valuable skill, one that can only come from experience... but it can also get tedious. That's why I really like the development boards that are available. I have been using a PICAXE development board (google AXE091) for a few days and really enjoy it, and highly recommend it. It's also why I REALLY like the Arduino with the associated shields for it. But what impresses me with this book is Mr. Hackett's stripboard techniques. First you breadboard a peripheral (LED display, switch, etc) and then, since it is something you will likely use again and again, you can save time in the future by making a stripboard version that plugs into your breadboard. Very nice. But even that can get tedious after a while... so guess what? When you have developed that particular skill, and want to save time, you can actually purchase professionally etched PC boards from his website to make some of these peripherals.

I also really liked his logic probe in a test tube project. I intend to make one myself. It reminds me of our high school electronics class when we all made voltage testers, put them in a glass test tube, filled it with clear epoxy, and then broke the glass off... although Mr. Hackett's design simply encloses the probe in a plastic test tube... nice design.

I recently wrote a poor review of "PIC Programming for Beginners" by Mark Spencer and published by the American Radio Relay League. I stated that the book was not for beginners and I suggested that the ARRL publish a three volume set, the first being a book about digital electronics (TTL/CMOS logic, etc, which I find an essential prerequisite to micros... then Volume 2 would be a book about the PICAXE, and Volume 3 would be the book introducing the PIC and assembly code. "PICAXE Microcontroller Projects for the Evil Genius" would be my Volume 2 of this set.

Nice work Mr. Hackett!
Click to expand...
 
Technical

Technical

Technical Support
Staff member
A book takes well over a year to prepare and all the M2 information in the book was based on preliminary specifications that were provided to Ron by Revolution Education several months ago, before any M2 silicon was even available. Therefore all M2 details in the book are subject to change prior to the release of any of the new M2 processors. It is planned to migrate M2 technology to an 8 pin at some point in the future, but we cannot provide any further details at present, there is a lot of work to be done first and suitable silicon is simply not available yet. At present we are working on the 14 and 20 pin variants as announced.
 
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RonHackett

Member
Thanks, Technical - I've been a little concerned that people were starting to think that an 08M2 was simply wishful thinking on my part!
 
W

westaust55

Moderator
In both the book and on his website, Ron has indicated that separate programs are available on teh website for both the M and M2 class PICAXE chips.

So in the short term, folks can just use the 08M and the appropriate program.

In the meantime, Rev Ed are still working towards release of the 14M2 and the 20M2 right at this moment.

as BB intimates, lets not have a "When will it be ready thread" for the next 12 months :eek:.

As I slowly ( = only on the train to/from work each day) read further into the book, I note that Ron is developing a series of small strip board based projects as interfaces (keypad, LCD, power supply, programming interface, etc) that can be used on their own or as part of a larger project.
 
techElder

techElder

Well-known member
I've followed a lot of Ron's stuff from his Nuts and Volts magazine articles. It was a lot tougher reading them BEFORE I got my Picaxe going.
 
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nick12ab

Senior Member
I just want to check to see if I have a one-of-a-kind book or not, so can someone else who has this book turn to page 34 and tell me what the heading for Figure 3-6 is.

Click here to view a scan of the page in my copy.

And yes, it really does say "A powered-up Arduino board with LED lit"
 
E

eclectic

Moderator
If you are an amazon.co.uk customer, then you can look inside the book.

Yes, I'll confirm that the page had the "A" word mentioned.

May be different in newer editions.

e

Addit

The open-access index also lists the "Arduino board" as page 34
 
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RonHackett

Member
Yes, that little error is a complete mystery to me as well. In the final file that I submitted, the title of Figure 3-6 was "Bottom jumper being held in place by spring clamp." Maybe the editor was also working on an Arduino book at the same time, and some copy-paste snafu snuck that one in! :eek:
 
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nick12ab

Senior Member
RonHackett said:
Yes, that little error is a complete mystery to me as well. In the final file that I submitted, the title of Figure 3-6 was "Bottom jumper being held in place by spring clamp." Maybe the editor was also working on an Arduino book at the same time, and some copy-paste snafu snuck that one in! :eek:
Click to expand...
That exact title ("A powered-up Arduino board with LED lit") is also in the Arduino book on page 2, figure 1-1 which shows a knock-off board made by DFRobot.

Also, something in the Arduino book just doesn't look quite right...
page 154

At least you're not the only one who has had their books sabotaged.

Many of the names listed withinth front of the book are the same in both books too.

Maybe you could claim some compensation from McGraw-Hill for publicly embarrasing you by sticking the A-word into your PICAXE book.
 
D

Dippy

Moderator
Why should Ron complain?

There are probably dozens of Nicks giving the book free publicity.
I'd have put a few more unimportant errors in on purpose :)
 
W

westaust55

Moderator
nick12ab said:
I just want to check to see if I have a one-of-a-kind book or not, so can someone else who has this book turn to page 34 and tell me what the heading for Figure 3-6 is.

Click here to view a scan of the page in my copy.

And yes, it really does say "A powered-up Arduino board with LED lit"
Click to expand...
That "typo" and others have already been noted last year and all with the book are recommended to go to Ron Hacketts website: http://www.jrhackett.net/
Where Ron has addenda, colour photos an program listings available.
 
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