>By default only members have access to these messages.
  >
  >Should we open this up to encourage visitors to join?
  >
  >Pro. more poeple, easier to recruit.
  >
  >Con. Spammers, any idiot comments out for all to see ;)

Currently I'm RXing close to 200 SPAMs every day so I'm drowning in it and
the last thing I want is more, so my vote is to approve new members.

  >BTW, been thinking about a small project that may be useful.
  >Problem:optical link over long distance requires either modualtion or
  >expensive/hi-bright source.
  >Idea:minimal moduation keeping bandwidth overhead low without
  >burningout laser module/leds/whatever.

I was reading a thread on an EE forum tonight and this link popped up to do
with an online PDF/Word book called "Optical Through the Air Communications
Handbook".  I had a quick look and it seemed pretty basic but could be of
interest, the only thing weird is the PDF is back to front, whoever created
it put the last page first and so on. It made for an interesting 'read'. :o)

http://www.imagineeringezine.com/ttaoc/pdf-docs.html

Regards
Jean-Michel.

> By default only members have access to these messages.
>
> Should we open this up to encourage visitors to join?

Can we have it read-only until we auth potential members?  (Bit like the
Z180 one?)  I don't think we need to be paranoid, but my recent experiences
with CB radio indicate that when it's totally open, it's totally open to
abuse too, and it only takes one MUG to spoil it for all of us (pardon the
pun!).  Let people who want to be involved make genuine contact.

> Pro. more poeple, easier to recruit.
>
> Con. Spammers, any idiot comments out for all to see ;)

We _could_ delete messages that were inappropriate, no?  Sure they're cached
in several places, and sure, they can write more messages, probably quicker
than we can delete them.... No, if you ask me, I think we let anyone read,
only subscribers can post.

> BTW, been thinking about a small project that may be useful.
> Problem:optical link over long distance requires either modualtion or
> expensive/hi-bright source.
> Idea:minimal moduation keeping bandwidth overhead low without
> burningout laser module/leds/whatever.

Have you heard of Ronja? They did a 10MB/s (full duplex?) link fron AUI ->
optical -> AUI. I've got schematics & details somewhere, and one of the guys
I know at Uni actually fabbed a board set and I think he got it pretty much
working.  Used ordinary high-brightness LED's and bazooka tubes for
sheilding ambient.

I was actually thinking of trying the same idea but using either
high-bright, or arrays of Infrared LEDs, so that it wouldnt' spook the
neighbours too much by seeing a bright red focussed beam between my house
and my bro-in-law's two doors down...... best laid plans though.

I'll see if I can remember to dredge up the details on Ronja, but with any
luck, Google should be your friend.

Regards,
Dave.

By default only members have access to these messages.

Should we open this up to encourage visitors to join?

Pro. more poeple, easier to recruit.

Con. Spammers, any idiot comments out for all to see ;)


BTW, been thinking about a small project that may be useful.
Problem:optical link over long distance requires either modualtion or
expensive/hi-bright source.
Idea:minimal moduation keeping bandwidth overhead low without
burningout laser module/leds/whatever.

Any thoughts?


    cya,   Andrew...

> Hi All
>
> Thanks to Ron for the venue.
>
> It was good to meet you guys, I wish I understood just half the
> things you were talking about!!

Don't go believing that _we_ understood more than half of it either ;-)

> It is good to know that there are  some friendly faces to
> bounce a problem off, no doubt I will be making use of this!

Sure you bet.  If there _is_ something we can do to help get some Solar
powered brainchild off the ground, let's know.  It'd be something positive I
could be doing for the environment and my kids' future.

> PS Solar dude is a bit far fetched for me, its a job rather than a
> passion at this stage!!  Like to hear about the solar car.

Oh go on.  Once a sunseeker, always a sunseeker...... Well, some salient
points about the nearly two-year adventure that is Sungroper so far.

1. WSC = World Solar Challenge, a solar-ONLY powered race, from Darwin, to
Adelaide, right through the "red heart". Comp is open to internationals,
multi-million dollar car companies, backyard soloists, schools, Uni's etc
etc.

2. Sungroper is the FIRST and ONLY West Aussie entrant to the WSC. The name
is a combo of Sun and Sandgroper, two West Aussie inventions ;-)

3. A couple of years before November last year, two guys I went to Uni with
decided that it was simply unacceptable that West Aus didn't have a
competitor in the WSC, I mean we have some of the best solar resource in the
southern hemisphere, and we've been "doing it hard" for pretty much the
lifetime of Australia.

4. They fronted the cash, roped a few of us in to help with the "tricky"
bits, and about 24 months, $50,000 (very round figures), and half a dozen
AVR 8535's later, we had our Solar Car built and ready to race.  Although in
the field of 50 or so, we came well into the second half, we came first in
our "class", which, given our collective zero-wisdom at the start, was
pretty darned pleasing!

5. The rest is explained in rather more detail (including some pretty spiffy
pictures of Senators, Mayors, grass, 'Groper and several other interesting
things along the way) at www.sungroper.asn.au.

Until next time, that's about it

David.

Hi All

Thanks to Ron for the venue.

It was good to meet you guys, I wish I understood just half the
things you were talking about!!  It is good to know that there are
some friendly faces to bounce a problem off, no doubt I will be
making use of this!

See you next month.

Thanks

Tim

PS Solar dude is a bit far fetched for me, its a job rather than a
passion at this stage!!  Like to hear about the solar car.

> >I could blame yahoo for totally failing to upload them, but instead
>  >my great photographic prowess (cough) was doomed because I am just to
>  >keen to delete things.
>
> You had a perfect excuse and you didn't use it, tsk tsk tsk...:o)
>
>  >I have stuck a few links in, if others would like to fill with their
>  >favourites, go for it.
>  >
>  >I must be getting old as I was soo tired this morning.  What time did
>  >everyone else leave?
>
> I rolled into my driveway just before 1:30am so it was pretty late.
>
> Anyhoo, barring the late hour it was nice to meet Ron, Tim

Oh, right.. It _was_ Tim.  So many names, so few brain cells (mine I mean!).
*blush*

Hmm, mebbe next time Tim can "have the floor" and talk a bit about
renewables, I'll try to behave myself and keep my mouth shut a bit more...

Re: solar, I've made a couple of abortive attempts to get into it.  At the
moment, I'm nearly contented with my Alternative Technology membership, my
reasonably well-designed passive solar house, and contributing towards the
Sungroper project (www.sungroper.asn.au). But I'd like to do more to be less
of a smear of the environment, if y'all know what I mean.

Regards,
David

> I could blame yahoo for totally failing to upload them, but instead
> my great photographic prowess (cough) was doomed because I am just to
> keen to delete things.

Heh ;-).  You're _still_ stuck in that 64K mentality, good to see.  NASA
didn't get that extra science lab routine in a spare 100 odd bytes by being
slack. ;-)

> I must be getting old as I was soo tired this morning.  What time did
> everyone else leave?

Oh, around 1 or so.  I think. I was second last to bail, shortly after JM
and I don't know when Ron turned in for the night.

Didn't hit the sack until about 2:45 though.  Back on track at about 7:30am
to go to work. Probably go until about 22:30 tonight.

David.

>I could blame yahoo for totally failing to upload them, but instead
  >my great photographic prowess (cough) was doomed because I am just to
  >keen to delete things.

You had a perfect excuse and you didn't use it, tsk tsk tsk...:o)

  >I have stuck a few links in, if others would like to fill with their
  >favourites, go for it.
  >
  >I must be getting old as I was soo tired this morning.  What time did
  >everyone else leave?

I rolled into my driveway just before 1:30am so it was pretty late.

Anyhoo, barring the late hour it was nice to meet Ron, Tim and yourself and
catchup with Dave..Overall I enjoyed myself and learnt how not to calculate
BCD numbers as decimal values. <grin>

Regards
Jean-Michel 'Mick'

I could blame yahoo for totally failing to upload them, but instead
my great photographic prowess (cough) was doomed because I am just to
keen to delete things.

I have stuck a few links in, if others would like to fill with their
favourites, go for it.

I must be getting old as I was soo tired this morning.  What time did
everyone else leave?

    cya   Andrew...

> Hello All
>
> I am sorry, I have not yet introduced myself.
>
> I am hoping to attend tonights meeting.

Did you manage?  It'd have been rather neat to have a Solar dude there, I
could've waxed lyrical about my adventures with the Sungroper Solar Car
(WA's only ever entrant to the World Solar Challenge!).

Oh well. If you _did_ show up, I hope I didn't drown you out. Otherwise,
yeah, next month should be a good one, I think we're gonna get serious about
starting some projects off, but if nothing else, a good yarn was had by all.

Once again, thanks to Ron, for organising the group, and offering a rather
flash-looking venue.

Regards,
David

Hello All

I am sorry, I have not yet introduced myself.

I am hoping to attend tonights meeting.

Thanks

Tim Webber
Manager RAPS & Electronics
Solar Energy Systems Ltd
3/81 Guthrie Street
Osborne Park, Western Australia 6017
Tel: 61 8 9204 1521
Fax: 61 8 9204 1519
E-mail: TWebber@...
Web: www.sesltd.com.au


____________________________________________________
IMPORTANT INFORMATION

This message may contain privileged and confidential information intended only
for the use of the addressee named above.  If you are not the intended recipient
of this message you are hereby notified that any use, dissemination,
distribution or reproduction of this message is prohibited.  If you have
received this message in error please notify Solar Energy Systems Ltd
immediately.  Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual
sender and may not necessarily reflect the views of Solar Energy Systems Ltd.

--- In mugwa@yahoogroups.com, "roncasotti <ron.casotti@c...>"
<ron.casotti@c...> wrote:
>
>  Hi All
>  Well at the moment Iv'e only had expressions of interest from
>  Dave and Jeane-Michel to attend the meeting but that will do
>  for starters.
>

I'll be there, not sure how much junk I should bring along ;)

Probably more chat and if specific things discussed then if there is
a net connection and something to scribble on then pretty much
anything can be done.

Hope to meet others as well.

     cya,    Andrew...

Hi All
  Well at the moment Iv'e only had expressions of interest from
  Dave and Jeane-Michel to attend the meeting but that will do
  for starters.

  The CSIRO site is located directly opposite of Perry lakes
  stadium in Floreat park on the corner of Underwood ave and Brockway
  road. Check your street directory.

  The meeting place is around the back off Brockway Rd. So you turn
  into brockway Road off Underwood Ave and it's the first driveway to
  your right about 100-120 meters from the intersection (easy to miss).

  Go down the drive about 100 Meters to where it turns left 90 deg
  and the canteen is the building section behind the brush fence.

  If you get there after 19:30 there should be at least 1 or 2 cars
  parked near the brush fence with some one waiting in them.
  Hopefully I can get there by at least that time.

  If all else fails and you can't find the place give me a call on
  my mobile on 0407 464 747.

  And for Jeane-Michel the answer is yes.
  See you next Tuesday evening.

     Cheers
     Ronn

>  Hi All
>
>  I think there may be enough of us to start thinking about having
>  regular meetings. It would be nice to meet face to face. I would
> like to get members thoughts on this.
>
>  As to a meeting place, well that is of course open to discussion,
>  but I may suggest a possible avenue at least to start with.
>
>  I belong to the "West Australian Computer Enthusiests Group" a small
>  computer group (10 to 15 members) which some of us old timers
>  formed  in the late 1970's.
>
>  We meet at my work place, the WA CSIRO laboratories in the
>  staff canteen every 3rd Tues of the month. It is an informal meeting
>  where you can talk, or browse the internet
...
>  By the way the next monthly meeting is next tuesday nite at 19:30

Err, that's the 21st, right?

> till late.

Sounds like a date! :-).  Maybe we can do a sort of "show and tell" with any
hardware that people aren't prevented from bringing under non-disclosure
agreements.

Also, we should talk about how the Mugwa should be "run",.. do we want to go
the whole hog and have a constitution, (paid?) membership(s),
fundraising(s), projects, resources, etc? or just keep it totally informal
at the "chinwagging".  Both ends of the spectrum, and most stops along the
way, have their advantages and disadvantages.

My suggestion is to just "run with it" for a couple of meetings (say three
months?) and see how it pans out.  But at least we could spend 5 minutes
deciding if any of the various "club" or "association" options are either
worth considering, or can be ruled out from the outset.

>  and if there is enough interest I'll post directions etc.

Here's hoping there's enough interest!  I'd like to come along, even if
no-one else does, but I'm sure with a fixed date and location (at least
until we get our own) it'll give people something to "goal-set" towards.

Looking forward to it.

David.

Ron,

  > I think there may be enough of us to start thinking about having
  > regular meetings. It would be nice to meet face to face. I would
  >like to get members thoughts on this.
  >
  > As to a meeting place, well that is of course open to discussion,
  > but I may suggest a possible avenue at least to start with.
  >
  > I belong to the "West Australian Computer Enthusiests Group" a small
  > computer group (10 to 15 members) which some of us old timers
  > formed  in the late 1970's.
  >
  > We meet at my work place, the WA CSIRO laboratories in the
  > staff canteen every 3rd Tues of the month. It is an informal meeting
  > where you can talk, or browse the internet
  >
  > There is plenty of space, we have high speed internet connection
  > for  those who want to drag their computer along for the evening
  >(make sure you have a network card in it). Coffe and Tea can
  > be arranged, there is even a drink and nibblies machine for the
  > desperate.

I would really enjoy getting out to these meetings on a monthly basis!

I'm guessing CSIRO is wheelchair accessible?

Regards
Jean-Michel.

Ron,

  > I think there may be enough of us to start thinking about having
  > regular meetings. It would be nice to meet face to face. I would
  >like to get members thoughts on this.
  >
  > As to a meeting place, well that is of course open to discussion,
  > but I may suggest a possible avenue at least to start with.
  >
  > I belong to the "West Australian Computer Enthusiests Group" a small
  > computer group (10 to 15 members) which some of us old timers
  > formed  in the late 1970's.
  >
  > We meet at my work place, the WA CSIRO laboratories in the
  > staff canteen every 3rd Tues of the month. It is an informal meeting
  > where you can talk, or browse the internet
  >
  > There is plenty of space, we have high speed internet connection
  > for  those who want to drag their computer along for the evening
  >(make sure you have a network card in it). Coffe and Tea can
  > be arranged, there is even a drink and nibblies machine for the
  > desperate.

I would really enjoy getting out to these meetings on a monthly basis!

I'm guessing CSIRO is wheelchair accessible?

Regards
Jean-Michel.

Hi All

  I think there may be enough of us to start thinking about having
  regular meetings. It would be nice to meet face to face. I would
like to get members thoughts on this.

  As to a meeting place, well that is of course open to discussion,
  but I may suggest a possible avenue at least to start with.

  I belong to the "West Australian Computer Enthusiests Group" a small
  computer group (10 to 15 members) which some of us old timers
  formed  in the late 1970's.

  We meet at my work place, the WA CSIRO laboratories in the
  staff canteen every 3rd Tues of the month. It is an informal meeting
  where you can talk, or browse the internet

  There is plenty of space, we have high speed internet connection
  for  those who want to drag their computer along for the evening
(make sure you have a network card in it). Coffe and Tea can
  be arranged, there is even a drink and nibblies machine for the
  desperate.

  Well that is about it. Let me know your thoughts on the matter
  and if there is enough interest I'll post directions etc.

  By the way the next monthly meeting is next tuesday nite at 19:30
till late.

     Cheers
      Ronn.

Hi all,

My name is Andrew Smallridge. I have designed and built many
microprocessor systems and controllers. I have worked with 6800 /
6502 /6805 / 1802 / 8080 / Z80 / Z180 / 80x86 / and PICs. My first
computer was a Dick Smith system 80 and I designed and built an
expansion unit for it using motorola peripherals. About 6 months
after I built it I read an article explaining why it was not possible
to interface motorola peripherals to Z80 systems - just as well I
didn't read it before I built it :-)

Recent PIC projects include a IR remote control interface for my
son's TV (using a Sony remote on a non-remote capable TV) this was
based on an 16F84. My most recent finished project is a RS-232 to LAN
adapter based on the 16F876. This was developed to support the
Bitscope - as Australian product www.bitscope.com. I plan to upgrade
this product soon with a pin-for-pin 18F series PIC which will offer
higher performance and capabilities and eliminate the paging
limitations of the 16F PICs. I have also played with 12F series PICs
and PIC based smart cards.

My current PIC project is a automatic swimming pool filling system
based around a PIC 16F628 low power ultrasonic transducers. My
prototype testing so far has produced a couple of surprises, it turns
out that when you point an ultrasonic transducer down 40mm PVC, you
end up with an excellent wave guide. Another surprise was that I can
measure distance to water thru a 90 degree bend. I have lots of ideas
on how to use the sensor which explains why I am currently working on
the ultrasonic preamp using automatic logarithmic time based gain
control in order to to extend the range and differentiation
capabilities of the sensor. I would have preferred using an 18F
series pick but can't get them locally yet.

All my PIC work to date has been in assembler. I tried using C for
the LAN adapter but I found the overhead in terms of code
efficiently, was too excessive to support the application.

hi dave,
check out www.proteus.co.uk. I print onto transparency as well. I'm
building another exposure box now thats has a vacuum pump so i can do
the SMD stuff more reliably.
I've used proteus for about a year now. Its been very reliable
although recently i had a few problems where complete tracks were
missing. It could be a corrupt file. I haven't spent any time
investigating. I confirmed this from the transparency so thats an
issue i have to take up with them later. I bought the PCB starter
kit. Its about $500.
Have a good weekend.
regards

--- In mugwa@yahoogroups.com, "Dave Emrich" <dave@d...> wrote:
>  Hi Eric, and group,
>
> (much snipping of scissors)
>
> > (i think) I can't recall what CPM is an acronym for?.
>
> Control Program for Microcomputers, I believe.
>
> > I did simple stuff then like switching on relays.
>
> Much of the world's most amazing electronics starts with "just
turning on a
> relay" or LED... You should be proud! :-)
>
> > I make all my own circuits boards using
> > proteus VSM which has saved me heaps of money and time.
>
> Do you have the information on this Proteus stuff? Like how much it
costs to
> buy? etc. etc.
>
> My boards are all done from Protel files, printed on transparency
on a Laser
> printer,... But I'm tied to begging the boss for access to work's
Protel
> installation, I'd dearly love to have something I could own myself.
>
> > In my off pic'ing times spend a considerable amount of time
learning
> > new mathematic techniques to solve problems and i've having a
great
> > deal of fun applying them to projects.
>
> What sort of techniques...? A colleague at work, who's rapidly
moving from
> colleague status, to friend status, likes to test his brains with
> mathematical "mind twisters" every now and then, and he drops them
on us
> too, especially the ones he finds hard.  Betwen maths, quantum
physics, and
> many other bits of science, I try to keep my mind scientifically
stretched
> as much as possible.  Although I have to say I only know "passing
bits" of
> most of those disciplines, I still find them fascinating.
>
> > Thats me
>
> Oh I'm sure there's more to you than that, but we'll have fun
finding out as
> time goes on ;-)
>
> Regards,
> David Emrich.

Hi Eric, and group,

(much snipping of scissors)

> (i think) I can't recall what CPM is an acronym for?.

Control Program for Microcomputers, I believe.

> I did simple stuff then like switching on relays.

Much of the world's most amazing electronics starts with "just turning on a
relay" or LED... You should be proud! :-)

> I make all my own circuits boards using
> proteus VSM which has saved me heaps of money and time.

Do you have the information on this Proteus stuff? Like how much it costs to
buy? etc. etc.

My boards are all done from Protel files, printed on transparency on a Laser
printer,... But I'm tied to begging the boss for access to work's Protel
installation, I'd dearly love to have something I could own myself.

> In my off pic'ing times spend a considerable amount of time learning
> new mathematic techniques to solve problems and i've having a great
> deal of fun applying them to projects.

What sort of techniques...? A colleague at work, who's rapidly moving from
colleague status, to friend status, likes to test his brains with
mathematical "mind twisters" every now and then, and he drops them on us
too, especially the ones he finds hard.  Betwen maths, quantum physics, and
many other bits of science, I try to keep my mind scientifically stretched
as much as possible.  Although I have to say I only know "passing bits" of
most of those disciplines, I still find them fascinating.

> Thats me

Oh I'm sure there's more to you than that, but we'll have fun finding out as
time goes on ;-)

Regards,
David Emrich.

I almost forgot.
I started programming my amstrad 464 when i was about 11 (far out
what a memory i somtimes have) which had a z80 processor running CPM
(i think) I can't recall what CPM is an acronym for?. I did simple
stuff then like switching on relays. Boy did get a buzz even turning
on a LED from a program written in assembler! I had huge fun this
system.
I moved onto an intel processor amstrad and had huge fun writing
assembler progams but i was always more interested in the interfacing
hardware to sw and controlling things around the house.
I started using protected mode assembler and development a small
microkernel to load 4 megs exe's into the 2 meg segment and run them
as a ring 0 task. What awesome fun that was. I learned so much about
how the pc works. One of things i had to do was reprogram the
interupt controller so that hardware interupts occured in a different
location within the interupt descriptor table which was really fun.
My interest in microcontrollers started in 1995. I started out on the
PIC16f84 and made all sorts of gizmos mainly for my r/c heli. I made
a pic programmer and developed a reliable sequenced packet link (i
wish i had matlab's simulink stateflow toolbox as it could have saved
me hours of time) which i've used elsewhere like the telemetry link.
I have been programming in pic assembler for at about 5 years and i
made the change to C in april this year. I'll never go back to
assembler for whole projects. Its just not practical anymore for me
because i've got so many things i want to do. The possibilies for
these devices are only limited to your imagination. I use f628 for
its 2k and pin compatible with the f84. I use surface mount f876 now
for all projects for the large flash memory capacity, A/D, CCP. I've
made a small SMC chip carrier much like the basic stamps. There i can
place SO's f84,f628,f876, the new 12f629. The carrier has a standard
interface so i can use on all my projects.
I'd like to also have a look at the basic compilers. Has anybody had
good experiences with them? I make all my own circuits boards using
proteus VSM which has saved me heaps of money and time.
In my off pic'ing times spend a considerable amount of time learning
new mathematic techniques to solve problems and i've having a great
deal of fun applying them to projects.
Thats me

best regards all
Eric
--- In mugwa@yahoogroups.com, "emills3200 <emills@i...>"
<emills@i...> wrote:
> I've made a small telemetry link for an r/c chopper. It sends down
> the altitude info to a tv on the ground. I'm using an f876 with a
> radiometrix bim2 module. I've done all sorts of small projects here
> and there. It gives me a real buz putting intelligence into small
> devices like PIC's. My next adventure will be in micro web servers
i
> think although something else might take my interest.
> Most of my programming was done in assembler until i discovered a
> very good C/ide compiler called WIZC. check it out at
> www.fored.co.uk. Version 9.02 appears to be huge improvement over
> v8.04c. The simulation features are awesome.
> regards
>
> --- In mugwa@yahoogroups.com, "Jean-Michel Howland
> <yahoogroups@v...>" <yahoogroups@v...> wrote:
> > Hi Eric,
> >
> > >My name is Eric Mills. I live in perth WA. I enjoy doing alot of
> dev
> > >with the Microchip PIC microcontrollers.
> >
> > What sort of stuff have you developed?  I've been playing with an
> > 16F877 as a water spray controller and shift light/redline
> indicator
> > for a mates car.  I'm also tinkering with a Z180 SBC which now
has
> a
> > copy of CP/M 2.2 running on it and I'm just about to build an IDE
> > interface for it.
> >
> > Regards
> > Jean-Michel.

I've made a small telemetry link for an r/c chopper. It sends down
the altitude info to a tv on the ground. I'm using an f876 with a
radiometrix bim2 module. I've done all sorts of small projects here
and there. It gives me a real buz putting intelligence into small
devices like PIC's. My next adventure will be in micro web servers i
think although something else might take my interest.
Most of my programming was done in assembler until i discovered a
very good C/ide compiler called WIZC. check it out at
www.fored.co.uk. Version 9.02 appears to be huge improvement over
v8.04c. The simulation features are awesome.
regards

--- In mugwa@yahoogroups.com, "Jean-Michel Howland
<yahoogroups@v...>" <yahoogroups@v...> wrote:
> Hi Eric,
>
> >My name is Eric Mills. I live in perth WA. I enjoy doing alot of
dev
> >with the Microchip PIC microcontrollers.
>
> What sort of stuff have you developed?  I've been playing with an
> 16F877 as a water spray controller and shift light/redline
indicator
> for a mates car.  I'm also tinkering with a Z180 SBC which now has
a
> copy of CP/M 2.2 running on it and I'm just about to build an IDE
> interface for it.
>
> Regards
> Jean-Michel.

OK I am a fairly net.public person so google if you want all the
gritty.

Started into digital around 12 years of age with a quad, triple input
nor gate.  Lots of fun to be had.
Also at this age I diverted into computing, getting to the point of
some matrix calculations on DEC10 basic.
13 I was writting space invader games on the Tandy Model3's in stores.

Around 14 I got my first personal computer, a ZX-81.  Self taught z80
assembler and loved it.  I ended up with a macine that changed
background colours (relays in TV), spoke (spo256) and various I/O
stuff.  Suffering a tempoarary death from way too much on its bus, it
lasted until PC's were out and by then I was working (16) and picked
up a PCjr that a customer chose not to repair.

Played a little with 8086 programming, but always found I liked z80
and z180's better.

I have played with several micros and generally use whatever is at
hand,  I found the 1802 processor very interesting from an internal
architecture point of view and wouldn't mind doing something with
them one day (I have a large number of 1802 boards) sadly the
assembler I wrote (in m4 !!!) is stuck on the disk of a downed
machine .  My NCR tower is dead :(

So thats me!  I normally quick and dirty in PIC or z180 but I'll use
whatever is around.  Unless I am building for a reason my work is
pretty sloppy and dangerous.  When I have reason I do very good
quality work.

I have been deeply emotionally scarred by observing tortue to an
innocent orange and later being accused of plugging it in; this
taught me that unusual engineering can work effectively and can make
an impression when people see it and to be careful who sees you with
the evidence.


    cya,   Andrew...

> I had been building Desktop computers as a hobby since the mid
> seventies (8085,Z80,Cpm,S100 buss,etc) then moved onto IBM XT's in

Hmm, there's another micro I've used,... the 8085. Then there's all
the PDP-11 family that I cut my teeth on.. *sigh* Failing B-Ram,
needs refreshing I think :-)

> I loved the Pic with its cheap development kit, short instruction
> set, low part cost and most of all the M/C hobbyists holy grail,
> every thing on the one chip.

Those're the same features I like about the AVR's... For my tastes,
the AVR's are marginally preferable to the PIC's, since I have a
totally free C-compiler (the Gnu people are so nice!), and without
using _any_ on-chip code space, I can download direct from my PC's
parallel port via a 5-wire 3-resistor programming "dongle".

My first experiences with the PIC were somewhat less than favourable,
due to failing to get my 13V programming voltage just right, and
timing issues. As well as pretty much having to program in assembly
only, or pay a small fortune for a C compiler.  By the time the PIC
world had "caught up" to the tools available for the AVR's, I'd
become hooked on the AVRs... fickle, I know ;-)

> My current project is a combined coolroom door alarm and
> temperature datalogger using a Pic16F876 and a Dallas 1820
> temp sensor which hopefully I may turn into a commercial
> product if I can ever finish it.

What's the sub-zero temp range of the 1820's like? Most of my temp-
controller stuff has been higher-than-room-temp, and I've found the
LM35DZ's to be quite handy for that. (0-100C with 10mV/C scale
factor).

> Well that about covers it. I'll be interested to hear about other
> members experience.

Hopefully more other members than just me ;)

Regards,
David Emrich.

Hi

My interest in Microcontrollers  really started in about 1995
when i discovered the Microchip Pic16C56.

I had been building Desktop computers as a hobby since the mid
seventies (8085,Z80,Cpm,S100 buss,etc) then moved onto IBM XT's in
the early eighties which I built from bare boards and components.
This started to get boring by the early ninties as I could buy boards
cheaper than I could build them.

I loved the Pic with its cheap development kit, short instruction
set, low part cost and most of all the M/C hobbyists holy grail,
every thing on the one chip.

My first project in 1995 was coolroom/freezer door alarms with muting
and time delays for the walk in coolroom/freezer's at CSIRO where I
work. They are all still going after 7 years. They have saved us
many after hours callouts due to coolroom doors left open and setting
off my pager.

I have also made some Fume hood controllers for work using the
STAMP II modules. One interesting project was a LCD/Keypad Serial
interface

I used to do most of my programming in assembler, but I now tend to
use the Melabs Picbasic Pro Compiler as it speeds up programming and
debugging considerably.

I currently use the Pic16F876 chips as they have lots of flash memory
and I/O, A/D and self programming capabiliy where you only need to
download your compiled code via the PC serial port. No more
programmer once you have burned in a small downloader routine in high
memory.
The Pic micros are not neccesaryly the best available but they are
very well supported and are easy to use.

My current project is a combined coolroom door alarm and temperature
datalogger using a Pic16F876 and a Dallas 1820 temp sensor which
hopefully I may turn into a commercial product if I can ever finish
it.

Well that about covers it. I'll be interested to hear about other
members experience.

Cheers
Ron Casotti

>  Hi all.
> Well, I thought at times it might never happen, but it looks as if
> MUGWA may at last be a reality.

Indeed! I think I know exactly how you feel regarding "things
cropping up" every time you were about to go the next step.  I'm very
likely to be sent of to India in the coming fortnight,... for a
fortnight... To be determined ;-)

> First I would like to thank David Emrich for setting up this Forum
> for us and also to the other members who offered to help.

Well, I'd love to take the credit, but Andrew beat me to it!  He says
he _did_ try to hold off as long as he could, but it got to him in
the end,.... So it's Andrew we all have to thank.

> I decided to start MUGWA because I was feeling lonely in the field
> of micro hacking.

Again, I know that sentiment.  There seems to be several of us all
out there jumping the (same) hurdles, reinventing the same wheels,
some more round than others ;-)

> Well no more, hopefully we can develop MUGWA to the point
> where we can have meetings to discuss things, arrange demos of our
> projects, maybe even have competitions e.g. best line following
> vehicle etc .

Were you planning on a formal club with membership dues, committees
etc? or just an informal gathering at (pick your favourite fast-
food/cafe joing)? Or just take the "suck-it-and-see" approach and
find out what everyone ELSE wants?

> I will distribute some more posters at the various electronic shops
> announcing our Club and hopefully we will attract more members.

Yep. There's probably a few forumns on alternate media where we could
attract interest too. I might persue a couple of those.

> I would ecourage members to post a short rundown on their interest
> in microcontrollers as to which Micros you use, any interesting
> projects and any other details you feel relevant. ( Nothing about
> whips, Leather gear or similar stuff please!! ).

:-)  Ok, that' makes my speil a bit shorter then.
As to micros, well the list is large and growing on a yearly basis.
I've used, and continue to use things ranging from PICS, AVRs, Z(1)
80's, (mot) 6800 series, (rockwell) 6500 series, 8051's and variants,
x86's (eg. the 386EX), 68k series, ST risc micros, Atmel ARM-7's, and
I've played with the Intel SA1110 strong-arm processor in a "Cerf"
platform.

My current flavours of the month (that I'm allowed to talk about!)
are the Atmel AVR8535, which I'm using both at work and at home and
the ST10 family which I use at work.

My work involves embedded engineering across hardware and firmware
and sub-system integration for Crossecom (a local Aus-owned company).
Crossecom has two _main_ focii, that of Fuel Retail Systems ("From
the tank to the bank") and Asset tracking/RFID. If you don't mind me
handing out a work-plug, you can check out www.crossecom.com.

At home, my current hobby project is something I'm doing with a
friend of mine that will be a coin-operated kids' entertainment
system... We're under a bit of a pinch to develop it into a working
system before any of the larger companies in the business get wind of
our idea and develop it out from under us. Once we're over the hump,
I'll be able to say more about what it is/does, and where you can
come play it! I've just today been playing with the coin mechanism
for it, boy there's some fun toys out there along those lines! I can
also tell you it's (the system) gonna have a fistful of AVR
processors, linked together via a 433MHz data comms channel.

Other projects I've done, or have yet to complete, range from simple
non-micro bits of electronic tinkering, to medium scale AVR based
projects.

Eg. I just finished, tonight, playing with a very realistic sounding
electronic "cricket"... it chirps away quietly to itself in the dark,
the moment you shine a torch around looking for it, it goes silent,
should keep the kids looking for HOURS! Uses an opamp, and two halves
of a CMOS 556.

The other AVR projects I'm playing with at the moment are:
1. Car tacho for my (diesel) ute. 4-dig 7-segment with a hall effect
pickup.
2. Car Clock for my ute (also 7-seg display based).
3. Incubation temp/humidity monitor/controller for a mate's chook
farm.
4. Wax oven temperature monitor/controller for another mate's wife's
candle business.

One project I did a while back which has been in the field with ZERO
failures for a continuous period of over two years, is a bore
pump "run-dry" monitor/timer/controller. This one was based on a PIC
micro (16F84, IIRC). Although it doesn't have much to do (its basic
function is to time the on/off periods of pumping), it has to do it
24 hours a day, unattended, handling power failures, dropouts,
lightning storms etc. etc.  Not to mention, handling the whopping big
mains spikes you get when switching a 2horsepower single phase AC
bore motor on and off under micro control...

> Well, that should do for now.

My sentiments exactly! If you've made it this far without getting
bored and wondering how much I can ramble, you've done exceedingly
well.... :-)

> Many thanks to all for responding
> and I hope we can establish a friendly and useful forum.

Well, now that my self-intro's done, you can probably count on much
more "to-the-point" emails from me ;-)

So for now, it's over'n'out.

Cheers,
David Emrich.

Hi all.
Well, I thought at times it might never happen, but it looks as if
MUGWA may at last be a reality.

First I would like to thank David Emrich for setting up this Forum
for us and also to the other members who offered to help.

I decided to start MUGWA because I was feeling lonely in the field
of micro hacking. I knew there must be others out there doing the same
thing but as we hackers tend to be solitary souls we rarely meet
each other. Well no more, hopefully we can develop MUGWA to the point
where we can have meetings to discuss things, arrange demos of our
projects, maybe even have competitions e.g. best line following
vehicle etc .

I will distribute some more posters at the various electronic shops
announcing our Club and hopefully we will attract more members.

I would ecourage members to post a short rundown on their interest
in microcontrollers as to which Micros you use, any interesting
projects and any other details you feel relevant. ( Nothing about
whips, Leather gear or similar stuff please!! ).

Well, that should do for now. Many thanks to all for responding
and I hope we can establish a friendly and useful forum.

Regards
Ron Casotti

Hi Eric,

>My name is Eric Mills. I live in perth WA. I enjoy doing alot of dev
>with the Microchip PIC microcontrollers.

What sort of stuff have you developed?  I've been playing with an
16F877 as a water spray controller and shift light/redline indicator
for a mates car.  I'm also tinkering with a Z180 SBC which now has a
copy of CP/M 2.2 running on it and I'm just about to build an IDE
interface for it.

Regards
Jean-Michel.

hi all,
My name is Eric Mills. I live in perth WA. I enjoy doing alot of dev
with the Microchip PIC microcontrollers.

regards

Hi and welcome everyone!