Newb!

[peteoc]

Hey guys,

First of all I'd like to say HI!!! as it's my first post.

Secondly I'm looking at getting back into electronics after many years of not doing anything and as such I've forgotten everything. Would the PICAXE-28A Starter Pack be a good thing to start with?

In my mind the first thing im looking at doing is to create an LED array of some sort to program it for letters etc. I'd like as many inputs and outputs as possible as well so I'm not limited as to what I can do with it.

Next step maybe a robot

 

[premelec]

Suggest you start with 08M or 14M starter and you'll get well aquainted with PICAXEs and your own ability to program at a very low intial investment... It's a wonderful part but not trivial and perhaps best to not try take on too much at first... happy playing!

BTW when you get into more complicated stuff later the 08M or 14M units can serve well for accessory functions to a 28 part or whatever else...

 

[peteoc]

I assume the programming side is not all too difficult, I come from a programming background so I'm hoping I should pick it up fairly easily.

I'm currently in the process of getting a PICAXE simulator to work on my PC so I can play about with the coding

So the 8 or 14 then............not the 28 lol. *me goes to buy*

 

[manuka]

There are in fact 14 PICAXEs => http://www.picaxe.orconhosting.net.nz/pcxtype14.jpg ! Many of us old hands have been involved with the "basic" 08M & 18X for 3-4 years, & have yet to plumb their depths. Hence certainly start with the 08M or even perhaps the new 20M.

If you've been away from hands on hardware for a while you'll probably be totally gob-smacked with the PICAXE ease of use & versatility!

 

[lbenson]

>I'm currently in the process of getting a PICAXE simulator

Is this the simulator contained in the Rev-Ed Programming Editor? If not, that is highly recommended, and you can go from that straight to programming your chips when you get them.

For more advanced simulation, the PICAXE VSM looks very powerful.

 

[hippy]

If you want maximum I/O and a big program memory to handle all that I/O the 40X1 is probably a good choice.

 

[westaust55]

I concur with Hippy.

While many do suggest starting with the smaller PICAXE such as the 08M,
I went straight to the 40X1. To me the added cost was insignificant.
In addition to more IO as Hippy mentions, The newer X1 parts also include have added programming commands.

As I moved into i2c bus applications and external modules, the number of hard IO for interfacing to other devices such as a group of LED's reduced and I think that the 28X1 could also have been a good choice as like the 40X1 it has the current maximum programming space and features.

Since you have some programming experience, programming the PICAXE in its "extended/modified" BASIC should be easy. If you have not already done so, there is a complete manual on the programming language that can be downloaded for free.

 

[premelec]

It's software vs hardware... I was thinking with 40 pins you've got 5x the number of possible misconnections to make than 8 pins and with 8 pins it's much easier to trace where you went wrong... whatever works for you! I _always_ get the wiring right on the third try!