Hi everyone, I'm very new to electronics, but have been developing software for almost 10 years. I can't believe how much more difficult this is than software development! I'm having a hard time with simple circuitry, so I thought I couldn't fail with PIXAXE - One programmable chip and loads of possibilities!
However, I'm having a really hard time getting an 08M2 to work on my breadboard, so I have a couple of questions for y'all to mock. I have read the documentation of course and tried to find answers in this forum, on other pages and watched a bunch of youtube videos. I'm still uncertain, please forgive my noobness.
1) Powering the 08M2 on a breadboard
I have tested 3xAA and wall socket regulator (5V) and I get the corresponding voltage across pins 1&8. I can flash an LED using the simplest of programs, but anything else is completely unstable and utterly useless. As soon as I start using variables (symbols) in the programming, the chip behavior is very unpredictable. Servos respond after 10+ seconds, sometimes not at all or when they shouldn't.
Question: Do I have to use any specific capacitors or resistors when I just want to run a program? I have read somewhere that the serial IN should be grounded or the program won't run, but is this only during download? What is the absolute simplest way to power a project?
2) Inputs and outputs
I've read in the manual how to connect a switch input. +V to 0V with a 10K resistor and somewhere in-between draw a line into the 08M2. I've also (unknowingly) drawn +V straight into the chip, which
seems to work (I think), but I'm not sure since the chip behavior is so erratic.
Question: Since blinking an LED gets the +V from the chip, do I have to connect inputs to 0V anyway?
I having a really hard time with the results, when I was totally looking forward to a "problem-free" chip interface, please can someone shed some light on this? Thank you all!
PS: About half the times I try a download, it fails with "Hardware not found". It's like the download only succeeds on chance. Even though I read another thread on this, I'm not sure what to make of it. The download board works, then it fails, then works again.. Sometimes I just have to restart MacAxePad.. So unstable.
However, I'm having a really hard time getting an 08M2 to work on my breadboard, so I have a couple of questions for y'all to mock. I have read the documentation of course and tried to find answers in this forum, on other pages and watched a bunch of youtube videos. I'm still uncertain, please forgive my noobness.
1) Powering the 08M2 on a breadboard
I have tested 3xAA and wall socket regulator (5V) and I get the corresponding voltage across pins 1&8. I can flash an LED using the simplest of programs, but anything else is completely unstable and utterly useless. As soon as I start using variables (symbols) in the programming, the chip behavior is very unpredictable. Servos respond after 10+ seconds, sometimes not at all or when they shouldn't.
Question: Do I have to use any specific capacitors or resistors when I just want to run a program? I have read somewhere that the serial IN should be grounded or the program won't run, but is this only during download? What is the absolute simplest way to power a project?
2) Inputs and outputs
I've read in the manual how to connect a switch input. +V to 0V with a 10K resistor and somewhere in-between draw a line into the 08M2. I've also (unknowingly) drawn +V straight into the chip, which
seems to work (I think), but I'm not sure since the chip behavior is so erratic.
Question: Since blinking an LED gets the +V from the chip, do I have to connect inputs to 0V anyway?
I having a really hard time with the results, when I was totally looking forward to a "problem-free" chip interface, please can someone shed some light on this? Thank you all!
PS: About half the times I try a download, it fails with "Hardware not found". It's like the download only succeeds on chance. Even though I read another thread on this, I'm not sure what to make of it. The download board works, then it fails, then works again.. Sometimes I just have to restart MacAxePad.. So unstable.