[sdiy] Beginner questions

[Oliver Keller]

Hello Richard,

>Well,  it really depends on how complicated you want to make this. It's 

Of course I will need to do some basic soldering in order to gain some 
experience, but I think I´ll go for a processor based hardware, since I can 
do the more complex things in software then. 

The idea is to divide the tasks, so reading the input hardware would be a 
uControllers job while working with the data you get from it should be done 
in software. By this, I can do simple circuits for a start, just reading a pot 
or an incdec or a switch, which should be possible even for a beginner like 
me. The resulting data can be handled elsewhere, i.e. either a uController 
with some Assembler Code or even a PC based software that reads the 
hardware thru serial bus and then does something :-)


>You only really start needing processors when you add an LCD display, 
and 
>various clever features like note quantisation to a set of pre-programmed 

Definitely want that... so if processors are in there anyway, I guess I´ll 
head straight towards them..

>If you're treating this as a learning experience rather than as a 
>straight-out attempt to build a tool you can use right away, I'd seriously 
>suggest looking into a simple processor-free design first. You'll learn a 
>lot more about basic electronics that way, and also appreciate why you 
>might/might not want to use a processor, and what kind of enhancements 
it 
>can give you.

I´m sure that I will need a processor, but that doesn´t mean I can´t start 
with some other stuff in order to get a solid base for further experiments. 
OTOH, most controllers are available with pre-made boards, so i may learn 
about the basic electronics later and concentrate on assembler for now.. 
I´ll have to think about that.


>H/ware design and s/ware coding seem to require different mindsets. 

Definitely. But I try to use best of both worlds... Like getting the OO idea 
into hardware and trying to encapsulate functional entities. But that´s 
simialr in both worlds anyway.


>If you have s/ware experience 
>already, it might be interesting to try to learn to solve problems in a 
>h/ware kind of way.

That´s one of the reasons why I plan to do the thing :-)


>It's not that one is better (although one may definitely be better for 
>certain problems) but more that they're different in interesting ways. 
>Having experience of both is definitely more useful than just being fluent 
>in one or the other.


>Incidentally a standard recommended book is The Art of Electronics by 
>Horowitz and Hill. It's not cheap, but it's one of the best introductions 
>around.

I´ll check amazon for this title...


Thanks and best wishes, 


Oliver