ComputerVoltageSources

Hi John

--- In ComputerVoltageSources@yahoogroups.com, John Mahoney
<jmahoney@...> wrote:
>
> At 09:16 PM 1/29/2007, djbrow54 wrote:
> >[snip]
> >Anyone care to disagree?
> 
> Sadly, you'll get no disagreement here, Dave.
> 
> The complexity of this effort is one reason that I mentioned the MAKE 
> Controller a month or few ago. 
> (http://www.makezine.com/controller/)  Seems like it could make a 
> nice basis for a CVS. John Loffink suggested that it's a lot like a 
> bunch of other products. I'm not well-informed on that stuff so I 
> don't know; it just seemed like there was a good DIY community 
> developing around this one.

 i used to mess around with hobbyist robotics (even had a C64 rolling
around my lving room until 'the cat incident')....
;'>
 There are quite a few low-cost PIC implementations around right now.
 The controller kit that MAKE sells is pretty well-appointed on the
INPUT side with 8 10-bit analog ins....
But, the 8 DIGITAL outs translate to one 8-bit analog out and that's
where the MAKE gadget falls short of this app.
 As Aaron Lanterman has pointed out programmable multichannel analog
I/O boards with dazzling resolution are pretty common but pretty
expensive too, and they require a PC not only to program but also to run. 
   So once again this app. lands in the 'liminal entity'* region,
neither fish nor fowl nor beast! Too complex and hi-res to be a
worthwhile hobbyist product but too lightweight for the pro lab-i/o
companies to mess with. That's why i believe such a conceptually
simple design is just not produced commercially for analog instruments.

best
-doc

* if you never heard of 'liminal entity' ....check out Pinch &
Trocco's beautiful, flawed, masterpiece, "Analog Days" ... it's a
great read!
=)