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One of the reasons is because of "context". That is, if you don't
leave a little of the previous message in your reply, then there's
no way to determine to what/whom you're replying and the recipients
of the post then have to call up and backtrack through the header to
get the message ID of what you're replying to and then display that
message. Extremely inconvenient and extremely inconsiderate of you
and, it seems, most Google posters.
Another reason is that your "Google community" seems to be made up
largely of clueless newbies who wouldn't know what a newsreader, or
netiquette, was if it bit them on the ass.
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It's not a question of a newsreader's capabilities, it's a question
of a poster's inconsiderateness.
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Nonsense. It's all in the economics of the thing. A $2
microcontroller is $2, but 100 components at a penny apiece is $1.
Assemble it in China, sell it to Wal-Mart for less than anyone else
can and there's your answer.
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I really don't think that's what he wants to do, based upon his
description of his capabilities, but perhaps Google somehow changes
the meanings of posts?
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I see. Here's this poor OP, who can't even figure out how to
trigger a timer from the radio's buzzer/speaker, and you're
suggesting that he jump right into building a design of yours from
scratch? And then send glowing testimonials? ISTM that your
interests lie more with helping yourself out than the OP.
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Geez, I think all he asked for was a simple way to do what he
wanted, not a chance to go global with your crap...
It's pretty easy; a comparator on the speaker to SET an RS latch,
the latch taking a 555 timer out of reset and allowing it to run as
an astable at a 1Hz rate, two BCD counters used to count the 555's
output up to 99 seconds, two BCD to seven-segment decoders, two
seven-segment LED numeric displays, and 14 resistors for the
display. If he can't use the radio's ALARM OFF button to RESET the
latch, then an external switch. Also, perhaps another switch to
reset the display if it gets to be inconvenient to do it with
multiple press-release cycles of the RESET switch.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Reply from stickyfox, which he emailed instead of posting here:
It's probably just because you can't see half of them. Switch to
Google.
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I think not. I post to abse (alt.binaries.schematics.electronic)
quite often, and Google would make that impossible. Plus, if I want
to post something that I don't want the Google "community" to read,
I can also post that to abse through my provider, who archives
binaries.
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To clarify, I am not in the business of selling alarm clocks. I am in
the business of designing easy-to-understand projects to introduce
electronics to college students. Since our OP is a soon-to-be-college
student with an interest in electronics, and since by remarkable
coincidence I happen to be designing a nearly identical project, I am
just offering to share my work with someone who asked for help.
Probably a foreign concept to a professional circuit designer such as
yourself, but be assured there are places in the world where it
happens.
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Hmmm... A barb, faulting me for not being as altruistic as you think
I should be? LOL, if that's what you think, you should have
examined my posting history before putting your foot in your mouth.
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And all I said was that maybe he could give us a line and tell
us how it went, so that the university will buy me more parts that I
can mail out to more kids so those kids can win more science fair
medals.
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The problem I have with that is that it sounds like they'll be
getting the medals under false pretenses. That is, tyaking a medal
by merely assembling a kit which you provide for them and displaying
it at a science fair without doing any of the in-the-trenches "This
is how it works" grunt work.
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It is probably easier to solder a single microcontroller to some LEDs
and buttons than it would be to build a timer from scratch using timers
and discrete logic. And it's almost certainly easier than trying to
meld an alarm clock and a stopwatch together into a device that a
semi-conscious high school kid can operate.
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Well, for a solution to the OP's immediate problem, easier may be
better, but for a science fair project I think not.
In any case, let's take a look at it from the OP's POV and see if we
can determine which way is easier.
My way is a 7555 and two passives for a 1 second clock, an HC02 for
the start-stop latch, a comparator for the alarm trigger, an 8 bit
binary counter to count the 1 second pulses from the 555, 8
low-current LEDs to indicate the state of the counter, 8
current-limiting resistors for the LEDs, and a momentary switch or
two.
Your way is a µC with an external RC that you can trim, (or a
ceramic resonator) 8 IOs and current limiting resistors for the
LEDs, a comparator for the alarm trigger and a couple more IOs for
the switches. Plus, all that code. Somebody's got to write it,
debug it, and burn it into the micro.
So, bottom line, hardware, with what washes out I've got left a
quad NAND or NOR to make a gated clock and an RS latch from and an 8
bit counter, and you've got left a micro and a comparator (or if you
want to get a micro with an on-board ADC or comparator, just the
micro) PLUS, the software overhead.
Three chips for me and one for you.
So, from the OP's POV, your way is probably easier because you're
going to be doing all the work. Congratulations, you win!
I guess what'll have to happen for everything to work out right is
that he'll need to send you a radio to modify and to use to get the
code working and then you'll send him as many programmed chips as he
needs to finish his project, plus instructions on how to modify the
radios?
Better you than me, bucko!
Good luck...
