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Wait a minute....
Is that to say that if i don't use an 8051 I won't be able to wire the
switches straight to the input ports?
No, that is to say that the 8051 is a wonderful processor and that
nobody in their right mind would ever even consider using anything
else. In other words, I was just lobbing a bomb into the eternal
"which is the best processor" religeous war.
I was hoping to use the existing
momentary contact switches, connect them straight to the input ports, and
have the input port pulled to ground when I step on the switch, which would
activate that input.
This is the right way to do it. Pulling the pins to ground is the
better way to indicate closed. I believe that this is true even if
you are silly enough to use a PIC. One of the PIC experts will likely
confirm this.
I'm going to look over that wires and switches example >you gave me Moose,
Don't use the grid of wires. Just use a micro with enough port
connection. You need a port pin for each switch and another for each
output.
and try to make some sense of it (right now no light bulbs are going off),
but, as Graham mentioned, it is my first project with a micro, and I think
I'd be wise to go with a more simple arrangement like the Atmel micro he
suggested. I think this is going to take me a long time to get off the
ground as it is.
I would suggest you consider one of the products from
www.cygnal.com.
They have a complete PCB with the micro, the development tools and
cables etc for a total of $100.
The Cygnal micros have way more ports than you need. The only down
side to them is that they run on 3V not 5.
There are other good ready made PCBs out there and other good
development kits. You can also get some micros in the 40 pin DIP
version.
The thing you want to avoid is the need to make connections to a small
surface mount part.
I know that the 8051 from Philips is happy if you use wire wrap
construction methods. I even wire wrapped the crystal oscillator
connections ant it worked ok.
There are other processors that have an internal oscillator so this
isn't an issue.