Potential Microcontroller GB (BS2 OEM kit)

I recently killed my microcontroller from being stupid and will be ordering a new one, but if I get 5 or 10+ people interested I can get a bulk discount of a few dollars.

These controllers are great for electronics work - they can drive leds, operate small LCD displays, communicate with a computer via serial, control servo motors, etc.

What is the BASIC Stamp Microcontroller Module?

A BASIC Stamp is a single-board computer that runs the Parallax PBASIC language interpreter in its microcontroller. The developer's code is stored in an EEPROM, which can also be used for data storage. The PBASIC language has easy-to-use commands for basic I/O, like turning devices on or off, interfacing with sensors, etc. More advanced commands let the BASIC Stamp module interface with other integrated circuits, communicate with each other, and operate in networks. The BASIC Stamp microcontroller has prospered in hobby, lower-volume engineering projects and education due to ease of use and a wide support base of free application resources.

What about the other companies that sell a "BASIC Stamp clone" for less? If you've looked into other products that compare themselves to the BASIC Stamp microcontroller dig a little deeper before you get out your credit card. There's much more to buying a product like a BASIC Stamp module than a feature list could possibly demonstrate. Ask about support documentation, user base, reliability and track record in industrial applications, returns, free technical support, customer service and everything else that matters (mostly after the package has arrived!).

Parallax has prospered in the single-board computer business because we have a simple, reliable and well-supported core product. Parallax is the only place where we'll spend twenty minutes answering your questions and not ask if you're using one or 1,000 BASIC Stamp microcontrollers. Every customer receives professional service. And we will continue to offer a very generous warranty/repair and support program.

©Parralax, Inc.

The group buy will be for the OEM kit which requires soldering and assembly http://www.parallax.com/Store/Micro...SortField/0/Level/a/ProductID/21/Default.aspx



If you'd be interested in buying one, please let me know.

I'm interested if you will assemble it for me

Anyone else? I need at least 5 people to get any kind of a discount....

i would be in but i have some already i am tying to work on a pulsed driver based on a pic/avr microcontroller

I have one of these and I like it a lot, I mean great for learning basic code and all but it doesn't suit too many projects. I believe it is only 10,000 instructions per second, which one basic function might be 2-10+ ASM instructions, so it looks like a lot at first but it sometimes isn't depending on your project. I have been looking into others for the last few months to better suit my current project.




I was looking at this the Basic ATOM Pro, it uses almost an identical language and it isn't much more and up to 100,000 instructions per second. It offers 8 A/D pins, with my baisc stamp 2 it only offers 0, so I had to buy an 8bit analog to digital converter, I also have a 12bit in case I want to know down to .0001v.

http://www.basicmicro.com/Product.aspx?productID=125&CategoryID=2


With a PIC chip:
The BS1 and B2 systems use a serial EEPROM memory connected to the PIC chip to store thier programs. The basic commends in the program are stored as basic tokens. Basic tokens are like short hand of basic commands. When running the program, the BS reads each instruction (toekn and data or address) over the serial line from the external eeprom memory, interprets the token (converts it to machine language equivelent that the chip can understand) and performs the instruction, this process eats up gobs of the BS2's CPU time.
In contrast to this operation, when a PIC chip is programmed using basic compiler, the basic program is converted to ML-equivelent (machine language) and saved as a file of hexidecimal numbers (which is literally the 1's and 0's....1 hex letter is 4bits or 4 1's and 0's) called a hex file, which is then uploaded directly to the EEPROM of the PIC chip. Because this is the native code it does not need to be interpreted as it runs. There is no external EEPROM and serial interface to eat up CPU time. This system enables PIC chips programmed with the SAME BASIC CODE to run 20-100 times faster than a Basic Stamp 2. If you programmed the PIC chip in ASM then it would OBVIOUSLY be even faster.

I think retail price for just the BS2 is $49, a PIC is $6.95 add a few resistors, caps, timing crystal and I doubt you're over $15, but you need a programmer ($60 one time and you use it for unlimited chips) and the PicBasic software ($100 for the basic version, $150 for pro)

The basic stamp 2 with developer board is a great system for learning, I wouldn't recommend anything else unless you have experience with MicroControllers and I would still recommend it if you do it just depends on your project. I am a huge car enthusiast and my project is related to the fueling and ignition system of a car. If anyone gets this I will be able to help.

GREAT SYSTEM!! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS IT IS VERY POWERFUL AND YOU WILL BE ABLE TO O MUCH YOU DREAMED ABOUT WITH EASE!!!!

the kit you linked looks great, but i don't have the money for it right now and hence why i was trying to get the OEM kit since they're only $30

$30? Does that include the programmer? Mine's all integrated, I think it was $79 or $89 from radio shack. It is great to learn on and very powerful. If you don't have a programmer, I don't know how easy or how much it will cost.

the OEM kit has a serial port right on it, all you need is a serial cable and the programming software that u can download for free from Parallax's website

If you're looking into something that isn't BASIC-based, check out the Arduino series of microcontroller computing platforms. They're comparably priced, pretty powerful (ATmega168), use a C-variant language, use a USB to program it (at least the model below), tons of example code, and have nice free IDE/programmer software. The programming software, etc. is open source as well and a decent interface. Price break at 10 units.

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=666

MarioMaster said:

the OEM kit has a serial port right on it, all you need is a serial cable and the programming software that u can download for free from Parallax's website

Click to expand...

Damn, that's an awesome deal, I might be interested in a second BS2 for that price. Any pics? (Too lazy to look on parallax.com)

completed

Hell yeah just slides right into a bread board. I might be down. GREAT DEAL PEOPLE!!!!