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0) Rantings and ravings

Disclaimer: Just so it is understood, the "rantings and ravings" are
my rantings and raving. My readers are refined and sophisticated and
would never rant or rave. I, on the other hand, sit in front of the
TV in torn underwear and drink beer out of the bottle.

=====> OK, I know this FAQ is long. Very long. Well... it's
ridiculously long. If you are inconvenienced or strenuously object to
the posting of this FAQ, please DON'T FLAME me or send me nasty mail.
Just think what I have to go through. This FAQ takes a lot of my
time, of which I have very little to spare. I'm open for suggestions.
I've considered the following:
- splitting it up into smaller parts
- eliminating certain sections which may no longer be relevant -
the web and search engines certainly seem to make a lot of this
FAQ obsolete (or am I mistaken on this?)
- not posting it to the newsgroups and just turning this
whole mess into a [large] web page (the problem with this
is that I don't have a web site)
- forgetting about it all together and reminding my kids that I'm
their father (if you all tell me to go packing, I'll gladly
fold up shop and devote more time to family, friends, and
personal hygiene)
I would be happy to hear ideas on how this FAQ could be improved for
the reader. If it makes MY job easier, then that's even better.


OK, with that out of the way, let's get on with it...


Well, it's finally here. A free C compiler for the 8051. Featured in
Dr. Dobb's August 1997 issue, Andy Yuen's Retargetable Concurrent
Small C (RCSC) is based on James E. Hendrix' lengendary Small C. A
previous iteration of RCSC, Concurrent Small C was introduced in the
August 1996 issue of Dr. Dobbs. With the release of this compiler,
Andy Yuen is very likely to become a folk hero.

So, why are you still reading this? The FAQ will wait! First download
a copy of RCSC. You can get it from: http://www.ddj.com or
ftp://ftp.mv.com/pub/ddj. Then go out and find a copy of Dr. Dobb's
August 1997 issue.

You'll still need to purchase either James E. Hendrix's "A Small C
Compiler" (ISBN 0-13-814724-8) or the Dr. Dobb's Small C Compiler
Resource CD. This of course means that the free C compiler isn't
totally free, but then again, what is?


If you'd like to start learning about microcontrollers, but the
thought of finding all the parts and then building one scares you,
take a look at the line of boards available from American Educational
Systems. They have three boards: AES-51 (8051), AES-11 (68hc11), and
AES-88 (8088). All three boards are built along the same lines and
include RAM, ROM, LCD display, keypad, A/D, serial ports, digital I/O
ports, and logic probe. Also included is a full bookshelf of
documentation. The AES-51 comes with a hardware manual, language
manual, and Intel's 8051 User's Manual (over 500 pages of reference
material). The board has a built in BASIC-52 and monitor built into
external ROM on board. The BASIC even includes commands for
displaying on the LCD. These boards are ridiculously easy to use and
program - you can get started experimenting right away.

This is a perfect system for students and hobbyists. Even
professionals will find this system useful as a prototyping tool and
test bed. Highly recommended.

For more information, contact:
American Educational Systems
970 West 17th St.
Santa Ana, CA 92706 USA
(800)730-3232 or (714)550-8094 Fax: (714)550-9941


SPJ Systems (Pune, India) has announced version 3.0 of their C
compiler for the 8051. The major new feature of this version is
support for the "bit" type. Although this version imposes some
limitations on the use of this newly supported type, you can now use
the bit manipulation capability of the 8051. One important benefit
will be smaller code size and code which is easier to maintain and
understand.

A working demo of the compiler package, which includes the library
sources and permits the compilation of small programs, is available
from their web site.

For questions or comments about the product, you can contact them at:
SPJ SYSTEMS
114, Chitrashala Bldg.
562, Sadashiv Peth
Pune, India
Phone: 91-212-451607 Fax: 91-212-480285
Email: spjs@giaspn01.vsnl.net.in
Web: http://www.prime-digest.w1.com/spj


Air Born Electronics in Australia has some nice project plans for the
8051 available on their web site. Point your browser at:
http://www.airborn.com.au/


MDL Labs offers the following BASIC language packages for the 8051:
1. BASIKIT--Integrated Programming Environment for BASIC-52
and for MDL-BASIC-I, MDL-BASIC-P, and MDL-BASIC-D. BASIKIT
includes a full-screen editor and permits writing programs
with labels rather than line numbers.
2. MDL-BASIC-I and MDL-BASIC-P are supersets of the original
BASIC-52, for the Intel 8052 and the Phillips PCB83C552,
respectively. All bugs removed.
3. MDL-BASIC-D is a BASIC for the Dallas 87C530 which accesses
all the features of the chip, including both serial ports,
the Watchdog, and the power-saving features. The BASIC will
address up to 512K of memory and will collect data into that
memory via serial port interrupts. It runs faster at 25 MHz
than compiled code on the 8052.
MDL Labs
1073 Limberlost Court
Columbus, OH 43235
Tel/Fax: 614-431-2675
Email: arl@infinet.com


Students at the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil
developed a "Remote Lab for the 8051". You send a machine code of the
8051 to a remote host (where there is 8051 board plugged in the PC)
and receive the values of the registers. Study the 8051
microcontroller, without buying a board. For more information:
www.inf.ufsc.br/~jbosco/labvir.htm
The Email of students are:
Miguel <wf@ambiente.com.br>
Cleber <cleber@inf.ufsc.br>


Hans Schou write to inform that the USB organization now has their
own homepage: http://www.usb.org (was http://www.teleport.com/~usb).
Hans is also willing to help out with problems using the 8051. His
new email address is: chlor@schou.dk


TCG (in Taiwan) has introduced two new products. One product is
32K-byte EPROM Emulator and the other is AT89C2051/1051 programmer
with limited emulation capability. These products feature platform
independence. You can use PC, Mac, Unix workstation, or even a dumb
terminal. All the necessary commands are built into the on-board
controller. For more information, check out these web sites:
http://www.yp.at-taiwan.com/~com00121
http://www.hth.com
For more information:
TCG
11 Ally22 Ln21 Pei-Ta Rd., Hsin-Chu City, Taiwan, R.O.C.
(886)3-532-7372 Fax: 886-3-531-7162
Email:ch.bbs@csie.nctu.edu.tw


Take care,

Uncle Russ



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