Nuts & Volts
Nuts & Volts
Nuts & Volts
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interfacing and application goal. The<br />
total time for my effort was under two<br />
hours.<br />
The fact that I went from a collection<br />
of devices to a working system<br />
in such a short time is a tribute to<br />
the easy-to-grasp design of the<br />
Supercarrier board, the simplicity of<br />
the TTS256 chip (only four signals,<br />
plus power and ground, are required),<br />
the ability to use serial I/O in all<br />
devices, and my own past experience<br />
with ZiLOG tools and hardware.<br />
DESIGN CONTEST<br />
WINNERS<br />
Now that you have seen what I<br />
did with my Z8 Encore! XP development<br />
board, take a look at what<br />
others are planning on doing. The<br />
following readers responded to my<br />
November 2005 column’s offer of a<br />
free Z8 Encore! XP development kit<br />
by submitting detailed proposals<br />
describing their intended application.<br />
Table 1 lists the individuals and brief<br />
descriptions of their proposals.<br />
It will be interesting to see these<br />
projects become actual working<br />
circuits. I wish all the winners the best<br />
of luck and hope their interfacing<br />
goes smoothly.<br />
While I chose to use my Z8<br />
Encore! XP development board to<br />
control the TTS256 and SpeakJet, the<br />
BASIC Stamp, PIC, or any other microcontroller<br />
with serial I/O will also do<br />
the job. The features packed into the<br />
TTS256 and SpeakJet should keep the<br />
most dedicated hobbyist busy. NV<br />
ABOUT THE AUTHOR<br />
James Antonakos is a Professor in the<br />
Departments of Electrical Engineering<br />
Technology and Computer Studies<br />
at Broome Community College, with<br />
over 29 years of experience designing<br />
digital and analog circuitry and<br />
developing software. He is also the<br />
author of numerous textbooks on<br />
microprocessors, programming, and<br />
microcomputer systems. You may<br />
reach him at antonakos_j@suny<br />
broome.edu or visit his website at<br />
www.sunybroome.edu/~antonakos_j<br />
or call toll free<br />
FREE<br />
Catalog!<br />
1-800-543-4330<br />
refer to or visit<br />
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www.mcminone.com/magazine<br />
Source Code: NVM35<br />
March 2006 87
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