electronics questions

Post by **Skyone** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:10 am

Search digikey for a digital potentiometer under IC's. There are 1400 matches I think. Those are some none-PIC choices!

timmeh87 · Post by **timmeh87** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 7:36 am

the digital pots i looked at still need a not-so-simple timing regimen to adjust them. like 2 or 3 wire serial interface and stuff. but maybe they have some simpler ones...

blackbox_dev · Post by **blackbox_dev** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 7:41 am

http://www.aaroncake.net/circuits/volume.htm

This is meant to replace the pot in an audio control, but you could probably use it for your purposes.

*o* · Post by ***o*** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 4:24 pm

the digital volume control looks to have a good interface, but how deos it work? is it effectively a pot controlled but buttons? if so is there anyway to hook it up to a 555 to make it control the 555?

Post by **Skyone** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 7:11 pm

The volume controller is like a pot, which is a variable resistor. Put that in place of a resistor in the 555 circuit and it will adjust the timer.

codeman · Post by **codeman** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 8:56 pm

PICs are awesome, so you'll probably end up buying/making a programmer eventually, so why not now? What are the details of the functionality you want and i can tell you how hard it would be to do with a PIC

*o* · Post by ***o*** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 1:17 am

ok here is what i want:

a button that turns on a small 12v pum and begins 32 leds strobing at 60hz

one buton which increases the strobing by 1hz

on button which decreases the strobing by 1hz

the first button when pressed while on turns whole system off

possible?

btw does anyone know of any easy/cheap PIC programmers i could build myself?

timmeh87 · Post by **timmeh87** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 10:29 am

you could do that with a pic easier than pie.

i highly reccomend finding a pic that has a 4 or 8 mhz internal oscillator, its so much easier than having to worry about a separate osc. and caps.

also, spending the 40 or so bucks to get a usb ICD2 or something similar is well worth the investment if you plan to use pics often.

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/produc ... ducts_id=6

theres a random cheapish one i found, but you can definitely go cheaper. the one i am using is just a tiny bare board.

*o* · Post by ***o*** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 4:38 pm

ill see if anywhere sells them nearby then ill have a browse of the internet later.

thanks for the help guys

*o* · Post by ***o*** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 5:18 am

Here is V1 of the circuit R1 and C are yet to be calculated:

Does anyone think this will work?