Atlanta Radio Club
October 5th Program -- All welcome!
7:30PM Lindbergh Plaza, Red Cross Training Center
Barry Ward, President of Atlanta Hobby Robot Club, will give our
program for October. Barry will give us a primer on the BASIC Stamp
and PIC controllers. The BASIC STAMP is not specific to ham radio,
but it is certainly of interest to hams because we love electronics
and computers.
Computers don't come much cheaper than Parallax's BASIC
Stamp (http://www.parallax.com) . The device alone costs less
than $50 and includes a printed circuit board the size of a
large postage stamp containing a microprocessor, 256 bytes
of EEPROM, 8 programmable I/O lines and a 5-volt regulator.
One end of the board has a pair of sturdy clips for a 9-volt
battery, which will run a STAMP for several days. One can get
started with a comprehensive kit available at RadioShack.com
for less than $100.
Typical Stamp applications include
- General electronics
- Home automation
- Robotics
- Prototyping
- HAM related applications
- Special effects in films
- Industrial control
- Geological instruments
- Computer peripherals
- Scale model hobbyists
- Model train hobbyists
Hams have used the STAMP for balloon payload controllers,
DTMF generators, rig interface, fox or propagation beacon
controllers, weather stations, CW keyboards, and just any sort
of industrial strength I/O you can imagine. Perhaps if there
is interest we will assemble a fox beacon for a Fox Hunt.
For one amazing example of how one ham used a Stamp controller
to keep an eye on his house while he was at work,
see http://www.icircuits.com/dats/qth.htm
For a list of Stamp applications, see
http://www.hth.com/filelibrary/txtfiles/losa.txt
and for a Stamp FAQ see
http://www.al-williams.com/wd5gnr/stampfaq.htm
You can find out more about the Atlanta Hobby Robot
Club at http://www.botlanta.org/
73,
Penn
K4PE
President of the Atlanta Radio Club
--
Penn McClatchey, pmm@saf.com
Buy aluminum sheet and extrusions on-line at http://www.saf.com
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