Re: Flash Boards

On 2/2/07, Brian Hechinger <[email protected]> wrote:
> Using a PIC chip on the programmer is certainly not a bad idea.  Also, that friend
> of mine is a huge fan of the modern z80 based stuff, which is *very* nice, and
> extremely simple to code for (there are FANTASTIC C compilers available for those
> things)

A friend of mine has been having a wonderful time with the Atmel AVR
series of microcontrollers. Some starting links:

  http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=212
  http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=avr

They're rather flexible and seem to be pretty well supported with open
software. There's software from an NTSC video generator to a full USB
protocol stack (which could be very useful for reprogramming)
available for free use. One USB stack, free for use if your software
and schematics are open, is here:

  http://www.obdev.at/products/avrusb/index.html

   -jrs

PS: While I'm at it, I'd like to mention that I'd be interested in two
flash boards myself. :)