Peter Rolls wrote:
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.... I'm sure the chips that I have are not BASIC chips, so if I programme an EPROM with it then I would have a controller system programmable in BASIC.
That's my thinking thus far.
Can anyone point me in the direction of a good tutorial or article that will give me the nitty gritty details of how to put this all together. I think I know the concepts OK, but lack the background in the 8052.

thanks,

Peter Rolls


O.k., here some facts.

I played around a bit with the 8052AH basic chip some years ago. I looked it up, and on the housing is printed:

P8052AH-BASIC
VERSION 1.1

So I think IF the controllers have the internal basic than it will be explicitly printed on the chip.

I also have some old processors laying around adapted from old PC-keyboards. One of them for example is marked:

P8052AH 9700
9321

I am sure there is NO BASIC in the internal ROM !

8052AH is the original marking for the HMOS processor with internal mask ROM from Intel. There are many, many around WITHOUT the basic interpreter but with some other code in the internal ROM.

Now, you have some possibilities:

1) as you wrote you can use a 8052AH with an external eeprom with the basic in it.
Drawback: the 8052AH which is in HMOS technic draws 175 mA current. Maybe it is better to use a CHMOS version of the processor: an 80C52 which only draws 35 mA

2) With the original BASIC processor it was possible to program eeproms on-board, which is not simply possible if the BASIC interpreter is in external eprom. I think the best solution is to burn the basic interpreter in an Atmel 89C52 (processor with internal 8k flash program memory). Than you have low power consumption and even idle and power down functions which the HMOS processor did not support.

Intel never brought out the AH-basic processor in CHMOS version, only in HMOS version.

Elektor had a book describing AH-basic software and hardware, but I don't know if they still sell it.

ISBN 90-70160-53-6 (which is, I must say, the Dutch version, I think it will be out there in English too)