Jan,


The kit actually uses a real Intel 8052AH-BASIC v1.1, straight from 1985. All I need to do is power it up without the extension EPROM that contains the programmer code, and I have a development system. I'd just have to map out the pins that are used to apply the various programming voltages to the ZIF socket and make sure I don't do anything damaging with them. Since the rest of the address space is fully decoded, and there's no expansion header on the board, that wouldn't leave me with any pins to play with, unless I wanted to make a daughter board that turned a 8255/CPLD/plain-old-latch into something that looked like a 6264 RAM chip. I could also just stuff the 8052-BASIC chip in my protoboard and forget about the EPROM programmer, but I want to finish it. There's useful stuff to learn in there, and I'll have a tool to put on the shelf when I'm done. (For those interested - This kit was detailed "Circuit Cellar" in Byte Magazine way back in 1985.)

I was actually wondering if I could make a daughter card that would allow this thing to program the older parallel programmed flash MCU's, but that's another discussion entirely.

Anyhow... The goal was to open up my ability to start expermenting with MCU's again. I wasn't particularly attached to the idea of developing in BASIC, I just though it would be an easy way to program EPROM's, and resume where I left off. I've never compiled a C or other high level language program and run it on an MCU. When I put these things away, that ability was beyond my means. Things have changed.

I downloaded FLIP. MAX232 & related bits are on order... I do have some 1488's and 1489's here in the junk box... I guess I'll have to use my wife's PC when she's not looking. ;)