help: Choosing a MicroController (HAM radio) and some other

[Jim Granville]

Ian Bell wrote:

I really need to make sure that I chose a reliable microcontroller that
I would be happy with. I would like to look at all possible
uC's available with regard to the above criteria.

Help would be highly appreciated.
Renjith


I would recommend the 8051 and its variants. Philips make a good range with
various sizes of code and data spaces and all have ISP. There are many free
simulators available and many of the major IDE vendors have evaluation
versions with a 2K or 4K code limit to get you going in C. For bigger
programs you can use the free C compiler SDCC.

Ian

Of the 80C51 variants, the easiest to get going, because it includes
On-Chip debug, is the SiLabs C8051F family. These also have low cost
eval PCBs, so if you want to skip PCB layout, sub $30 gets you
the 064 Eval kit, with dual USB links, one for data, one for debug.
For small volume usage, they have one device in DIP20, but they
do not target that sector.
Others with on-chip debuggers are Winbond, and ST's new uPSD3400
series have a lot of resource.
-jg