Re: FPGA Journal Article

Kevin Morris wrote:

> My theory is that electronics as a hobby went through a "dark age"
> period, maybe from the early/mid 1970s until recently becuase of the
inaccessibility
> and cost of designing with state-of-the-art technology.

I think it is not true. Hobbyists do not need state-of-the-art technology,
they need satisfaction -- this is the key difference compared to
professional
electronics. For one person a simple LED blinker is perfectly enough,
somebody else is happy when his three transistor AM radio is working,
there also are hobbyists doing DSP using FPGAs just for fun.

The next problem is related with the lack of appropriate technologies.
SMD parts were useless, because we didn't know how to produce
good enough single layer PCBs at home, not to mention double layer
boards. Now we have two competitive technologies (optical, based on
photoactive resins and the second one, called "thermotransfer", which
directly transfers the pattern from a *** of paper printed by a laser
printer onto the copper surface using a flatiron and two rags). We've
even learned how to make precise two-sided PCBs using that technologies.
Now the SMD components in TQFP/SO/TSSOP are no longer a
problem. But we still don't know how to solder BGAs and QFNs...

> Radio Shack shifted their focus from 50-in-1 project kits

I think that kits are a big misunderstanding, because you just need to
connect provided parts as described on a provided diagram. Even
a chimp could do it. The trick is to design the device yourself, from
scratch. It needn't be perfect, it sometimes produces smoke, but it's
_yours_.

> (as often evidenced in this group).

Hmm, really? ;-) As far as I know the only "pure" hobbyists
here are Antti and myself, the rest is more or less professional.

> I know, Austin will probably post a strong technical argument that
> Xilinx FPGAs are uniquely attractive to the hobbyist

Hard to obtain in small quantities...

> and Actel and Lattice people will post just to remind us
> that they have low-cost kits too

But they do not provide free simulators, so they are virtually useless for
hobbyists.

> but I'm primarily interested in some info from real, live, "working"
hobbyists.

Well, I hope it's useful... . :-)

Best regards
Piotr Wyderski

--
"If you were plowing a field, which would you rather use?
Two strong oxen or 1024 chickens?" -- Seymour Cray

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