Hello Paul

Well it sounds like I am not the only person getting lost as soon
as you
start using computer terms and acronyms. A picaxe is something I
use on
the farm to clear bush with, for instance.

I bought your cooling book, and it would be so nice if you, or your
helper, skivvy, or whoever, could write a "how to" manual to do this
picaxe stuff. I understand the thinking behind the system and think
it
will be wonderful in it's simplicity, but I know diddly squat about
the
tech stuff you discuss. A note or article with: ----no. 1: Go buy
this and
that at such a store----no.2: Do this and that to such and so------ I
think you get the idea.

I realise you are a very busy man, but you are also a lot more
clever than
the majority of us (me, anyway), and we (I) would also like to
participate
in implementing all the wonderful ideas.

Thanks for all the god work and ideas.

Erik Snyman
Messina
South Africa.


Google is your best friend.
Well several companies have expressed an interest in selling a kit
so be patient. We should nail down a kit in a couple of months.

In the mean time automotive pumps, pressure regulators and
injectors should
all be available in SA as EFI is universally used on cars world wide.

No PicAXE distributer in SA yet but if you can do biz in the UK or
Australia
there are several options. Which do you prefer?

http://www.tech-supplies.co.uk/
http://www.rapidonline.com/
http://www.microzed.com.au/

I am sure http://www.digikey.com/ has the rest of the parts needed
and ships world wide. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digi-Key

Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.

I would like to help in any way I can with computer and or programming
issues, including
individualized help with BASIC or the C language. These are the two
most
suitable
languages for the project, in my opinion.

If you are not interested in learning a programming language, you
can stop
reading this now.

My bias is for the C language. Lots of engineers like BASIC, but
professional
programmers, including me, much prefer C. In an effort to avoid a
language
war,
I won't go into why. Suffice it to say that either BASIC or C is
suitable.

CAUTION: if you wish to learn C, do not buy a PICAXE setup. You will
need
a PIC setup instead. See below for what to get, and where to get it.
I do
not
sell any of this myself, all I offer is advice. All the sensors and
other
devices
will work with either language. (The advice is probably not worth
any more
than
what you paid for it.)

As a teacher of programming languages, it is my belief that both
languages
are
about equal in ease of learning, provided an integrated development
environment is
available. (I have taught both as well as FORTRAN and others.) An
integrated
development environment is a great productivity tool.
For the a student it is almost a must, as it takes most of the
complexity
out
of the development cycle. The development cycle becomes: edit, press a
couple
of buttons, and presto! it runs. Or not. Depending on the
correctness of
the code. Usually not. As you are probably aware, computer problems
are called bugs. This goes back to the first (or at least one of the
first)
electronic
(vacuum tube) computers. The one in question was at the Los Alamos
Scientific
Laboratory. The computer stopped working one day. Eventually the
problem
was found: a moth was stuck in the circuitry! Thus the first bug was
actually a bug!
This is where a debugger comes in. A debugger is used to find out
what is
going
wrong. It allows you to look inside the micro controller, at the
value of
variables,
and to follow the logic of the code step by step. It is basically a
window
into the
micro controller that allows you to see what is going on.

In the Computing Science community it is generally considered
harmful to use
the GOTO statement in non-trivial programs. If you choose to learn
or write
in BASIC, I hope you have or get a BASIC version that allows you to
avoid using the GOTO statement.

Avoiding the GOTO is done by using one of a number of other
constructs,
e.g.,
for, while, if-then-else, etc. I offer the following experience as an
argument:
A long time ago I was teaching C, among other courses, at a community
college
in the evening. At the time I was working for Bell Labs, and this was
a give-back to the community as the pay was lousy. One of my
students did
not
believe me when I told him that I thought he would be unable to
complete his
term
project (50% of the total grade) since he was using GOTOs. Since the
project
program had several hundred lines of code in it and he did not want
to do
the
extensive changes needed, he chose to continue to attempt to get it to
run correctly while still using the GOTO statements. Just one more
little
change ...
Unfortunately, he failed to get it running by the end of the term; I
offered
to give him
6 months to finish it, but he never did. I guess his ego got in the
way and
was unable
to admit that the general consensus of the community is correct:
GOTOs ARE
BAD.

For those who would like to try the C language, there are a number of
possibilities.
What follows is what I did; you do not have to do the same things.

I bought a PICkit 2 Debug Express from www.microchip.com, the
manufacturer
of PIC microcontrollers. If you decide to go this route be sure to
get the
Debug Express version with the PIC16F887, #DV164121. There are a
variety
of other PICkit 2 versions. Find it at http://
www.microchipdirect.com/ and
search
for DV164121.  This under $50 package includes a very capable
PIC16F887
microcontroller on a demo board, an integrated development
environment, a
CCS
C compiler for the PIC 16F887, a programmer and an in-circuit
debugger. A
number
of free software packages are also available, plus a great many
helpful
documents.
This package only runs under Windows. I have used this package for
several
months
now, and I can find no fault with it. I am really impressed with the C
compiler
optimization and integration.  The development cycle is so quick, I
had
trouble
believing it at first-I thought it was operating in interpretive
mode, but
it wasn't. This
package includes both C and assembly (not recommended)  tools and
tutorials.
Three C compilers. When I bought mine, I got only the CCS compiler.
You will need a C language textbook. That's it: a complete package,
although
the
prototyping area is small. No power supply is needed as the demo
board runs
off
the USB power. Plug it in and go. The whole thing fits in the palm
of your
hand.
You can be running the demo programs or writing your own programming
in 5 \
minutes after you install the software. You can learn the whole C
language,
or
at least the parts you will need with just this package.

The following hardware will work with either PICAXE/BASIC  or PIC/C.
For more the more ambitious or after you run out of room on the
prototype
area,
I would recommend a Jameco www.jameco.com solderless breadboard. (I
like
Jameco because if they have what you want it is usually lower in
price than
the big
distributors, their catalog is much smaller, and thus easier to find
stuff.)
A solderless
breadboard allows you to mount & connect components simply by poking
the
stripped end of a wire into a hole. NO SOLDERING! I bought a Jameco
#136901 for $22.89 which is near the top of the line for an unpowered
breadboard.
Get the wire kit (# 19290, $16.59) too, or a spool of wire
($6.59/100ft.).
The kit is
nice because it has a variety of lengths pre-stripped and bent. If
you get
the bulk
wire, you will need a wire stripper for 22ga. wire. Jameco has a
minimum
electronics
tool kit #119183, $21.95 that will get you started. It includes a wire
stripper :) Probably
not a good idea if you already have a variety of hand tools. Small
is good
in
electronics. You will also need a power supply of some kind. The
PICAXE and
PIC 16F887 are micropower, so you could get away with a 4.5V battery
pack
for a while, but I think a wall transformer power supply and a 5V
voltage
regulator
will be more useful in the long run. The regulator is available from
http://world-educational-services.net/ #ET-LM2575-5 for $3.50.
This regulator accepts anywhere from 7V to 40V input, is high
efficiency,
and can be used in the airplane. Any wall transformer type of DC power
supply providing a voltage in this range would be OK. I use a 9V one
I found
in my
junk box. (I save all the power supplies of equipment that is no
longer
useful.)
Contact me for pictures and instructions on hooking it up (email
address
at the end of this email). I cut the connector off and used the bare
wires
to connect
to the solderless breadboard, but if you prefer, you can get a
suitable
power
connector from Jameco. USE A VOLTMETER when hooking up the power!
Reversed power will probably ruin any integrated circuits (ICs) that
are
connected.
Before installing any ICs on the breadboard, install all of the power
components
and make sure the +5V is +, not -, and the regulator is working
correctly.
If you
do not have a voltmeter, you will definitely need one BEFORE
starting to
work
on circuitry. You will need one to work on the electrics in the
airplane
too.

If you wish to learn to program and would like my help please email me
directly.
My email address is ddcuster<symbol at>wmv-co.us. I have disguised
the email
address so programs that scan the web looking for email addresses
won't
recognize
it as an email address. Replace <symbol at> with @.

BASIC can be made to work just as well as C, if you have the right
BASIC
setup.
Just a matter of personal preference, mostly.

Aircraft are electrically noisy, and can become very noisy when a wire
breaks or
some other failure happens. So, I will be developing some electronic
signal
conditioning circuits to deal with this noise. These I will make
available to anyone who desires them. Most of these employ a low pass
filter.
Microchip provides a design aid (software, free) for active filters.

Good luck with whichever path you choose!

Doc Custer
Retired Software Engineer and sometime Audiologist


All good advice. However I disagree on C.
C is a very terse, cryptic and at the same time verbose language.

Example:
main()
{
unsigned paddr,pdata;

LOOP:
printf("Input port address (hex): ");
scanf("%x",&paddr);
pdata = inp(paddr);
printf("Port(%xh) = %xh\n",paddr,pdata);

goto LOOP;
return 0;
}

See the attached  PicAXE BASIC examples
In fact these four examples are about all you need.
PicAXE BASIC is specifically designed for electromechanical devices.

We already have a C based free EFI system called Megasquirt.
Google it and read the source code.

I rest my case as I do not want to turn this into a C verses
BASIC argument.

Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.

The only thing I understood in the above is that Paul and Doc know
what they are talking about and I have not got a clue.  This is going
to be interesting.   I just bought a PC with XP which considering my
antipathy for MicroSoft is a hugh compromise and I ordered a small
pile of books on Basic.  Thanks Doc for  your offer to help. I am sure
I will be calling.       Jerry

Doc's point is quite valid, despite being dismissed.  the "goto" stmt is
very powerful in that it allows program control to go anywhere it is told.
structured programming techniques were created to add inherent level of
control, as well as maintainability, critical as programs get more complex.
the overall workings and limits of the system being modelled are represented
in the structure as well as in the code. an analogy- a field full of random
auto assembly workers.  to build a car each worker tells you who to see
next.   structured code would represent a normal assembly line.  the nature
of car building is also in the moving line.  welding gets done before
painting, the dash goes in before the seats, etc...  it is easy to see how
the assembly line is less likely to allow mistakes.
  this application may turn out to be so simple that either method is
managable.  i can see however options such as data capturing adding
questions to the data reliability in a non-structured program environment.
structured programming techniques can also be applied, or mocked, if
desired.
   kevin, once a programmer at McDonnell-Douglas (and fixed a lot of
engineer's code)



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