All five episodes, magically being shown at Chris’s house. No commercials, Exactly as shown during world premiere in Britain.

Saturday; July 11th, 2009 Time: Based on Consensus – Put aside five hours

Non-Alcoholic beverages & really good popcorn provided.

Well, you could have a go at that bottle of Chardonnay I have, and those two little bottle of Merlot. I’m never going to drink them, but they’ll desperately need a dusting. Send an email.

“It’s like rice cakes for Doctor Who fans”

Trailer after the tuna fiss and onwion wings.. jump..

Tools and supplies, software and a lot of links, after the jump!

Okay! I assume you already have a few things already, if you’ve read this far. I assume you have a soldering iron with some practice with it, a good mini-vise (That bad boy was worth every penny!), your usual assortment of wires, sockets and protoboard, a computer with an USB outlet, and some C for microcontrollers skills- What you’ve learned with your Arduino will help you with this.

Got a cup of coffee ready? Time for some reading.

1. Firstly, You will need an AVR programmer. I use Lady Ada’s USBtinyISP. Limor makes great products, and you’re supporting the community, too. You get the kit for 22 bucks, and it’s a steal at that price. It’s easily the cheapest and best In System Programmer you can get. Buy it, build it. Love it. Make it a special bed out of a cigar box to sleep in. I did!

2. Get to know your AVR microcontrollers, and order a little sampler from Mouser, Digikey, where ever. I ordered these to start, five of each. *don’t forget crystals and sockets! read the white pages for each chip to learn more* The list went: ATtiny13, ATtiny2313, ATmega168, and ATmega48. The ATtiny13 and ATmega48’s have been replaced by newer designs, so you might get lucky and find old stock somewhere, at a really good price. Basically, I went for a variety of chips, with different capacities and pins. I would have a look at the google ads on this page, perhaps you can find a good deal on hardware.

3. Software! You need software, of course, to make it all go. I use a mac, so I installed Crosspack, formerly known as AVR macpack. It includes AVRdude (AVR Downloader/UploaDEr – Kind of a stretch, if you ask me!) good ol’ GCC, and basically everything you will need in one package. Once again, Limor has provided an excellent tutorial on using AVRdude and her programmer in general. Read, learn, love. If you’ve got a windows box, you can use Atmel’s AVRStudio software, but please read Limor’s tutorial in order to learn how to use her programmer with it. I don’t have windows, so I don’t have the experience!

4. Lastly, You’ll need to wire up target boards, to hold your microprocessors while you throw code on them. EvilMadScientist Labs makes a great target board – get the development model with the ZIF socket and don’t forget the crystals for extra fanciness! This is only for a few MCU’s that you may find yourself using often. It’s not needed, really, but hey! It really looks cool, and is very tidy and professional, and ZIF sockets are just sweet! For your target board needs, though, I would like to refer you to this article I wrote not too long ago. They work nicely for me. And at about two bucks per, very inexpensive! I’ve labeled and attached all of my target boards inside small tins for tidiness, and longevities sake.

So, there you are! You now have what you need to start throwing code on AVR microcontrollers, on the cheap.

PS. Here’s something to get you started on using GCC for AVR’s. You’ll need it! GCC Tutorial for AVR

AVR Target Board

I recently outgrew my still-loved Arduino, and desired to learn how to use AVR Microcontrollers in their intended way. So, I started assembling tools and software. I built a AVR programmer from Limor’s USBtinyISP kit, and it was easily the best choice for me. Then, I installed a bit of software, but then the big problem arose: How to interface the unique microcontrollers to this specific programmer. I found very little direction on how to complete this simple task, and I hope to fill in the blanks for you. I am assuming you know how to solder, and have some basic electronics know-how, ’cause you are playing with microcontrollers..

Parts! You need a 2 row, 6 pin connector. (Mouser Part #M22-2580305), a suitable piece of plain old protoboard, some thin gauge wire, and a IC header to fit the microcontroller you wish to use. And for God’s sake, use a marker to indicate which way is up for your chip!

So, for this simple process, you need to link six pins from your IC header to your 6 pin connector. But what goes where?! Good question! Lucky for us, there are standards. The programmer I am using is an ISP programmer, which means that each of the six pins goes to a unique pin on each microcontroller. To find out which pin does what on your microcontroller, simply obtain the white sheets on the chip. They’re on Atmel’s website. For our purposes, we’ll be using the popular ATtiny2313 microcontroller. To cut things short, have a look at the clip from the white pages for this chip.

ATtiny2313 layout

See those six items in red? They’re highlighted for a purpose. It’s because they correspond to the six pins in your 6-pin connector!  Now,  it’s  just  a matter of soldering your wire up to make a connection between the proper pins on both the header and connector. Here’s a little cheat sheet for what goes where on the connector:

6 Pin ISP connector

So, just clip some wire, and make your connections. Use a marker to remember which pin is #1! This will save you a lot of headache later.

Finally! One more step. Take a little more wire, and connect it in series with the Ground and VCC pins on your header. You need to feed your chip a little power. Personally, I leave these wires sticking up and out of the board, so I can take a 2xAA battery pack I’ve attached clips to for easy moving between target boards. And for crying out loud, use different colored wires, so you don’t mix things up.

From here, you’re all ready to go. I don’t want to rewire the same thing all the time, so I used some plastic standoffs, and glued the thing into a mint case, for safekeeping. You can even get extra fancy and use a ZIF socket. Whatever makes you happy, as long as you make those six little connections right and power your chip while programming it.

Have fun!

1. I love cigars. I love tobacco! I don’t drink alcohol, so, I guess that’s my one vice, unless I take up crack smoking, guns, or smut. So, the first thing for me to do, would be to move my 4 large “coolerdors” (Read: Cheap cigar storage) with several hundred well-aged premium cigars to something nicer. I’d want something upright, and able to display the often beautiful art in cigar boxes and bands. This would do the job nicely. Great display piece, and includes an electronic humidifier- I use one in my ‘real’ humidor and have never been let down- Sure, it was pricey, but considering that just one of the cigars in the box of 75 is worth half of that, I considered it to be a good investment. So, Upright humidor, Check! I also own the best cigar ashtray, in my opinion: The Stinky Ashtray. Of course, with all this smoke, You’re going to need something to keep things nice, and prevent smoke damage. I like this one, just on form factor & finish: Csonka Super Smoker Cloaker. Also, it would be prudent to run ozone, too. But, Lucky me, good at electronics, can build the perfect one to conceal in the right place. Also, a good table lighter would be excellent. I have antique ones, but let’s dream a little, no? This one, in any thing but black or chrome, really appeals to my steampunky kind of tastes.

2. Furniture. This is rather tough! It would be nice to have a futon for guests and laying out, but it would damage the overall antique aesthetic I’m wanting. So, perhaps a nicely done black leather sofa? Room for two to cuddle on, indeed, and leather would not hold in stale cigar odor as much, and it’s a breeze to clean. I’d also like a particular few tables: Something like this would do great for holding the small collection of Roman antiquities & coins, silver rounds and art bars, and other small, precious items (family things, you know what I mean) that I’ve collected over the years, and do hope to add to! My current display, a bell jar with a custom made metal platform, will hopefully need to be upgraded! Add to that a good coffee table, too. I would also like to set a large hunk of glass on top, to keep it clean and nice.

3. Chess. It’s no secret that I love Chess. I play, I study it, and have an average of three games going at once. (Want to play? Contact me!) Another dream is to have an heirloom quality chess set in my ‘dream den’. Something I can pass along to the younger generations, and prize. And, as a side thought, It would be nice to have a table of sorts, that I could stack multiple chess sets on, and simply slide out the one I wish to address. Anyhow, I find this one to be very striking- My favorite color of blue! It might not fit into the overall decor, but I think a little slip is okay. Of course, I could also give in to my adoration of Doctor Who and go for this bad boy.. ultra rare, and 4,500 in US dollars. And there’s a wooden TARDIS! But, that would be something more for me, and I could easily see it not lasting as an heirloom long after my passing! Crazy Uncle/Father Christopher and his Doctor Who obsession.

4. Art: I feel I’ve got this pretty well covered already. Not that there aren’t people I’d love to have pieces from, But that all comes in time. I shy away from sculpture, but I feel the right one will find me. But for painting, I’d like one of Auburn Lahoski’s new works. I went to high school with her, and have seen her work just get better and better. I do hope she gets an online portfolio going, but I assume she’s busy. Other than that, check my links for other wonderful art.

5. Entertainment. Oh, bookshelves! Several will be needed! I would like to drive back to my hometown (more than 1000, less than 2000 miles) and retrieve the books and records that I have in storage. There’s a lot, and Lori has a lot, so it’s a big undertaking But, A nice record player, with a good tube preamp would be great, with it going into the requisite sweet television and surround sound. Also, A Victrola would be an excellent addition- Unless, of course, I got a record player that could play those great old 78’s. I had one very similar demonstrated to me yesterday, and I was amazed.. the aesthetics, the totally analog approach, all of it- It was really an ingenious thing.

6. Finally, we have FOOD. I have an antique gumball machine I’ve restored, which would be nice, but I would be more inclined to fill it with seashells or marbles, because I simply can’t eat that much candy before it spoils! Or, I could fill it with cigar bands- not a bad idea. But, it would still be nice to have a small fridge, for a copious supply of Virgil’s and ginger beer. A sweet little popcorn machine would be a nice addition, But I think the espresso machine belongs in kitchen.

Wow.. now it just all seems excessive!