hey guys,
i'll start off by saying i have minimal knowledge associated with electronic projects. they did however become of interest to me when i needed a project for my yr 12 technology studies assignment. Brad, i saw ur "One Chip Spinning RGB POV Display" and thought thought that it would be a cool project to build. just wanna know peoples opinions on the experience required to carry out this project. fortunately for me, my dad has experience with this type of thing (so he can help out a bit), but i also wanna know about parts availability (in brisbane) and any other useful info before diving headfirst into this project.
thanks in advance
Mick


*Edited by Moderator (Bitfogav) brought question inline with Topic*

Hi,

I am not sure if any of the guys here have made it (besides me). It would certainly be favourable to have some experience with electronics just in case you put it all together and something isn't working correctly. Otherwise faults could be quite hard to track down. However, electronics is a fantastic hobby and sometimes it's great to jump right into the deep end to start learning.

As for parts, you can go to Jaycar for most things.

For the RGB LED's - you can get 50 of them on ebay for about $5 (or 10 of them for $3) heres the link:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/50-pcs-PLCC-6-5050-SMT-SMD-3-CHIPS-RGB-1500mcd-LED-Llight-Lamp-Red-Blue-Green-/170751444881?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item27c1944791#ht_3481wt_1180

The microcontroller you can get direct from microchip.com:
http://www.microchip.com/wwwproducts/Devices.aspx?dDocName=en010305

The one you want is the PDIP (this means it is in a package that has the legs that go through the circuit board and solder on the other side) the other versions are smaller and require a special circuit board to colder on to.
You may even be able to get a free sample from microchip (just scroll down on that page and it has the option to buy or sample - the buy button is green, the sample button is orange.)

Send me a PM with your address and I'll send you a hall effect sensor.

well my dad said that the project looked quite straight forward, so in terms of experience, i've got a safety net in case i run into problems and such. thanks for all the helpful links, there were quite a few "PDIP" versions for the microcontrollers. will any one of them do? also, what was the total rough cost for the project when u did it? when i'm certain this project will meet the assessment criteria, i'll take you up on the offer for that hall effect sensor if it's still going. one more question, is there any way of displaying a clock without constantly refreshing the image? or can't it be done?
sorry, i know i just sprayed a whole bunch of questions at you :/
Mick

Any of the PDIP versions will do. as long as it is an 18f4680 (just go for the cheapest one)
I am not too sure about the cost, since I already had all the parts I needed. I guess the microcontroller or motor would be your most expensive part at around $5 or $6.

In order to show something on the LED display, you need to be updating it all the time - you could display a clock but you just need to always send the current time data to the LED's to have it drawn.

Do you have a pickit2 programmer?

nope, i had a look on ebay and saw them for around $20-$30.
from what i've gathered, that's how you connect the display up to your computer for programming right?

Yes, it interfaces with the pic microcontroller. I have had mine for about four years and they can program hundreds of pic chips. They are great value.