80C251 FAQ
How much Faster is the 80C251 than the 8051?
As claimed by Intel, cycle per cycle, the 80C251 is between 10-15 times faster than standard 8051s. We have run several tests that verify that, even on some math executions this can go as 30 times faster.
We have also concluded that cycle per cycle, the 80C251 is faster that the so called "fast" 8051 microcontrollers from Dallas Semiconductors.

S100 FAQ
Which of the 17 I/O lines on the S100 are available?
All of the 8 I/O lines from ports P1,  and 1 from port P2, being P2.7. All of the 8 I/O lines from ports P3 can also be used, but 3 of them have some restrictions: P3.0(RXD), P3.1(TXD)  are the serial port lines, but if the serial port is not being used, they can be used for anything else. P3.6(/WR) is the write signal, if no data is ever going to be written to memory then it can also be used for anything else.



General FAQ

What's a microcontroller board?
Microcontroller(uC) boards are small computers that with the software that we provide, can be programmed in assembly, SmallC or SBasic. They have I/O pins that with just a few interface components, can be connected to non-TTL devices, such as motors, solenoids, relays, and other high current/voltage devices.
This is ONLY one example of the thousands of applications possible with a microcontroller.

Can I directly drive a DC motor with any of your Boards?
Our Microcontroller boards and the PC ISA expansion board can't directly drive a motor, this can only be achived by an interface IC such as the popular L293D or a driver board such as our D100.

The microcontroller(uC) board can be either a T1, S100, MC200, P500 or an F100.

The main power supply: 7 to 25 volts, the 5V supply for the uC and D100 boards: a 5V regulator IC(a $0.65 part).

With the software that we provide, the user creates a program on a PC computer and uploads the program through the RS-232 serial port to the uC board. In most applications, programs are designed to send control signals to its I/O lines, in this case directed to the D100 board and steering servo motor, this in reaction to the sensor inputs, which come in through its I/O lines also. The sensors are not shown, but these can be: mechanical bump switches, infrared sensors, sonar sensors, hall effect sensors, temperature sensors... etc.

In this robotic example application, a D100 is used as an interface between the uC board and the motor, if low current motors such a 1A or less are to be used, the interface between the uC board and the motor can be an L293 IC, or any other type of interface.

If needed, other things can be also connected to the uC's I/O lines, such as: LCD displays or keypads, which by the way, these kind of items don't require an interface between them and the uC board, they can be directly connected to the uC's I/O lines.

The applications are endless: autonomous robots, line following robots, fighting robots, alarms, temperature monitors, signal generators, test equipment, data loggers, cooling fan control, tank style motor control, CNC control, X-Y-Z table positioning... etc.

Ordering FAQ
If I order any product using the "shopping cart", that means it is not as secured, as if I order from the "secured order full list page"?
They are both the same, the difference is that in the shopping cart, the security doesn't start untill you click the "check out" button, that's when you'll be asked for all the critical information, when finished, this information will be ENCRYPTED and ONLY SAVED in our server.

How much does it cost for international shipping?
International shipping is $13.00 to most countries.