adapter to fit on a breadboard

[RChapman]

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Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2005 10:56 pm    

Hi, I am thinking of getting a hcs12 to play around with. I want to use it on a breadboard but i dont see any hcs12 that would fit. I'm not sure if i got this right but if i want to work with it on a breadboard, so it needs to be in dip form factor and most of these things are qfp. So i need a adapter and is this what i am looking for (http://www.accutekmicro.com/pdf/64_84_Pin_Dip_Adapters.pdf)? What about for ones with more pins like 112 lqfp ones? And finally where can i get all this stuff for cheap.

Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 1:41 pm    

You can easily get samples of HCS12 parts "free of charge" from the Freescsale website. The problem is, however, with the socket suppliers - they are not cheap and not available free of charge !!!!!!

For high pin-count QFP adaptors I would suggest you check out www.qfp-adapter.com. They offer ZIF socket-to-PGA for 112 pins but come wth a price tag @@@@@@ $245.00 to be precise !!!!!!!! This baby is a hinge-lid ZIF QFP socket and a PGA plug. The PGA pins are replaceable without soldering and a few spare PGA pins are supplied with the adapter which can be used on a breadboard.

Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 4:59 pm    

A cheaper way to do it is to buy one of the dip modules from someone like tecnological arts, have a look in the "web links" section. I think they cost about $50. Still a bit expensive. There must be someone out there who sells just the simple pcb, if not I think I will do it.

Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2005 2:01 am    

I dont quite understand why these adapters are so expensive. I came across this http://www.omega-research.co.uk/prototyping_adapter_qfp144sa.html for adapter and it seems pretty cheap, $20 dollars or so but would it work? The dip modules would be a good backup plan. But I want to actaully build and connect everything myself.

About samples ... do they give them out to hobbyist? Because i'm just a poor student looking for something to learn. Can I just register for samples?

Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2005 1:12 pm    

Yes, the online samples are for everyone.

Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2005 1:17 pm    

By the way this thing http://www.omega-research.co.uk/prototyping_adapter_qfp144sa.html looks great. The only thing to watch out for would be the crystal circuitry which neeads careful layout. It may be tricky with this but the alternative would be to drive with a can osc.

Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2005 7:49 am    

One more thing you must have is a hardware interface to connect the HCS12 device to the PC running CodeWarrior. This last one is the Metrowerks IDE free of charge but limited to 32k of C code that will permit you to edit, compile and debug code for HC(S)12 devices.
SofTec Microsystems offers for just $99 PK-HCS12E128 a Starter Kit for Freescale MC9S12E128 (same thing is available for MC9S12C32). This kit consists on a board with a target device already soldered and a USB2BDM interface for programming and debugging features. Use the following link to get more info:
http://www.softecmicro.com/products.html?type=detail&title=PK-HCS12E128

Regards,

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 3:25 am    

can i use a MAX232 connected to the SCI thing and then a serial cable to the MAX232? I've only used a hc11 before so i'm not sure how different this is.

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 8:24 am    

No, debugging on the S12 is totally different and much better, you debug via a special 1 pin interface at high speed called the BDM (background debug mode) interface. The downside is you need a special tool, that normally costs about $100 (it is built into the softec tools for $50). However you can also build the i/f for sub $10. We have designed one and the schematics are available on this site and we have aPCB for sale if you want one. It is called TBDML.

Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2005 5:47 am    

so the FDE tool is for debuging, but can i use the hcs12 without it? I want to keep the cost down as much as possible. Can i use the hcs12 like a hc11 and use the debugging feature in the future?

Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2005 9:45 am    

Well actually it's the TBDML which is the debugging part, which is really cheap to build, the only part you need to buy is the PCB since you can get the other components for free (plus some cheap descretes).

To do debugging on an S12 the way it is done on an HC11 is possible, you can get a monitor program which when programmed into the S12 alows debugging. But the problem is, how do you get the monitor program into the S12 if you don't have a programmer.

So in summary, the cheapest, simplest and by far the best way is to debug/prog using the BDM, so bite the bullit and build a TBDML.