Getting started with CPLDs
Just like playing with micros I wanted to get my hands on and play with come CPLDs so I went hunting around for some tutorials. The one I settled on to start with was this one. It uses a CPLD from the Altera MAX II family. The chip itself is not overly important but the branding on the chip is - as this is basically an exercise in learning how to use a the associated vendors software. I found the same boards used in the tutorial here, ordered and waited for delivery.
Once the boards turned up I opened one up and noticed that the board was not very clean. There was a lot of extra flux and other gunk on the board. It worked - it just wasn't clean, so I thought I'd have go at cleaning it.
After googling around I found a lot of people using a lot of different ways of cleaning their boards. At lot of people talked about just washing it with some warm soapy water, or even putting it through the dishwasher. I found this completely weird, I've never thought water and electronics should mix. Given these boards were so cheap though I thought it would be better to try it with one of these cheap dev boards and kill them than try it for the first time with something else.
So I washed it with some warm soapy water and a toothbrush, and it came up really well. To make sure it dried out properly I thought I'd put it in the over for a minute. The oven was off - after just having cooked lunch. The board was in there for 5 minutes max - this being the result:
The board was dry, but notice the melted power connector and power button below it! I hooked up my bench supply and shorted the switch and the board still worked! So I headed down to my local Jaycar store, but unfortunately they had no stock of the DC barrel jacks or the non-momentary switches in the foot print I needed. So I headed home and got on eBay and ordered some replacements. While a lot cheaper, I also then had to wait another couple of weeks for the bits to arrive from overseas. In the meantime I carefully removed the broken components:
The parts finally arrived (I also finally got the lamp for the bench that I'd been chasing):
Now that the board was clean (and complete) I cracked on with the Hackshed tutorials. Starting with the "Hello world!" of electronics - blinking an LED:
The tutorials are a great way to get up and running with the Altera software very quickly. I wouldn't say the software is complicated - its just not very intuitive for someone who has't used it before. Bil Herd over at Hack a Day has started a series on Programable Logic which is also well worth checking out (and not just because it's Bil Herd doing it).
As Bil would say "Keep Hacking!".
Once the boards turned up I opened one up and noticed that the board was not very clean. There was a lot of extra flux and other gunk on the board. It worked - it just wasn't clean, so I thought I'd have go at cleaning it.
After googling around I found a lot of people using a lot of different ways of cleaning their boards. At lot of people talked about just washing it with some warm soapy water, or even putting it through the dishwasher. I found this completely weird, I've never thought water and electronics should mix. Given these boards were so cheap though I thought it would be better to try it with one of these cheap dev boards and kill them than try it for the first time with something else.
So I washed it with some warm soapy water and a toothbrush, and it came up really well. To make sure it dried out properly I thought I'd put it in the over for a minute. The oven was off - after just having cooked lunch. The board was in there for 5 minutes max - this being the result:
The board was dry, but notice the melted power connector and power button below it! I hooked up my bench supply and shorted the switch and the board still worked! So I headed down to my local Jaycar store, but unfortunately they had no stock of the DC barrel jacks or the non-momentary switches in the foot print I needed. So I headed home and got on eBay and ordered some replacements. While a lot cheaper, I also then had to wait another couple of weeks for the bits to arrive from overseas. In the meantime I carefully removed the broken components:
The parts finally arrived (I also finally got the lamp for the bench that I'd been chasing):
Now that the board was clean (and complete) I cracked on with the Hackshed tutorials. Starting with the "Hello world!" of electronics - blinking an LED:
The tutorials are a great way to get up and running with the Altera software very quickly. I wouldn't say the software is complicated - its just not very intuitive for someone who has't used it before. Bil Herd over at Hack a Day has started a series on Programable Logic which is also well worth checking out (and not just because it's Bil Herd doing it).
As Bil would say "Keep Hacking!".
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