In addition there are some manufacturers that sell very low cost development
> kits - not free I know, but by my reckoning they must be below or near the
> actual production cost. For example, recently I've been working with this:
>
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Much
> more fun that bare components for the lazy people amongst us (me for
> example) - and only $49. I seem to remember my STK500 also was only ?40
> when I purchased it some years ago, and this came with several AVR micros
> included.
I just got one of those board from Circuit Cellar for an upcoming contest. I have to say I'm pretty impressed with the board and their software.
And (to the OP), circuit cellar
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is a great magazine. There are lots of projects other people have done for you to read about, and they occasionally do contests. Usually when they announce a contest, they will have a limited number of development kits or chip samples to go along with it.
I'd highly recommend a subscription! (And no, I'm not affiliated with them in any way, but I did get a "Distinctive Excellence" award from one of their contests....)
ttyl,
--buddy
Regards,
> Richard.
> +
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> +
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> for Cortex-M3, ARM7, ARM9, HCS12, H8S, MSP430
> Microblaze, Coldfire, AVR, x86, 8051 & PIC18 * * * *