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PICAXE 20M2 Microcontroller (20 pin)
This is the PICAXE-20M2 microcontroller chip.
PICAXE is a neat entry-level microcontroller system that is relatively cheap to get started with. The chip is programmed with a simple serial connection and the BASIC development environment is free! PICAXE has some excellent educational applications and support, and is a great entryway into more complicated embedded systems. If you're looking for a place to start with microcontrollers, PICAXE is a great way to go!
PICAXE 20M2 Microcontroller (20 pin) Product Help and Resources
Core Skill: Soldering
This skill defines how difficult the soldering is on a particular product. It might be a couple simple solder joints, or require special reflow tools.
Skill Level: Rookie - The number of pins increases, and you will have to determine polarity of components and some of the components might be a bit trickier or close together. You might need solder wick or flux.
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Core Skill: Programming
If a board needs code or communicates somehow, you're going to need to know how to program or interface with it. The programming skill is all about communication and code.
Skill Level: Competent - The toolchain for programming is a bit more complex and will examples may not be explicitly provided for you. You will be required to have a fundamental knowledge of programming and be required to provide your own code. You may need to modify existing libraries or code to work with your specific hardware. Sensor and hardware interfaces will be SPI or I2C.
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Core Skill: Electrical Prototyping
If it requires power, you need to know how much, what all the pins do, and how to hook it up. You may need to reference datasheets, schematics, and know the ins and outs of electronics.
Skill Level: Competent - You will be required to reference a datasheet or schematic to know how to use a component. Your knowledge of a datasheet will only require basic features like power requirements, pinouts, or communications type. Also, you may need a power supply that?s greater than 12V or more than 1A worth of current.
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Comments
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Customer Reviews
2 out of 5
Based on 2 ratings:
Price
I'm assuming that because the PICAXE is loosing ground to the Raspberry Pi computer; that this would be the reason for pushing up the price of the PICAXE.
It doesn't appear that this product has had any changes made to it in a number of years. I don't believe the price has been modified from the records I am seeing. Thanks
Was broken when I got it
I just got the chip Yesterday, when I put the chip in the board it didn't work. Very dissatisfied
There are times when I do not order from Sparkfun because they don't stock the 20x2. Instead I order from Solarbotics because they do carry it and I don't really care to pay extra for shipping if I don't have to. So I bundle up an order to hit the $100 minimum for Solarbotics. Those are orders I would be sending to Sparkfun because I like your overall selection better.
If you want to do any serial work, the 20x2 is far better with a 128 character buffer. the 20x2 also incorporates the owin and owout commands if you want to do something besides measure temperature with 1-wire devices.
It would be awesome if PICAXE would just combine the two into a single device that has all the advantages of both the x2 and the m2. (And then sparkfun would stock that chip) ;-) The 28x2 is that chip but at almost 2 times the price. The 20x2 is the best bargain in the picaxe line.
There's one huge advantage the 20M2 has over the 20X2....two words..."parallel tasking".
20X2 is a better chip...it should not be retired...please stock the 20X2 along with the 20M2.
where is the 20X2? It has more advnced features and program size, and you still have the outdated 28X1s and 40X1s why keep those without the current 20X2?!
Hi, just wondering if the 20X2 could be taken out of retirement-- the 20M2 is newer but the 20X2 has more program space and a faster internal clock speed, and would be more suitable for some applications. I would buy one.
We'll take a look at it, but I wouldn't hold your breath. Unfortunately, the 20X2 was simply too slow of a seller for us to keep around, which is why it got retired initially from the catalog.
bump
ETA for 20X2???