The Early Years of Sonic2k

Here's a trip down memory lane, for me at least
Experiences will be added as I find their files/remember them and make them presentable...

The Story of the Motorola HC05

In 1991, before I turned 16 I was given a security system control box removed from a vehicle. In those times, vehicles were not fitted with security systems as standard, like they are today- they were aftermarket affairs. This unit was removed from a vehicle for some unknown reason. That was my first exposure to a microcontroller...

How I learned to code, with an Intel 8031

By 1993, thanks to a school friend, I had gotten access to Elektor Electronics magazine. I had learnt by then that the MC68HC705C8 chip I played with in 1991-1992 was a microcontroller (an 8-bit computer on a chip), and not some custom made IC. Elektor, and articles published in Elektor by Dr. Martin Ohsmann showed that the Intel 8031 could be programmed easily, and without drama. And I did it, with hand coded assembler and a Sinclair ZX Spectrum!

The First Job, and the PIC

In January 1995 I started my first fulltime job between studying for my electronics qualification. At this job I was immediately exposed to what was at the time the hottest microcontroller family on the market: Microchip Technology PIC16CXX series. Around this time I also got my first computer (Windows 3.11 on a 386 DX40), and things moved on swiftly from there...