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68HC11: FOX11^TM Trainer

Many colleges require students to buy their own trainers, so students can work off-campus and school is not responsible for the maintenance of the trainers. In addition, this reduces lab manager's workload. It's a great idea, but the only problem is the cost because students first have to buy textbooks before buying trainers. Our EVBplus2 board is popular in many universities around the world, but some professors would like to have a lower cost board available before making their students to buy their own trainers. That's the reason the FOX11 was created.

The FOX11 board combines and caters to many professors' ideas and suggestions, so it easily meets or exceeds the requirements of their courses and lab assignments. We have chosen one board approach instead of a modular approach for reliability and low cost. Although modular approach has its own merits, it is more suitable for extracurricular activities by more experienced users who have more trouble-shooting ability, such as a robot application.

The goal of the FOX11 trainer is to cover 5 most important hardware elements in the 68HC11 for educational purpose and also keep it affordable.

The 5 components namely SCI, SPI, Timer, ADC and external memory interface that are very important subjects for students to learn are all covered by our FOX11 board.

On our FOX11 board, it has: 

1. Two RS232 ports with independent baud rates, one is for development work, the other one is for user SCI application.
2. A SPI header for communicating your external SPI device, such as LED, LCD, relay and I/O expansion boards.
3. Eight LED indicators can be used for monitoring pulses that are generated by timers. An on-board speaker can produce music or other waveforms via timer system.
4. A potentiometer can be used to adjust input voltage of an Analog to Digital Converter channel.
5. A 40 pin female socket provides all address, data and control signals for connecting external memory or I/O devices to learn 68HC11 memory interface in expanded mode.  This is a very important fundamental subject where the 68HC11 shines comparing to other microcontrollers.  A female socket is easier than a male header for student connect signals to an external memory or I/O chip on the breadboard via jumper wires.

There is no such 68HC11 trainer with above features and also has 32K RAM, 32K EEPROM, 32K EPROM,  a16x2 LCD display module, a 4x4 keypad and a large solderless breadboard for $124.00 on the market today.  The hardware is only a part of system.

The FOX11 board comes with 2 built-in monitors for different teaching methods. They are all pre-installed in an on-chip EPROM. The BUFFALO monitor is the default monitor, meaning the board will start up with BUFFALO monitor. In BUFFALO monitor mode, a professor does not have to change his teaching materials and lab assignments. It works just like a regular Motorola EVB/EVBU board but with more on-board peripherals. In Wytec Monitor mode, it will allow symbolic debugging, data watch, and many unique features that will surprise you.

FOX11 Features

• Includes 6 foot DB9 RS232 cable for connecting to PC serial port
• Includes AC adapter to power the board (US and Canadian orders)
• Installed with BUFFALO 4.01 monitor. This allows professors to avoid changing teaching material if using the board in BUFFALO monitor mode, since all programs for EVB/EVBU/EVBU2 boards can run with identical memory maps
• Auto-start user application program from on-board EEPROM via a jumper change
• Two RS232 ports with independent baud rates. PC communication uses external UART and 68HC11's SCI is dedicated to user's application program, including wireless communication
• PORT B and PORT C replacement
• Eight LEDs connected to port B
• An 8 position DIP switch connected to port C
• A 16 pin connector for a LCD display module of any size
• A 4 X 4 keypad header
• A 10-pin SPI port
• A 26-pin header for connecting the 68HC11's port A, D and E to user's external circuits
• 40 pin Motorola EVM compatible bus signal female socket connector provides data, address and control signals for external device interface
• 60 pin EVB/EVBU/EVBU2 compatible female socket connector provides 68HC11 ports A,B,C,D and E for fast prototyping with on-board solderless breadboard
• Two push button switches connected to PC0 and PC1, a third is connected to PA0
• On-board speaker for music applications
• On-board potentiometer trimmer pot for analog input
• Two robot servo outputs
• Logic probe with LED indicator
• Large ground test point
• Large solderless breadboard
• Students can add application circuits without buying add-on boards. Underneath the solderless breadboard, footprints are provided for:
• DS1302 real time clock
• DS1602 temperature controller
• L293D motor controller
• DPDT form C relay output
• RS485 communication port with 2 RJ12 jacks for daisy chain
• RF transceiver
• 60-pin user programmable header
• Package also includes useful software:
• Fully debugged 68HC11 program examples including source code
• 68HC11 test program that simultaneously scans keypad, plays a song, makes a LED chaser from PB0-PB7 LEDs, changes LED brightness by adjusting trimmer pot
• Eric Engler's Windows IDE software with the Motorola free assembler
• PC board size: 7" x 5.9" (178mm x 150mm)

If you are not a student, you should understand that $144.00 is still a much better value comparing to other boards on the market today. The best price you can get a board that has 2 RS232 ports from other manufacturers is $190.00. When you pay $144.00 you actually support us to provide discount for educational purpose, a very good cause.

The price includes 32K RAM, 32K EPROM, 32K EEPROM, a large solderless breadboard, a 6 foot RS232 cable, a CD and a 110V AC adapter ( US, Mexico and Canada orders only)

LCDKP kit for the FOX11

With a 4x4 keypad and a 16x2 LCD display module, the FOX11 board is a complete development system at a very reasonable price. It is only possible because it is made by Wytec, a company known for making quality products at low prices.