Connect One Ethernet shield

[dhouston]

Am I right in that you have the SPI pins on the ConnectOne module connected to the MSSP module on the AMICUS18 so that it can use that interface instead of the bit-banged serial? Never having used the device in question I don't know exactly how much information needs to passed betwteen the module and the microcontroler but bit-banged serial isn't directly fast. I'm guessing it's not that much since any web-content doesn't have to pass "thru" the PIC.

I could have done a little better job of addressing this. Perhaps, not for Henrik who, I think, understands, but for others who might be lurking (maybe even Darrel's brothers Darrell and Larry). To take the nano Socket iWiFi as an example, its SPI, USB & RMII pins are available to the user but only in the octagonal pads adjacent to the socket into which the module is plugged. The user can add wires and route them to the card edges where the pins of the system bus (for lack of a better term) are available. Since I was trying for a universal design in keeping with the phrugality philosophy of the Xino cards, it did not make sense to connect features that might not exist in the 18 pin PICAXE. And, the information that needs to pass between the MCU and ethernet module is much less than is needed with the SPI and registers approach of other shields and ethernet<=>serial adapters. Bruce has posted that DEBUG works up to 115200 for him and that's much faster than we might need here. The Tibbo module requires even less traffic between it and the MCU as it does even more with less input.

As for the disclaimer. ... If these shields can be used with other devices programmed in whatever language that's great but I think we should try keeping it on topic which is MELABS PBP, not ZBasic, BasicX, PICAXE, PROTON, MikroBASIC, C or anything else.

I've tried to keep with the spirit of that but it is easy to stray given the history of my involvement with the topic. I only started with shields in the past week or so but I had designed a much larger project just over three years ago that was to have used the Tibbo EM202. When it was suddenly withdrawn, I was stuck with about 100 nearly fully assembled PCBs. I learned much of what I know about the other ethernet<=>serial adapters because I was desperately searching for a way to salvage a few thousand dollars in inventory and labor. None was suitable with all requiring Goldbergian methods to fit them into my enclosure and connect them to existing pads. I finally gave up. I had major health issues that also intervened. When Tibbo finally released the EM500 (which they had promised me would be a matter of weeks) two years later, my interest was revived but I wanted to wait until they released the firmware to allow it to support the GA1000. And I am still leery of ordering newly designed boards before I can thoroughly test the combination. The whole concept behind the shields caught my attention because it allowed a way to test "subsystems" without the cost of building the full system. My Tibbo shield will allow me to do this with the side effect of giving all of the Amicus18, Arduino, et al another useful shield designed to be easily assembled.

The PCB below is most definitely "off topic" but it should give everyone an idea of why I want to be able to use the shields as platforms for rapid development and testing. It is my redesigned PCB for my 3 year old project. It is also why I find the idea of doing it or similar projects on a more modular basis with multiple shields attractive. Developing a new shield that used a different ethernet<=>serial module would have been much easier than trying to shoehorn one into the existing, more complex design. Right now, I'm undecided between using the board below and designing 4-5 shield to duplicate its functions.