I've been using the Great Cow Basic compiler for Microchip PICs for many years. Probably around 15 years now. I was never a heavy user and in the early days it was a bit limited and difficult to use. That was then and today it's a totally different story. There have been many great contributors to this open source compiler and the creator Hugh Considine is still behind the scenes making improvements. A new version is close to release and hopefully by the time you read this you will see an update dated with a February or March 2015 release.

The compiler has expanded to support both PIC and AVR microcontrollers. A full featured IDE is now available and works great. There have been many new commands added and improved documentation. One thing that was missing in the past was a library of sample code and now that is available too. 

Evan Venn, a top contributor, worked closely with Hugh and with some key forum members, to expand the compiler and sample code and commands to make it on par with any BASIC compiler out there. 

What I like the best is it produces a pure assembly code file. This allows me to see the core libraries and how they work. It allows me to load the assembly file into MPLAB and run debug mode or on the simulator without any special changes to the file or any special setup requirements. In fact MPLAB doesn't know a BASIC compiler created it. It thinks its a raw assembly code file.

So I suggest you give it another look. I created a separate website at greatcowbasic.com to help make it easier for a beginner to get started but I need to really update that site. The main Great Cow Basic site is a sourceforge website that has improved over time. So give it another look and let me know what you think?
My guess you'll want to try it out.

Back on December 23, 2014 I wrote a blog post asking "Is Radio Shack Done?" and the answer is apparently YES! They filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It appears that Sprint, the phone company, may take over some of the stores and there is rumor that Amazon may be interested in some stores for a brick and mortar presence. I visited one of my local Radio Shack's and found it having a big closing sale. I picked up a few parts for cheap including some copper clad boards for cutting my own circuit boards on my recently completed Shapeoko 2.

While I was there I found the latest Radio Shack project flyer. These are 8 1/2 x 11 color glossy sheets that have a project using Radio Shack parts. When I first saw these in the store, I thought this was a great idea and I thought about contacting them to offer to write a few myself. Then I remembered that they reviewed my books a while back and they weren't interested in them because they weren't Arduino. So I said screw it.

As I collected many of these project sheets I noticed that most were very simple projects that I often found a bit dated. This last one I picked up at the sale summarized it for me. The flyer showed the project for a countdown timer run by an Arduino module. But rather than have the user plug in an LCD shield they have them wire a couple 7 segment displays. Then I realized this was an Inventables project and Radio Shack was just using them for content.

I thought, why use a whole Arduino rather than just an Arduino microcontroller. But then I realized they don't carry the crystal or the USB to RS232 adapter to program it. And I can't tell you if I ever saw an LCD shield in the store. But most shocking of all was the construction. They show someone drilling a 1/2" hole in the plastic box with a spade flat blade. That is asking for trouble as the blade will smack that box around and the hole will be a mess. It's all old school. 

The flyer said in small print that it was created by Instructables based on a project by Randy Sarafan. It referenced RADIOSHACKDIY.com but when I went there I could not find it. In fact the projects there were all far more complicated than what I could build with the stuff I found at Radio Shack. So clearly this was created for Radio Shack store and not for the DIY site. So it got me thinking; How would I have created Radio Shack featured projects?

First I would have recommended Radio Shack present a modern DIY project. First, show a brief summary on the flyer of all the steps and a link to the full plans online. A teaser for the full project. Show how to wire the circuit on a breadboard (using Fritzing.org or a Radio Shack branded version) and then show the board layout with a Radio Shack featured board layout partner (such as ExpressPCB or Kicad) and offer the gerber files as a download or run on your home CNC machine. 

Then show the steps to wire it all up using the Arduino IC, not the module (use your Arduino to program the device with the free software download). Then offer the .STL file for the 3D printed box to fit the circuit with holes designed in for the LEDs and the pushbutton switch on the side. 

Then reference that you can buy online or in the store, all the parts in a kit including a pre-made circuit board and optional 3D printed box. Promote the build your own with your own Radio Shack featured Arduino module, Radio Shack featured 3D printer, Radio Shack featured Inventables Shapeoko 2 CNC machine and all the components available at Radio Shack and RadioShack.com.

Encourage customers to submit projects to the Radio Shack DIY website and if selected would become a future kit and receive a ticket for a drawing in the free tools give-away. Bonus entries for using Radio Shack parts. Can you imagine your project wins you a free 3D printer? 

It would promote the components and kits at Radio Shack, the tools needed including a 3D printer and make Radio Shack a relevant place to get this kind of information. 

Offer a blog every week showing the latest Radio Shack featured DIY project. And have a project once a month for kids to build with mom or dad the way Home Depot does with little wood projects to build a future generation of customers. Feature the latest project on the Radio Shack YouTube Channel and post it to Facebook, Twitter and other social media. 

In other words, get out of the 80's and become 2015 and beyond. But this idea will never happen because Radio Shack decided that being just another phone seller was far more important than trying to stay relevant in the DIY community they helped launch all those years ago. Instead they just went lazy and relied on inventables to do the dirty work. And what incentive was there to feature Radio Shack?

They lost site of who they were and why they were such a name in the DIY community of my generation. And so Radio Shack is gone. Sorry, but I don't think they will be missed.

It's been a while since I updated my blog. I've been very busy in my shop and my YouTube Channel continues to grow approaching 1000 subscribers. During all this I was able to put in the hours needed to complete my Shapeoko 2 that I purchased around Christmas. There was a $100 off sale and I bought one.

The kit has a lot of steps and it's not really a beginner kit but I was able to get it together and cut my first piece of wood. I had several mis-attempts because I had not setup the GRBL software properly. Inventables gave me the tip to check the settings and I found the error.

I was finally able to cut out my new CHEP logo and it did a fine job. I need to make a visit to Harbor Freight tools to see what bits I can get for this thing. I want to get some small blade bits so I will be able to cut out circuit boards. My goal is to find a way to cut out 2 layer boards from ExpressPCB files. I can get the gerbers through CopperConnection and then I'll try to find a Gerber to G-Code converter. I know it exists but I just haven't put the time to fully investigate the steps plus I didn't have the the CNC tool to test it all out until now. Learning to cut circuit boards is just one thing on my list of things to do. 

I also 3D printed a base to mount the Arduino board to the frame. If you look close you can see that the mounting bosses split. I have a fix I want to try so that will be part of a future YouTube video. If you have one of these Shapeoko's and have some tips for me, I'm all ears.