Adapt11

Introduction. Adapt11 is a family of compact, intelligently designed boards containing all the elements common to practically every 68HC11 design. Clock circuitry (8MHz crystal), reset circuitry (including a pushbutton), a mode select switch, a 5-Volt regulator, and an RS-232 interface are all provided on-board. All of the microcontroller I/O and control lines are brought out to a versatile 50-pin header pattern on the printed circuit board. This allows for several different connector options, to support a wide variety of applications.

Rapid Deployment. The most popular option is the solderless breadboard connector, which enables the module to be plugged vertically into a solderless breadboard, essentially becoming a 50-pin DIP in the user's application. The 68HC11's unique Special Bootstrap mode combined with the on-board RS232 interface make in-circuit re-programming effortless via virtual any computer's COM port. This provides an ideal low-cost platform for application development, product prototyping, hobby projects, and educational use.


Commitment. When the application development stage is finished, the module may be removed from the breadboard and embedded into the end-product. This may be a user-designed printed circuit board, wire-wrap board, or perfboard; or it could be a Backplane or a Prototyping card offered especially for use with Adapt11. A number of accessories are available to give the user a high degree of flexibility without spending a lot of time and money.

How do I use Adapt11 modules to quickly try out my design ideas?

It's easy! Just follow these steps...

  • Plug any Adapt11-series module into your solderless breadboard or application board
  • Wire up your application circuits (switches, motor drivers, LEDs, sensor circuits, etc.)
  • Write software for your application in your favourite language-- C, BASIC, or assembler (freeware/demo versions of each are included with Starter Packages)
  • Compile or assemble your program, producing an s-record file
  • Attach a serial cable (included in Starter Packages) between your PC's COM port and Adapt11's serial connector
  • Switch the module to BOOT mode, apply power, and use our MicroLoad downloader (or your favorite loader) on your Windows PC
  • In approximately 30 to 90 seconds-- depending on program size, your software will be ready to run
  • Switch Adapt11 to RUN mode, and press RESET. Adapt11 is now running your code!
  • Make changes to hardware/software, as required, and repeat previous 3 steps

UNIQUE FEATURES. All Adapt11 modules are great for schools because they are inexpensive and can be re-programmed thousands of times! It's the perfect way for students to learn electronics, computer fundamentals, and how to design hardware & software for microcontrollers. The 68HC11 is a powerful, popular, and easy-to-use microcontroller. A solderless breadboard means there's no need to solder parts (so they won't get damaged -- they can be used over and over). For permanent designs, just use Adapt11 Modular Prototyping accessories, such as Backplanes, Memory Expansion, & Prototyping cards. Or build your circuit on perfboard, printed circuit board, or wire-wrap board, and plug Adapt11 into it.

EXPANDED CHIP MODE. The original Adapt11 is a single-chip mode board. However, just flip a switch, and the micro runs in expanded mode, in which some of the I/O lines become address, control, and data lines. In this mode, a full 64K address space is addressable. By adding decoding circuitry, and a latch to de-multiplex the address and data lines, external EPROM, EEPROM, SRAM, Flash, and I/O chips can be used via an external board. A memory expansion board with 32K RAM and optional 32K EEPROM is available for this.

MORE ON-BOARD MEMORY. Some applications need expanded memory but also need all the I/O lines. So a version called Adapt11C24DX was developed. It includes expanded memory and a port replacement unit (to replace the ports that become address and data bus lines in expanded mode). Note: since the 50-pin connector is used entirely for I/O ports, the address and data lines on these boards are not accessible to the user. The net effect of this standardized 50-pin I/O connector is that all Adapt11 family members are pin-for-pin interchangeable (with minor exceptions), so if you run out of program space with one module, you can replace it with a module having more memory. The modular, pluggable design makes this upgrade effortless.

POWER REQUIREMENTS. All Adapt11 family modules include a low-power, low-dropout regulator on-board. If your application hardware already supplies regulated 5VDC, you can use that to power the board. Alternatively, you can supply unregulated 5 to 15 VDC via the external power connector and take advantage of the on-board regulator. A 9VDC adapter will do just fine; a 9V battery can be practical if your application takes advantage of the 68HC11's low-power WAIT and STOP features to manage power consumption.

BUFFALO MONITOR. The BUFFALO ROM-resident Debug/Monitor program can be used to varying degrees with all Adapt11 family members. To use BUFFALO with the original (single-chip mode) Adapt11, simply use the 68HC11E9BCFN2 chip in the MCU socket. This chip has 512 bytes of EEPROM which can be used to store a user program. While 512 bytes may not sound like much, it is possible to take advantage of subroutines already present in the 8K BUFFALO ROM on the chip to do many of the tasks needed in a typical program.
BUFFALO may be used in various ways with Adapt11C24DX modules as well. Many 68HC11E0 and 68HC11E1 chips already have BUFFALO in ROM, but it is simply disabled (via the ROMON bit in the CONFIG register). In such cases, the ROM can simply be enabled and many of the features of BUFFALO can be utilized by the user.

EVB REPLACEMENT. Freescale (formerly Motorola) discontinued its evaluation boards for the 68HC11 several years ago. For those wishing to use a similar configuration, we now offer a couple of alternatives.

  • EVBU: A special version of Adapt11 with on-board features to support the BUFFALO Monitor is available (eg. PE0 jumper for jump to internal EEPROM and an OC5 jumper to implement the Trace command). While it does not include the (discontinued) 68HC68T1 clock/calendar chip, it supports most other functions of the original EVBU.

{tab=Documentation} Be sure to visit our Support Library for the latest manuals, data sheets, app notes, and code examples

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