Hi everyone,

I'm a software engineer looking to break into digital electronics.

I'm looking for a good kit to get started. Most information I find online is related to the software, but I already have a firm grasp of the software, I'm more interested in the basics of digital electronics.

Ideal starter kit would include:
A USB programmer (not serial or parallel)
Support (in order of preference): Mac OSX, Unix, Windows XP.
8051 or 8052 family Microcontroller
C Compiler
Cheaper the better

Any help is appreciated!

 

Would you consider using an AVR rather than the 8051/8052 microcontroller?

If so, you can get both the assembly language and the C-compiler for free.

hgmjr