putting in a basic PLR/PLC unit was a way more practical and robustly functional than my wasting the time building an equivalent system around some uC device.

99.9% - 100% chance the PLC has a μp inside!
Max.

 

Why use a thumbtack when you can use a sledge hammer and a railroad spike!

I would have expected TCM to say that instead of you.
Taking lessons from HP? Why use a 3 syllable word when 5 syllables will suffice?

(Sorry for going off topic, but I'm up to my @$$ in alligators today and I need some frivolity to avoid hitting something with a hammer.)

 

Why use a thumbtack when you can use a sledge hammer and a railroad spike!

I don't disagree, but you make it sound like you have to waste all the extra features of the "railroad spike"

In my case, I put the mentioned device on a PIC that I have previously interfaced to a cheapo segmented LCD, switch, and pot. Now the user has a readout of the on-time, he has superb repeatability when returning to previous settings, linear control of the range he needs (no overshoot or undershoot) , and best yet, if he gathers trigger frequency vs on-time data, we can have the unit auto-tune the on-time down the road...

Not something you would easily accomplish with the "thumbtack" approach. Or better yet, something you'd REDO with a railroad spike when additional features are needed.

 

but I've seen a few topics with people seeming to turn to an arduino first without it appears thinking of a discrete component solution.

It doesn't matter if they seem to do that. What matter is if the solution involving a MCU is the right solution.

And I think in many cases, it is.

 

It is the cost, I think.

I can buy an Uno board for something like 8 USD, add a couple of bucks for shipping.
(free shipping worldwide? https://www.fasttech.com/product/1001700-arduino-compatible-uno-r3-rev3-development-board)

If I order from Mouser or Digikey, I would pay 5-6 USD just for shipping, does not matter that I order stuff that is 20 or 30 or 50 cents each. So, in the end I have 3-4 dollars wroth of parts, plus 5 dollars shipping. I might as well buy Uno.

 

If I order from Mouser or Digikey, I would pay 5-6 USD just for shipping,

My typical Mouser order is over $100. You and I are very different.

 

My typical Mouser order is over $100. You and I are very different.

Exactly.
There are pros like you. And for each pro there is something like 20 part timers/hobbyist like me. So 20 of us buy Arduino boards and then loudly praise them. Meanwhile a pro like you sit back, reads 20 praising threads and wonders what the fuss is all about.

 

I would have expected TCM to say that instead of you.
Taking lessons from HP? Why use a 3 syllable word when 5 syllables will suffice?

(Sorry for going off topic, but I'm up to my @$$ in alligators today and I need some frivolity to avoid hitting something with a hammer.)

Hit something with a hammer, you may feel better afterwards hahaha

Off topic...pffft threads are supposed to be organic

 

99.9% - 100% chance the PLC has a μp inside!

Yes it does but I don't have to build any I/O circuits with their necessary protection components and layouts or any power supply systems and I don't have to learn to do any complex coding either.

What I do get is 8 fully isolated relay outputs, 4 analog inputs, 4 digital H/L inputs, a backlit 4 line 16 character display, a easy to work with two wire 24 VDC power input and it's all in a rugged self contained box plus all the simple ladder logic programing can be edited on the unit itself through its simple 8 button keypad and display.

How much work is it to brew up a DIY uC circuit to do and have all of that?

 

It's a symptom of the techno-fashion-cult mentality.

More tech = always better, everything is code.
No need to really understand what is going on, just buy some function modules and cut-and-paste some libraries together and hope it works.

While I have seen people quickly accomplish some pretty amazing stuff using this technique, it's clearly a dangerous path.
The resulting systems become more and more fragile and opaque.

 

It's a symptom of the techno-fashion-cult mentality.

I was in a restaurant with my nephew a few days ago and he told Google he was with his uncle, for my birthday dinner.
Instantly, I think: Now Google knows who I am, where I am, and has pinned my identity to the cell phone in my pocket.
Now I'm gonna have to change cell phones.
That's how much I love techno-fashion.

 

I was in a restaurant with my nephew a few days ago and he told Google he was with his uncle, for my birthday dinner.
Instantly, I think: Now Google knows who I am, where I am, and has pinned my identity to the cell phone in my pocket.
Now I'm gonna have to change cell phones.
That's how much I love techno-fashion.

Could be worse. I tell Google who I am and it just disagrees with me and says I don't exist and who ever I link to is not my family and friends so stop bothering them.

And I thought Siri had an attitude against me being when I asked for directions she would just tell me to go 'F' myself. At least that meant she acknowledged I existed.

 

Could be worse. I tell Google who I am and it just disagrees with me and says I don't exist and who ever I link to is not my family and friends so stop bothering them.

And I thought Siri had an attitude against me being when I asked for directions she would just tell me to go 'F' myself. At least that meant she acknowledged I existed.

You need a GPS in Saywer, ND?

How does that work,
TCM: "driving directions to church"
Siri: "stop at the tall building"

TCM: "driving directions to bar"
Siri: "stop next to the tall building"

 

just buy some function modules and cut-and-paste some libraries together and hope it works.

Hardware design is also highly modular. A fukky integrated complex system is difficult to design and s nightmare to maintain.

 

You need a GPS in Saywer, ND?

No. It's to get away.

 

No. It's to get away.

And I don't go to church or the bar. They are just the same people wearing different clothes and attitudes judging everyone else for the same tired reasons.

Sunday best or dirty after work clothes, either way they are same drunk A-holes underneath each.

 

More convenient for who? For the consumer, no. Easier to change the design? Maybe.
.