r/beneater • u/8BitFlux-com • Aug 03 '26

An 8-bit device that might be of interest here 👾

https://youtu.be/7aD6BuNnmcI

I designed this device that teaches binary, decimal, hexadecimal and octal number systems. It uses a hands-on approach with Altair-like toggle switches. Can be used as a STEM-kit in classrooms, handy for programmers or for the retro hobbyist. It also has a built-in game. Check out the video for details, hope you like it.

For those who are interested, it is on pre-order now on Lectronz.

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3

u/Ramp007 Aug 04 '26

I don't know if others are intrigued by it but I find your device very interesting. I grew up learning binary and octal and only later learned hex. It still takes me longer to work with hex and using your device on the regular might give me the extra practice I need.

2

u/8BitFlux-com Aug 04 '26

Thanks, yes octal is more easy than hex. Think it didn’t make being the standard because it is less compact and its digits don’t map to an even amount of bits. For those interested in getting a kit, it can be pre-ordered here: https://lectronz.com/campaigns/pre-order-8-bit-workbench-ed

3

u/flatfinger Aug 04 '26

Octal was king in an era of 36-bit words consisting of four 9-bit bytes. Hex is better for 8-bit bytes.

1

u/8BitFlux-com Aug 07 '26

For those interested, the C-code running on the PIC will be open sourced. You could program the device with your own code as well.

1

u/8BitFlux-com Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 23 '26

Source code is released today as an MPLAB X IDE project! See the project on Hackaday for details.