About Connectable Software Systems

Connectable Software Systems was formed as a limited company in 1990, to provide consultancy for the Analysis and Development of PC-based applications. CSS is proud to have worked with some of the largest and most successful blue-chip companies in the country. These include:

The Nestlé Company
Rover Group
O2
Philips Radio Systems
British Aerospace
Yorkshire Water
Marks & Spencer
Philips Medical Systems
News Digital Systems
National Westminster Bank
ICL Fujitsu
BBC Technology

A full technical CV is available (click link on sidebar) should you wish to browse the diverse projects in which CSS has been involved.

About this website

Since retirement in 2002 I’ve concentrated mostly on playing catch-up with all of the DIY stuff left un-done due to pressure of work, and since 2004 have immersed myself in an old passion for embedded hardware/software development. The site also reflects my other strong interests, being general electronics, music, guitars and gentle humour. Almost all of the stuff on this website is free, gratis and for nothing. Where charges are made, this is to re-imburse the author for his costs only. This site does not use pop-ups, and there are none of the in-your-face adverts you may experience on similar sites. Any income generated from book/CD recommendations (through Amazon) is donated to Dr. Barnados. (A childrens charity)

Site Layout
A few words about the site layout. The site supports web pages & blog-type posts. Some projects have a home page, and this is shown in the top and sidebar Pages menus. Where additional material has been added to a project, this has been done using posts. These sub-pages of a project are shown on each main project page as a menu. All posts are also categorised, so they appear in the Categories menu in the right-hand sidebar. A few projects have been documented using posts alone, so they will only show up in the Categories menu. I’ve done this to try and keep control over the number of pages, otherwise the top and sidebar Pages menus become too big. This site is an upgrade of my original, which was hacked together using Microsoft Word and latterly OpenOffice. If you were a user of the old site, I hope you find the layout of this one a little easier on the eye, and better to navigate. The site has been built using php and the WordPress toolset, and is hosted on an Apache server, together with a MySQL database. If a page has a large PDF icon at the end, clicking this will display a pre-generated PDF document. Please note that because the PDF document is pre-generated, its’ date may differ from the current date. I will endeavour to update these PDF documents whenever a page has any significant changes.
I trust that you will enjoy browsing this site, and that you may find some item that interests you.

JWB 26th Jan. 2009

Site Status
Substantial parts of this site are a work-in-progress, with sections being extended and added on a day-to-day basis. In the table below I’ve tried to indicate the state-of-play of each of the major entries on the site.
My apologies for delays on updating projects – this is due to illness. Normal service will hopefully be resumed shortly

Site Status
Subject	Status	Comments	Date Status Updated
Cremelo Guitar Effects Pedal	Delayed	Estimate completion in 4 weeks	5.07.2009
Cremelo Cutting Plan	Updated	Draft	29.03.2009
Cremelo Main Chassis Construction	Near completion	Usable	5.07.2009
Cullercoats Guide	Complete	Only changes will be omissions/corrections	18.03.2009
General Electronics	Complete	Will grow – Updated as items completed	25.02.2009
Items For Sale	Just Started	Usable – Many more items to add – ongoing	25.02.2009
Music To Have Your Teeth Out By (MTHYTOB)	60% complete	Usable – Now 4 pages	5.07.2009
PIC Digital Readout (DRO)	10% complete	Serious delays due to illness. (apologies) This is a large project which still needs a lot of documentation	5.07.2009
Software To Die For	Complete – Updated Monthly	Complete – updated with new software each month	25.02.2009
Geordie Song Sheets	Will Grow	Usable – Updated as items completed	25.02.2009
4-Port USB PC Outlet Plate	Complete	Project Complete	25.02.2009
12v to 200v Convertor	Complete	Sub-project of Cremelo, complete in its own right	25.02.2009
LED Display Board	Complete	Project Complete	25.02.2009
PSOC Development	Complete	Complete – Not expected to add any further updates	25.02.2009
The ‘Chav’ 3-watt valve amplifier	Complete	Complete – Not expected to add any further updates	25.02.2009
The ‘Gibsonbacker 12-string Electric Guitar’	Complete	Complete – but may add updates	25.02.2009
Updating an ’80’s Analog Synthesizer using PIC Microcontrollers	Complete	Complete – Not expected to add any further updates	25.02.2009
USB Project Development Using PIC18F4550 & PIC18F2550	Complete	Complete – but will have items added from time to time	25.02.2009
Digital Voltmeter	Complete	Complete – Not expected to add any further updates	25.02.2009
I2C Master Controller	Complete	Complete – Not expected to add any further updates	25.02.2009
I2C Slave	Complete	Complete – Not expected to add any further updates	25.02.2009
Interface Card	Complete	Complete – Not expected to add any further updates	25.02.2009
PICKit 2 Clone	Complete	Complete – Not expected to add any further updates	25.02.2009
SPI-Connected Servo-controller	Complete	Complete – Not expected to add any further updates	25.02.2009
Stepper-Motor Controller	Complete	Complete – Not expected to add any further updates	25.02.2009
USB Development Board for PIC18F4550	Complete	Complete – Not expected to add any further updates	25.02.2009
USB Door Control System	Complete	Sections usable, but some work in progress – updates as time permits	25.02.2009
USB-connected Rotary Encoder	Complete	Complete – Not expected to add any further updates	25.02.2009
USB-connected Windows Media Controller	Complete	Complete – Not expected to add any further updates	25.02.2009
Using 24LC128	Complete	Complete – Not expected to add any further updates	25.02.2009
Velleman P8055 USB Board Firmware Upgrade	Complete	Complete – Not expected to add any further updates	25.02.2009