Thanks a billion, again guys. We can let this string topic die and/or go into senescence, as I have most of what I needed. I am afraid that I got what I wanted/needed from this website, in terms of knowledge and skills--and above all, advice and links--and I wouldn't want to clog up the chat with a lot of my blather. (have you heard the rumor? We biologists are not "real" scientists!).
I am afraid that I am probably "all talk and no solder", but I will find a reason to go back and take all your advice and check all the links and resources you suggested. I appreciate the time you took to reply, and you needn't reply to this post unless you feel you absolutely must "direct the noob" to greener pastures.
I suppose I am a bit of a "ringer". Not quite a "noob". Yes, much memory is what I want. Yes fast circuits are what I want. But I am a "crawl before I walk" kind of guy. I have done a bit of PCB layout, I soldered a robot hand (muscle wires/Nitinol/Dynalloy Inc.; cheesy paper hand, though; with more muscles, i.e. force, I might try some carbon fiber tube fingers with teflon joints and nitinol "tendons") w/ controller, I occasionally play with a BASIC stamp microcontroller (radio shack bought, w/ PC attachment and handbook), and I purchased some old CMOS image sensors from a company that sold its product line to somewhere else. The image sensors need fast clocks, and, I assume, much memory. Any sort of video processing probably needs the same, and I am guessing the 65816 isn't up to the task of even running the one sensor, much less the several "focal plane array" I had originally envisioned. In over my head? YES! Maybe ... maybe not?
Good answer on the antennas (antennae? insects? Of course! Biologist!) and magnets. I worried, but now, don't. However, I am much more worried I might have handled my image sensors roughly once or twice; Let's hope I didn't fry the buggers! It only takes one moment of inattention or one lapse in our eternal vigilance.
So, my original question is still there, and a one or two sentence answer would be great (my admonitions and warnings--about my long windedness and lack of action--above, notwithstanding!). I don't mind a "commercial endorsement" so long as it is (1) cheap, (2) reliable, and (3) easy to work with. Maybe speed and max capacity is important, later, but for now, can anybody just point an idiot (original Ancient Greek meaning of "idiot" was "layman", so the self deprecating humor is only mild, here) to a RAM chip? (P.S. with all this "flash memory" stuff, there must be a revolution in the 6502 world? A RAM that doesn't erase when the power shuts off???!!! A dream come true for you 80's dinosaurs! (uggghh , me too, but I was too young in the 80's to enjoy coding the commodore 64! I just played the video games and word processed when school made me do it.).)
I guess I should "hit the books". Nothing says "expertise" like ... ummm ... well, ... expertise! Thanks again; I must go shop for RAM, talking chips, and then study the link you sent. (Bass ackwards, I know, but with chips in hand I am more likely to build something, even if I break it the first time around! Second time's a charm.).
P.S. I'll post links to 6502/talking chip projects below this post. Qbert anyone? He spoke alien through a phoneme generator! SC-01, I think?
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