2N2/256-BSCP

[ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk]

> > Given that there's a limit on the number of transistors, I don't  
> > see what
> > advantage using SOT23s would give you.
> 
>    It'd be easier to assemble.

Only if you don't spend hours looking for the transistors that flew off 
the end of your tweezers :-). 

My point is that while SOT23s didn't exist 40 years ago, there is no real 
reason to prohibit them in a project like this. Limit the number of 
transistors, sure. Insist on an architecture that could be built 40 years 
ago, sure. But should the use of a storage 'scope to debug the thing be 
prohibited too, on the grounds that hobbyists 40 yrars ago were lucky to 
have _any_ 'scope? Do you prohibit writing simulators for the 
transistorised machine, on the grounds that 40 years ago hobbyists 
wouldn't have had anything to run them on?
 
-tony