Hi all,

I'm new to the world of 8052 development and have a few questions about the SBC, which I intend to build in the near future to get to know the chip a bit better. Apologies if this has been covered before, I couldn't find exactly what I wanted using the search engine.

1) While I intend to test the build using SBCMON, I'd like to know if it's possible to run Basic 52 on the board, and if these programs can be run directly from EPROMs rather than being burnt into the 8052 itself. I have EPROMs coming out of my ears but the MCUs themselves seem to be a bit expensive these days. It'd be handy to be able to just shove a different EPROM in and have access to BASIC programming for quick'n'dirty results.

2) If I'm not actually using them for a project, can I remove the serial EEPROM and/or RTC from their sockets, and use jumper wires to hijack the SPI/I2C buses and use other devices instead? It seems to me like I could, but there may be a very good reason why not that a newbie like me wouldn't be aware of.

3) Can I use pin-compatible EEPROMs instead? If so, can these be programmed/erased in-circuit?

Thanks in advance for any help and advice :-))