Pic Programmer kits

[robotkatie]

Hi everyone, I am a newbie at this and would like some help concerning the PIC Programmer kits. How does one decide which to pic? And do you need a Compiler too? I am wanting to make an amphibionic (frog) or something basic to get starter with the microprocessor. If you know of something that would be easier to start with please let me know. Thanks
:rolleyes:

[bodgy]

There is no one specific answer to your questions.<p>One of the things that you need to consider, is what else you might do after this particular project, and whether it will be a couple of projects from published material, or if you might want to go further at a later stage, such as using other uP's or maybe toy with embedded programming for money.<p>If you are going the building published designs route, then all you are going to require is a programmer and the programming software that goes with it. (have a look at a build your own from [url=http://www.voti.nl).]www.voti.nl).[/url]<p>If on the other hand you are going to write your own code, then life gets a bit more complicated.<p>You can choose from those designed for relatively easy code writing, (and with all due respect to a certain person on this forum), these will do most of the things you want, but with a slight drawback of either producing larger code or slightly restricted in the way you go about programming them. Most of these will come with their own cross compiler. Ones that fall into this category are.<p>Basic Stamp Styletried to be clever couldn't get the copyright symbol to display<p>Basic Stamp/ Java - Parallax
AtomPro - Basic Micro -note they no longer use a Pic but a Hitachi/Renesas part, but the basic compiler is the same.
Proton - Crownhill Electronics
PicAxe<p>All the above use a Basic that is very similar to that of the Basic Stamp and come on a carrier board like the Stamp.<p>Then there is a big boys preprogrammed Java pic from Muvium <p>The rest allow you to choose your pic and programming language.<p>You can choose from Structured Basic (I recommend this type of basic if at some stage you are going to do either PC programming using VB, Delphi or VC or switch between languages).<p>Basic18 (structured basic for 18F parts)<p>XCSB (structured basic for 16F parts)<p>'C' loads of these!<p>Pascal - only one commercial company and no longer supported.<p>Java<p>Forth - not much call for this one.<p>ASM - most important, I think if you are going to use any HLL programming language, apart from the interpreted or macro styles basics of the first paragraph, you should learn this to enable an understanding of how your cross compiler works and procdues the sort of code it does. <p>Standard MPASM from microchip MPLAB downloadable from Mchip, structured ASM preprocessor available for download from Picbook.com.<p>Any others that I've forgotten.<p>Which Pic to choose <p>These days the best one is the 18F252 or 458.<p>The 18F series have an easier architecture and some more powerful instructions than the 16F series. Downside - not much code in the public domain as yet.<p>If staying with the 16F, then either an 16F877 or one of the newer 16F630 parts. The above suggestions are for learning and testing program code. Once the code is ready, then choose the pic that has the features desired with the amount of code space that is needed.<p>If not using a Stamp or a Stamp look alike, some form of development board is useful.<p>
In no particular order
MELABS
Crownhill
Dontronics
BasicMicro
Rentron
Forest Electronics
BlueBird Electronics
many many others.<p>Hopefully you are now far more confused than you were before <p>
Colin<p>[ January 08, 2004: Message edited by: bodgy ]</p>

[bwts]

EPE do a homebrew PIC programmer http://www.epemag.wimborne.co.uk/
No compiler tho! files need 2 B in .asm or .hex<p>B)

[hlreed]

Go to DigiKey and buy yourself a PICSTART which will get you a programmer, assembler and everything you need. Microchip has lots of stuff and you can download everything from their web site.<p>http://www.digikey.com<p>http://www.microchip.com

[bodgy]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Mr Bwtz:
EPE do a homebrew PIC programmer http://www.epemag.wimborne.co.uk/
No compiler tho! files need 2 B in .asm or .hex<p>B)<hr></blockquote><p>Actually not quite accurate. They have the TK3 for download, which is a TASM/MPASM assembler with a DOS looking IDE canbe used with XP and 2K.<p>Colin

[Lin Farquhar]

From Oz again.
go to
rev-ed.co.uk
and check out the picaxe. programmer is 2 resistors, the software is free and you can be up and running with BASIC in minutes.
Rgds, Lin

[wd5gnr]

There are lots of options. <p>One way to get your feet wet without a lot of expense is to use a boot loader. I agree that the 18F series is the way to go if you are just starting, but, the 16F has lots more example code on the Web.<p>The problem with a boot loader is you have to know someone with a programmer to get it loaded the first time. Alternately, we make bootloader board kits for the 16F (http://www.al-williams.com/app2kit.htm) and 18F (http://www.al-williams.com/app3kit.htm). In fact, the 16F version will even burn other 16F87xA parts, so it is sort of a programmer in its own right.<p>In practice, the way you use these boards (or any bootloader) is that you simply send your program down the serial port to the board and it programs itself. This makes for a very pleasant fast development cycle. <p>You might enjoy the 16F/18F tutorials at http://tutor.al-williams.com<p>Good Luck!<p>[ January 13, 2004: Message edited by: wd5gnr ]<p>[ January 13, 2004: Message edited by: wd5gnr ]</p>