PIC programming

[Elkaid]

You could also take a look at this book
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...books&n=507846

It's all you need about PIC... A lot of example projects, how to interface with various components such as relays, polariod sonar transducer, keypad, lcd etc... This book is a must. Yeah, you can find everything free on the net but everything you'll ever need is included in this book.

The best of all is that the book comes with a PIC programmer PCB

Regards,

[audioPT]

Don't forget to ask for samples at Microchip!!

I've received today more samples, and I'm learning PIC programming!
Tha links above have a lot of useful information. I've learned a lot!

Mark Hennessy, how about sharing with us the code of your pic? I've here 3 samples of the 16F877 and some PGA's!

Pedro Martins

[till]

Mark Hennessy, how about sharing with us the code of your pic? I've here 3 samples of the 16F877 and some PGA's!

He allready promised to to put something on his homepage, i´m waiting for this too.

[till]

Pedro , do you plan to use a rotary encoder for volume controll with MC/PGA?

[audioPT]

Yes!

It's going to control the volume and other setup adjustements.
But first, I'm gathering information on PIC's to make that possible.

It's a promise that I WILL put all here, and in my home page too

Pedro Martins

[Elkaid]

I made an input selector in the past using a PIC16F84.
Selection was made using a 2-bits encoder and the PIC was connected to a '2803 which is driving the input relays.

You can also see that I added a 45sec delay before enabling any input (to let my preamp tube to warm up...). A bicolor led is blinking red/green during warmup delay and turns green when delay is passed.

There's no volume control yet but you can easily add a remote control decoder chip and drive a motorized potentiometer with 2803's output remaining. (Or even easier : simply add a digital potentiometer)

I hope this helps

[Elkaid]

Sorry, I forgot the attachment

[future]

I already got a lot of info about pics, and now what programmer/software should I use?

[Elkaid]

There's a lot of PIC programmer schematics on the Internet.

Here's my recommandations :

Solution A
If you're really serious about PICs and you plan to use several models of PIC microcontroller, you can buy a Picstart Plus development programmer. Even if it is cheap for a programmer that support almost every PIC (except 18FXXX), it is supported by the free Microchip development environment MPLAB and you don't have to build it yourself. But maybe you're not ready to spend 250$ so there's alternative "B"

Solution B
If you plan to use mostly 16F877 microcontroller (and all midrange PIC microcontroller supporting ICD - In Circuit Debugging), you can go for MPLAB ICD. It is an In-circuit emulator that allows programming too. Very handy when you need to debug an application. Best of all, it is much cheaper than Pictstart Plus (around 170$ for the complete kit). This one is also fully supported by MPLAB. You can trace in your code etc... very handy. (Note that there's also the MPLAB ICD2 which supports PIC18FXXX at the same price as the normal ICD)

Solution C
If you wish to get the equivalent of a Picstart Plus programmer, you can look for the PicAll programmer. You need to build it yourself which means that it is much cheaper solution.
http://www.picallw.com/hardware.htm
Very Interesting solution... It even supports Atmel's AVR. However, you can't use it through MPLAB environment. You have to compile your hex file and then use an another application to program your chip.

Solution D
The final solution that I'm recommending is to buy this book : http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...books&n=507846
As I said previously in this thread, this is the ultimate ressource for PIC programming, from code examples, programming algorythm, hardware interfacing, etc.... This book is a must, and it comes with a printed circuit board to build your own programmer. This is the best way to begin in the world of PIC.

Solution "Crazy" about programming
I don't recommend this solution as it is by far the most expensive but you can go for an universal programmer. The programmer supports almost programmable ICs but they're a bit hard for a hobbyist to afford those. (Galep 4 shown on the picture)

On the software side, you should stick to MPLAB development environment as it support many external compiler. MPLAB has an internal ASM compiler but if you wish to program in C language, take a look at Hitech C compiler. http://www.htsoft.com

I hope this helps !

[Matttcattt]

Originally posted by audioPT

Don't forget to ask for samples at Microchip!!

I've received today more samples, and I'm learning PIC programming!
Tha links above have a lot of useful information. I've learned a lot!

Mark Hennessy, how about sharing with us the code of your pic? I've here 3 samples of the 16F877 and some PGA's!

Pedro Martins

samples? from microchip? (runs to website and orders some) and ive been buying them all this time?