Re: Timer Circuits or PIC

Rob Convery wrote:
"John Fields" <jfields@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:kufdi1p4d7uhu40pkupuoipolrso6fo9k1@xxxxxxxxxx


Still a no-brainer, I think.

--
John Fields
Professional Circuit Designer


Thanks - I suspected so. Now the nest question. As I have not done PIC progamming since uni what is the easiest way to get into this? Is there a decent kit out there etc? Also any specif place for support i.e. newgroups/forums?

Cheers

Rob



If you're comfortable with assembly language programming, maplab will do what you need for free. There are also several other free or cheap programming environments. But if this is your job and your boss cares
about your efficiency, go buy PIC Basic Pro. It turns fairly complex
situations into simple statements and can dramatically reduce your
error rate.

Use a 16F877A 40-pin dip. Download a free bootloader.
Once you get the serial port hooked up, you'll be able to modify the program and be back testing it in seconds. The serial port connection comes in very handy to report real-time status of your system. You only need the PIC programmer to install the bootloader the first time.
After you get it all debugged, you can think about switching to a smaller part, but it's probably not worth the effort unless you wanna
make thousands...or the big chip won't fit in the box. There are newer
parts, but then you gotta go find newer tools...

I've made a lot of assumptions about what you're doing and made recommendations on what I KNOW works. You'll get lots of arguments
over individual pieces, but you need a system that works. YMMV

Email me if you wanna discuss further.
mike

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