Re: universal programmer

On Fri, 23 Dec 2005 15:21:13 -0600, "Abstract Dissonance"
<Abstract.Dissonance.hotmail.com> wrote:

>Since I'm trying to get into MCU it seems I will need a programmer to get
>anywhere. From looking online it seems that any "decent" programmer is
>pretty expensive(1k+) and those that are cheap seem to offer very few
>features and few chip support.


At work, I use an expensive programmer from BP Microsystems that will
handle almost any device made (I think we paid ~C$7000 or so for it) -
however, I've just ordered an In-System Programmer kit costing C$32
that will program Atmel 89Snn devices while they are still installed
in the final PC board - I figure it is easier to use that than to pull
the chip and put it in the BP Micro programmer every time I want to
change the program (which is quite often, during development.)

If you're just beginning in this field, you should probably pick a
processor (or processor family), and get the least expensive
programming solution that the processor vendor offers.

The universal programmers like my BP Micro unit are really only
necessary if you know you will need to program a wide variety of parts
(sometimes with little warning!), and the device vendors don't provide
any programming solution for them.


--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI
peterbb4 (at) interchange.ubc.ca
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