New Programmer. Which one????

[rastan]

Hey this is following on from
http://www.picbasic.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=859
and if you read youll see that ive just frazzled my old pickit 1. I bought it to play around with, and i was cotemplating buying a better more compatible one to program the rfPICs. Thing is, i dont know what to get. Id like a PICstart + but its that expensive its almost not worth it. Others ive looked at look crap because there a rip off or they hardly program anything. Is there such a thing as a picstart puls compettitor that can program ALL the pics????

What does everyone else use/like? any preferences??

bearing in mind im in the UK.

cheers again.

[mister_e]

Melabs EPIC is a good choice. You can have in UK at

http://www.mecanique.co.uk/products/pic-prog/epic.html

and for the serial model
http://www.mecanique.co.uk/products/pic-prog/serial.html

it support MOST PIC on the market.

regards

[rastan]

Dont mean to shoot you down but
ME labs Programmer = £70
serial cable = £5
zif socket = £30

total price £105

when the picstart plus is £110 theres no point going for it is there? stick to what i no works.

thanks

[mister_e]

Oups... sorry to heard it. Here in canada

PICSTART : 259$ CAN
Epic Bundle : 138,95$ CAN

May Ic-Prog or PonyProg be an interesting solution for you...

Ponyprog:
http://www.lancos.com/prog.html

Ic-prog
http://www.ic-prog.com/index1.htm

But support only few PICs

[scorpion]

has anyone else had to change the rectifier on their epic?
i used the adapter that came with the programmer, but it seems to be getting things a bit hot. now im using an 18vdc wall wart, i dont remember what the specs ask for but its working.... for now

[barkerben]

In the UK you could try :

http://www.quasarelectronics.com/pic_programmers.htm


I can't vouch for them - have never tried them myself, but they look interesting...

Ben

[CocaColaKid]

I'm using the ME Serial Programmer and love it! The original parallel version gave me mega grief like you wouldn't believe. The only gripe I have about this one is that when your programming a bunch of chips the program will be put off in the background after programming is complete even when no other programs are running. This requires you to use the mouse to click the window then hit Crtl-P or just click the program button. Either way it is a real annoyance.

[Borisw37]

I recently bought EasyPIC2 from:
http://www.mikroelektronika.co.yu/english/product/tools/easypic2.htm

works good :)

[mister_e]

hi Borisw37, this board really looks good. So far, maybe the most interesting i've see on the market since i've begin with PIC.

Lot of harware too.. great. More distributor must have this board in-stock or something similar.... far from LAB-X1

[Borisw37]

Yeh, as i said ima noob in PICs, but this board makes things a lot easier. It has LED indicators for every pin, push buttons for every pin (could be set pull up or down). This board makes testing and trouble shooting a lot easier. Instead of worrying if i connected all the components correctly, i can just concentrate on the syntax of the program. And i think the price is pretty decent too (cost me extra $25 to ship to US, but oh well).

[c_Moore]

Hi,

Just putting my 2 cents in.I also have a easypic2:)
This is a great DEV. board/programmer.They just came out with updates to the picflash software. I think for the price you won't find none better. throw in a extra $15.00 you get a 2x16 LCD and a dallas onewire temp sensor. regards Charlie

[moby]

I don't think you can beat Melabs serial programmer. Link it with Microcode Studio and you have an extremely ergonomic and reliable system.

[c_Moore]

It looks with the serial programmer is limited to what kind of pics you can program. with out having to buy addons.I think you get more bang for the buck with the easypic2. It supports just about every pic under the sun. :)