Hi All,

I've recently found the need to use some large pics with more I/O (80pin devices)
I'm considering using a pic18F87k22 which is already mounted on a microchip "PIM" pcb.

I intend to plug the PIM onto my own project board(s) instead of worrying about making PCB's etc. (why re-invent the wheel huh?)
So, i've decided i'll add an ICSP connection on my project board(s) to allow me to program the pic on the PIM and get things going.

However, after reading several pages and sites about programming, i'm at bit of a loss.
I thought the pickit3 was a programming device, then i see it's a debugger device only, then elsewhere i see software for it for programming, although it doesnt support the pic18f87k22 i intended using.

Now i read i should be using MPLAB that supports a larger library of chips to program, although still not sure which programmer i should be getting?

The pickit3 may or may not program, the melabs U2 needs certains voltages/wiring/caps/resistors/mods to make it burn the 'K' series pics, and the ICD3 seems awfully expensive for what i need.

This seems to be killing my projects before i've even started. ;-(

Marty.