Development Board Recomendations ???

[malc-c]

Came across another board, on a slightly smaller scale than the EasyPIC boards, but a lot more expensive



http://www.msebilbao.com/tienda/prod...roducts_id=341

[tico]

Just wanted to say thanks for all of your input. I ordered the ezPic4 and its in began toying with it and must say it has alot of nice feature modular expansion and a built in programmmer.

Thanks for all your advice and guidance.

[mister_e]

Sweet!

I never used ANY development board before i decide to buy EasyPic 4. Of course for specific project i'm not going to use it anyway. But for short term, fast test and/or development it's really THA right thing to use.

To test forum user code.. it's even better and save me tons of time

Enjoy!

EDIT: if you want to launch the Programmer within MicroCode Studio, here's the command line you need

-pPIC$target-device$ -f$hex-filename$ -e -w

[tico]

great thanks
I also use -Q that exits the programmer when completed

[HenrikOlsson]

Steve,
That's great! I've been holding back on buying one because it didn't support the MCS bootloader. I didn't know you could kick that programmer from with in MCS.

Programming a 18F2431 with my PICStart+ takes about a minute, bootloading it takes a couple of seconds, depending on size of code ofcourse. How is the built in programmer speedwise compared to a bootloader or the PICStart for example?

TIA
/Henrik Olsson.

[mister_e]

It's actually faster than PICSTART, just send me your .HEX file (in a ZIP) in my e-mail, i'll do the test for you.

BUT YES, you can use the Bootloader as well. The only thing if you don't do a little modification to the board is that you'll need to press on RESET each time. No big deal.

On the other hand, the modification to do is sooooo simple. a SOT-23 n-channel mosfet (or transistor) and a few inch wire is all you need.

It take about 1 minute to modify it... big deal...

• MOSFET gate to DB9 pin 4
• MOSFET drain to the MCLR line (a via can be found close to the E5 capacitor... near the + sign on the bottom side of the board. It's also PIN 7 of the PIC PROG IC)
• MOSFET source to DB9 pin 5

everything fit pretty well on the bottom side. The SOT-23 mosfet have two pin directly soldered on the DB9 pin. Easy easy easy.

[HenrikOlsson]

Hi Steve,
Thanks for the offer, I really appreciate it! (hex file sent off list)

For the record:
The hex file is for a 16F877 and compiles to 1502 words.
PICStart+ takes 28 seconds to flash the device.
MCS Bootloader takes ~2seconds to write the code to the device.

Now, I understand that the PICStart+ writes to all memory locations and the bootloader only to the ones actually being used by the program.

Anyway, looking forward to the results, if you can squeese it in - no rush!

And thank you VERY much for the retrofitting details on the EasyPIC4!

/Henrik Olsson.

[jcleaver]

Sweet!

I never used ANY development board before i decide to buy EasyPic 4. Of course for specific project i'm not going to use it anyway. But for short term, fast test and/or development it's really THA right thing to use.

To test forum user code.. it's even better and save me tons of time

Enjoy!

EDIT: if you want to launch the Programmer within MicroCode Studio, here's the command line you need

-pPIC$target-device$ -f$hex-filename$ -e -w

mister e add me to the list ijust ordered one does look great
any chance you could expand on this not sure where this line goes in mcs+

[tico]

>> View
>> Compile and Program Options
>> Programmer
>> Add New Programmer
>> Create Custom Programmer Entry

and the rest should be self explanatory......

[jcleaver]

thanks for the info and a direction to follow
appreicate your help