Question about PICBASIC Pro.

[tkdev2007]

I have a few questions.
1. With PICBASIC Pro Can you program i to commuinicate with RS485?(does it support the RS485 commuinication)
2. Can it create Program that can run for PIC16C65B and PIC16F877A.

Sorry if I sound dumb. I an very new to PIC program. I have these two chips and I have a programmer that will program both of these chips I just don't have a Development software to create the program to load.

If you have some links for learing for newbies. That would be great!

[HenrikOlsson]

Hi,
1) RS485 is, as far as I know, an electrical specification (voltage swing, drive capability of the driver chip etc) for multipoint communication, not a protocol. PBP has various built in routines for serial communications. What you do with that signal once it leaves the PIC chip is up to you. (Connect it to a RS485 transmitter for example).

2) Yes and yes. The list of supported chips can be found here: http://www.melabs.com/products/pbp.htm Start (and IMO continue...) with the 16F877 since it's a flash part. The 16C65 is either UV eraseable or an OTP part so developing code on that one will be quite a struggle.

Have a look at MELABS site and browse this forum for a information, there's lots of it. Then start slow with the standard blink-a-led and Hello World programs. Make sure to read the PBP manual and the datasheet for the PIC you are using. If you find yourself in trouble there's lots of people here to help with the specifics.

/Henrik Olsson.

[mackrackit]

To have a true RS485 the easy way is to go through a MAX3162. Pic Basic handles 232 so a converter of some kind is needed.

http://www.maxim-ic.com/appnotes.cfm/appnote_number/723/

Here is another good place for info on Pic Basic

http://www.rentron.com/

[Ingvar]

No need to go from TTL to RS232 to RS485. Just use MAX485 or similar(there's about a Gazillion of them), they convert directly from TTL to RS485.

[mackrackit]

In a perfect world.

No need to go from TTL to RS232 to RS485. Just use MAX485 or similar(there's about a Gazillion of them), they convert directly from TTL to RS485.

But when it comes time to trouble shoot, and the PIC output is RS232, then hyper-terminal or a simple display could be used to check the data.

[Ingvar]

True, but for debugging it's cheaper(and simpler) to use a couple of resistors as suggested in the manual. If one just MUST use the hardwareuart for debugging it's still alot cheaper to hook up a max232(or similar) in parallell with the 485 driver.