Microcode studio ICD/Loader questions

I recently bought Microcode studio plus just started using my ICD that I made. I read on Bruce Reynolds' site that the debugging will be faster if you use a 20mhz crystal (I am currently using 4, waiting for 20). My question is, if I use the 20mhz, will the debugging be 5 times faster? Will Microcode loader work faster is well? I only have 4 mhz crystals right now and was curious what others have found. As always, thanks for your help.

Greg

Hi Greg,

It definitely speeds things up going from 4 to 20MHz. Instruction cycle time will be 5x faster than with 4MHz. I'm not sure if the ICD part is 5x faster, but you'll definitely notice a big improvement in ICD speed.

Make sure to program the PIC with one of the MCS loader firmware .hex files for 20MHz, and to add DEFINE OSC 20 to your programs when using 20MHz loader/crystal.

Thank you Bruce!

Greg Wood