New an what to know what board is best to start

[kevlar129bp]

Hello, and welcome.

I am by far and a way not a PIC pro like some of these fine ladies and gentleman here, but I can say that this "hobby" is highly rewarding, especially with the assistance of the folks here.
Certainly not to be taken as a smart-**s answer to your question, I started, and continue to use a simple breadboard. It has served me pretty well in my projects, and they're cheap too . I am sure they're not quite as "cool" as a pre-built board, but heck, they work.

Good luck, and happy coding,
C

[malc-c]

I started with a PicKIT1, then a JDM (several in various designs) then an ICSP USB programmer, and a cheap breadboard. But then purchased an EasyPIC5 board and haven't looked back.

I still breadbaord some parts of a project, but tend to use the additional plug in boards where possible, makes life simple - For rapid re-programming whilst developing the code the EP5 (or 6) is ideal.

[rsocor01]

Hi,

Like kevlar129bp, I always use a breadboard for my projects. In fact, I have never used a development board before . They are usually very expensive. You can accomplish most of your projects just by using a breadboard and some 22AWG solid wire to make the connections.

Robert

[asdhillon86]

Thanks a lot guys. I have been using breadboard thus far but my problem is with the scale of projects I am looking to do it would very quickly become a tangled mess of fury and I wouldnt be able to keep track of what went where in the event of a wire coming away. Having a development board with just a few simple ports would make things a lot easier and I can just build the unique sections on bread/proto-board. After it tests out ok then transition the sections onto proto and then develop the next bit. My first project looks to be multi-PIC (around a half dozen) due to distance constraints as well as functional division so something a little mire hardcore id definitely needed.

[mackrackit]

Sounds like the dev board you need would be best if it was custom built. Build it your self.
Then you have what you need/want.

[asdhillon86]

hmmm :/ how easy is it to find schematics for a fairly broad spectrum (by which i mean supports many variants of pic) dev board? If it was for just the few projects I would be fairly certain I could build one perfect for me but I'm finding that I'm gradually expanding my list of projects and each requires more stuff. I am fine with spending a bit of cash if it gives me a well rounded system which I can play around with a fair bit.
A list of the projects I am looking to do:

-Display and logging of data from various sensors placed around a car (including material stresses, temperatures, revs, suspension flexation) and twinning it with GPS data and road surface mapping

-Remote controlled swarm of small rovers able to keep in synchronized pattern and complete land surveying.

-A automated control system for my aeroponic farm system to auto adjust mist generation for optimum moisture in the thin film as well as to read ph levels of the soil to check for under/over nutriated water

-A CNC machine (for small mechanical parts creation for the rover swarms)

-A controller for a vortex air multiplier turbine which will optimise the blade angles on the inner and outer turbine ring.

etcetc

[chuck]

You could try this one from here home made and you can just keep adding and adding to it, You can even custom design your own add ons either make PCB or just hard wire it. this is simple and easy to make and one baord you can use all trype of PIC'S
http://sergiols.blogspot.com/2009/10...rainer-20.html

You could look at the easypic 6, I did consider it but the more I thought about it I would never use half the stuff on there, So I designed and made my own custom boards from link above to suit my needs