New an what to know what board is best to start

[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

[malc-c]

You could try this one from here home made and you can just keep adding and adding to it,

Nice project, but personally the time taken to etch, drill and build the boards IMO makes the easyPIC range of boards more appealing. Plus if you need additional modules you can get everything form a simple connector board to wi-fi boards, through to a colour TFT touchscreen

http://www.mikroe.com/eng/categories...essory-boards/

If you are looking for something different, with similar but different options (such as built in SD card reader, RTC clock and stepper motor drivers) take a look at the QL200 boards (priced about the same, but you may get stung with import duty) http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/QL200-PIC-Deve...item3a598ea447

I've not used one so can't vouch for the quality.

Don't get me wrong, breadboarding has it's place, but sometimes when you are building complex projects it becomes very hard to trace where all the jumpers go (unless you're DT and then it's a work of art). My recent project used 4 DS18B20's, 4 x 20 LCD - 4 pots, DS1307 RTC, RS232 serial comms, and 6 triacs with associated discrete components - this would of been quite a busy breadboard even with just these parts. The only part that was breadboarded was the 4 sensors, external SSR and the RTC as I needed to split the connections to one header



I Having developed the project to a level where it was workable, I prototyped to stripboard



And then after a few further enhancements took the schematic and produced a small batch of PCBs, which resulted in the second prototype below



However the bottom line is that it's all down to personal choice. Hope my comments have helped you in making your choice of where to start