hello everyone,i am completely new to pic programming so be gentle please.my background is i was a welder/metal fabricator/mechanic but due to a back indury i cannot do that anymore.i have dabled in electronics for years but only simple circuits.recently i have been doing more and more work with leds and i was trying to design a circuit to build a lap counter with timer and start lights for my sons slot car track which after trawling the net for ideas i quickly worked out i would need to not only design a circuit but program a microcontroller for it also,which brings me here.i have been looking at development boards,easypic v7,mplab,and cheaper versions from china.
what pic programmer should i go for?
is it just a development board and a programmer i need or is there something else i need?sorry if these seem like stupid questions but in my world if you dont ask you will never know.
what would you advise me to go for?i would like something which is good quality and i can learn alot from.
thanks in advance and again be gentle on this complete novice who is very eager to learn.
regards martin.