How to go forward?

[TheMadMan]

Hi all
Mnemonics are as clear as mud to me, C is in the same class so I want to go with PICBasic.
Have a very limited (3rd world) budget so I have to be carefull.
Any suggestions for a GUI that will <B>WORK</B>, is easy to set up and will talk to a PICKit 1 board and is preferably freeware?
I do a lot of programming (VB6, ASP, PHP, MySQL etc) and I want to start controlling things outside the computer. (Today a machine, tomorrow the world! ;>) and I've sussed out that the easyest way would be to use a PIC as an intermediate communications device.
I've also realised that by using one of the bigger (40 pin) PICs, I may not need the computer at all. I see learning to read from a memory stick in my future somewhere.

Anyway, must get the programming GUI, compilation software and program flash app and hardware working first so if there is anyone available to mentor me thru this rather daunting process, I'd like to hear from you.

Thanks for reading this post.

All the best

[mister_e]

mmm the only one i know is MPLAB directly from microchip. But PICKIT 1 should have it's own software as Pickit 2 have. If so, i would suggest MicroCode Studio. There's a free version available and it's really easy to work with.

Now, which PICBasic compiler.... there's a few different type. Here we use Melabs PicBasic or Melabs PicBasic Pro. To be honnest... use the Pro version. Yeah there's a price difference but it really worth it.

You could still try the demo version available on their website.

MicroCode Studio (code editor, IDE, serial communication windows and 1 free ICD model) :
http://www.mecanique.co.uk/code-studio/index.html

PicBasicPro Demo
http://melabs.com/pbpdemo.htm

[mackrackit]

The software that comes with PICKIT 1 only imports or exports a pre compiled hex file. So you will need MPLAB, but remember the PICKIT 1 will only work for a few chips (8 and 14 pins) so you may want to look at the PICKIT 2.

Here is a link to instructions to set PIC BASIC up with MPLAB.
http://www.melabs.com/support/mplab.htm

I agree with mister_e, get the PRO version of PIC BASIC if you can.

[Archangel]

Hello TheMadMan,
Cheap JDM programmers available on eBay, just search for JDM programmer, I saw one with a start bid of 99 cents US, that is all I have ever used, works great using I C Prog 1.05D available free on the web. Write some small programs, compile with demo PBP until you get a feel for what you want to do.

[TheMadMan]

Hi All
Thanks for the feedback!

<b><u>MicroCode Studio</u></b>
Downloaded and installed it and played around a bit. Seems a bit buggy in that gives strange errors.
&lt;Code&gt;<font color=blue><b>
x var byte
x = 1
SELECT CASE x
CASE 1
y = 10
CASE 2, 3
y = 20
CASE IS > 5
y = 100
CASE ELSE
y = 0
END SELECT
</b></font>&lt;/Code&gt;

Errors on the "SELECT CASE x" line.
Copied and pasted straight out of the manual document.

Also, does not give many of the most popular chips.
List of chips available from the dropdown list is
<font color=blue><b>
12C671, 12C672, 12CE673, 12CE674
14000, 14C000
16C554, 16C558
16C61, 16C62, 16C620, 16C620A, 16C621, 16C621A, 16C622, 16C622A, 16C62A, 16C62B, 16C63, 16C63A, 16C64, 16C642, 16C64A, 16C65, 16C65A, 16C65B, 16C66, 16C662, 16C67
16C71, 16C710, 16C711, 16C712, 16C715, 16C716, 16C717, 16C72, 16C72A, 16C73, 16C73A, 16C73B, 16C74, 16C74A, 16C74B, 16C76, 16C77, 16C770, 16C771, 16C773, 16C774
16C84
16C923, 16C924
16CE623, 16CE624, 16CE625
16F627, 16F628
16F73, 16F74, 16F76, 16F77
16F83, 16F84, 16F84A, 16F870, 16F871, 16F872, 16F873, 16F874, 16F876, 16F877
17C42A, 17C43, 17C44
17C752, 17C756, 17C756A, 17C762, 17C766
18C242, 18C252
18C442, 18C452
18C658, 18C858
PS1, PS1_2K, PS2, PS2_2K, PS3, PS3_2K, PS4, PS4_2K</b></font>

Maybe it was a faulty install or something, has anyone else had similar problems?

... but remember the PICKIT 1 will only work for a few chips (8 and 14 pins)

I've heard that if you make up a 14 pin to 40 pin adapter board you can use the PICKit 1 to burn the 40 pin range. Is this true? If so, does anyone have the pin connections?

Cheap JDM programmers available on eBay, just search for JDM programmer, I saw one with a start bid of 99 cents US, ...

Looks like a nice unit - fancy chip holder - US$49.00 + postage is a bit steep when you are not in America and not earning US$.
Found the circuit for the JDM Programmer (evidently done by Ludipino) at http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaver...6/ludipipo.zip . Very low component count. 1 zener, 1 diode, 1 cap, 4 resistors, serial plug and ic socket. See it uses the fancy one - maybe thats the big price item.
There is a warning that it doesnt like laptops and must be plugged directly into the com port.

Found his site at http://www.jdm.homepage.dk/newpic.htm

Question: looks like the programmer puts the incoming signal into pins 12 and 13. If I use these pins as input/output in my app/board, wont the signals be "programmed" into the PIC?

works great using I C Prog 1.05D available free on the web.

Site at http://www.ic-prog.com - now at version 1.05F.
(All that raw machine code is frightening!)

...compile with demo PBP until you get a feel for what you want to do.

Just how "cut down" is the demo compiler version?
I do have access to a legal installation of PBP.

Thanks to all for the feedback so far. I'm certain I will have many more "idiotic" questions but I'll keep them for later.

All the best

[Bruce]

Where is Y declared?

x var byte
y var byte
x = 1
y = 0
SELECT CASE x
  CASE 1
   y = 10
  CASE 2, 3
   y = 20
  CASE IS > 5
   y = 100
  CASE ELSE
   y = 0
  END SELECT

Does this compile without errors?