Inchworm project started

[williB]

Yes thats it oscillator module .. thanks..
can you confirm , that with the chip programmed for the crystal , wether it will work with an oscillator module?
it should i think ... but dont remember ?

 

[3v0]

It will work with either a crystal with caps or a ceramic resonator. I do not know what oscillator module you have. I am guessing you looked at the spec sheet when you hooked it up. I see wires to power and ground. If it was compatible it would only have the ground wire and two wires going to the processor. So either you have it wired wrong or it is not compatible with the chip as programmed.

I think the module you have is a stand alone frequency/clock source. The crystals and resonators both require the processor to excite them.
The module does not.

Could be wrong.

 

[williB]

I think the module you have is a stand alone frequency/clock source. The crystals and resonators both require the processor to excite them.
The module does not.
Could be wrong.

thats sort of good , because it did not work , as wired..
what i usually do when testing if a PIC is running ,is put the clock source on pin 13 and the scope on pin 14 to test for output, of 1/4 the osc frequency..

 

[blueroomelectronics]

If you have access to a programmer like a JDM (as long as it's not a LVP) here's the 16F877A hex file (A only) with ICD2 bootloader & OS already done.

If you need the 16F877-20 version with OS leave reply.

 

[williB]

If you have access to a programmer like a JDM (as long as it's not a LVP) here's the 16F877A hex file (A only) with ICD2 bootloader & OS already done.

If you need the 16F877-20 version with OS leave reply.

yes i have the 16F877-20
i had hoped to be programming by now.
i also had hoped to not have to use my other programmer anymore.
because the machine it is on went south( kaput) the hard drive is still intact and i do have another machine with an ISA bus .
its gonna take hours to get everything together , but yeah post the zip for the 877 , thanks.

 

[williB]

it ocurred to me that i never showed yall a pic of My PIC programmer

 

[Pommie]

That has to be the most complicated PIC programmer ever built. You could probably replace all that logic with 1 pic chip.

Mike.

 

[williB]

That has to be the most complicated PIC programmer ever built. You could probably replace all that logic with 1 pic chip.

Mike.

not really this is basically it..for the hardware anyway, the program took a while to write, but is fairly straightforward

https://www.electro-tech-online.com/attachments/c1-png.3249/

i had to interface the hardware with the program ,
it was fun!

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

We said at the time it was a really silly idea - but if you had fun doing it, that's what it's all about!.

 

[3v0]

Either you are pulling our collective legs or you have somthing other then a pic programmer on that board. There are over 20 chips on it. The schematic is much simpler. Maybe parts left over from a prior use of the board.

Anyway that aside. Did you verify that the Inchworm PIC was programmed?

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Either you are pulling our collective legs or you have somthing other then a pic programmer on that board. There are over 20 chips on it. The schematic is much simpler. Maybe parts left over from a prior use of the board.

You're too recent a member to have seen the original thread, it's a PIC programmer built as a plug-in card for a PC - the masses of chips are the PC bus interfacing, presumably only a small section is the actual programmer?.

You see why we all considered it a silly idea!.

 

[williB]

You are both right , if you look closely i am only using nine ICs , the rest are sockets , and i'm not using the Z80 PIO , in the upper left of the component side , it was left over from a previous project.
the programmer has a long cable 8 to 10 feet a nice feature ,the MCLR signal is driving the gate of a FET , located on my breadboard , i used to send the 12V signal down the cable , untill i realized that i just needed the FET at the other end. Much faster switching this way..

i dont have it working properly , yet , so i dont know if the Inchworm chip is programmed yet. i was'nt planning on using it anymore , oh well mabe one last time..

 

[williB]

I am hoping Someone can spot something in these settings that is wrong..

i have not connected the target , SHOULD I ?

this has been the most frustrating project that i have ever tried to work on.

 

[Pommie]

Mine is set to 57600 baud.

Mike.

 

[3v0]

Baud rate can be either 19200 or 57600 either will work.

For this thing to connect it needs serial com through to the outputs of MAX232 and a working OSC and not a lot more.

Need to know what you did since your last post.

Have you verify that the crystal is working ? If you can not use the scope try a logic probe, test it on a working pic first if you got one.

Have you verified that the RS232 is working through to the TTL side of the MAX232?

Are you using the supplied 877 or did you program a replacement ?

This kit is not a hard build. It would be better if the instructions built and tested the RS232 prior to adding the processor and the rest.

 

[williB]

Thasnks for your response 3V0
i have some time today
i am going to test the max232
and your other sugestions.

"Have you verify that the crystal is working ? "
no not yet , i tried but , it does not appear to be.

"Are you using the supplied 877 or did you program a replacement ?"
i'm using the supplied one

i was busy ,since my last post ,but i am trying to get My old programmer working , so i can verify that the 877 is programmed.

 

[3v0]

I would only look at the 877 after you are sure the RS232 and crystal are working.

 

[williB]

but how can i tell if the crystal is working without a working 877 ?

 

[williB]

can you tell me if your programmer green light blinks twice when trying to connect , without the power connected to the programmer?
mine does.

 

[blueroomelectronics]

Have you ever noticed the busy LED flashing?

You may have a com port problem, try com1 instead. Even better do you have another pc to test it with, a friends perhaps.

I've now built and tested oodles of inchworms. They were designed to be as simple as possible to get running. The tricky part is a decent serial port and a 1:1 straight through male-female rs232 cable.

It also needs power, some people don't hook up a wall wart to it and wonder why it doesn't work...