GTP USB Lite....

jeremygaughan said:

I've found a programmer that appears suited for my needs as a beginner, and have found a place that will burn my firmware. Now I just want to find out a few things... What are the opinions of the people out there who are using it, if any. Also, I have been googling a lot and haven't yet found out how to determine which type of capacitors are being used by looking at the schematic.

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jeremygaughan said:

Disc caps that are a little shinny and fatter are generally tantalium.

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I believe the shiny cap is the non-polarized 100nF cap. Tantalum caps are polarized which means it is more than likely a Monolithic Multilayer Ceramic and not the suggested Tantalum. These generally come in blue and orange (that I know of).

Has anyone worked out why the schematic at www.ali3nworld.blogspot.com has an extra 100uF polarized cap in parallel with the 100nF? This is the only schematic I have found that diverges from the original.

The 100nF is a decoupling cap, the 100uF is a filter/smoothing cap. You need both.
I would recommend building the PICkit2 / Junebug over the GTB, it's a much better tool and about the same parts count (a couple more transistors & an inductor).

Hey guys thanks for the replies.....I've since last October purchased a Pickit 2. They are pretty affordable even from Microchip. It is working perfect and doesn't have any hangups. thanks again