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PIC Labelling: My Way

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eblc1388

Active Member
Surffing the web I came across a website with an image that had a sticker on a PIC to label its pins(see image).

I thought that was a good idea. I printed out the pinouts on a sticky label and was about to stick it to the PIC until I realised that it will be a hell of work if I want to remove it later. The lettering would also rub out with frequent handling.

I then printed out the pins layout on A4 paper and cut down its size so that it is the same height as the width of a piece of clear adhesive tape about twice the length of the PIC. The extra tape is then wrapped round both ends of the PIC and then stuck to the underside of it. The tape also serve to protect the lettering against rub off when in use. As the label is not stuck to the top surface, running a knife under it can easily cut it in two and then it can be removed within seconds with no mess whatsoever.

A good label would save a lot of time during prototyping and troubleshooting because one does not have to count the pins. It is a lot easier to locate in the spare box and very unlikely to be inserted backward during programming.
 

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I like it, I don't know if I'll do it, but I think it's a nice Idea (especially with your way of sticking it)
Good job 8)
 
One other thing you might find helpful?, which I've always done, is permanently insert the PIC in a turned pin socket, then plug that complete assembly in and out of your test boards and programmers. The straight pins on the turned pin socket makes it easy to get in and out, and it prevents the PIC pins getting damaged. In all my years of PIC programming I've never managed to break a pin on the turned pin socket, and never damaged a PIC.
 
Nigel Goodwin said:
One other thing you might find helpful?, which I've always done, is permanently insert the PIC in a turned pin socket, then plug that complete assembly in and out of your test boards and programmers.

Yes that's a good idea.

Unfortunately none of the normal IC sockets I have would sit properly on my breadbroad and I guess a turned pin socket would neither because it has even shorter pin length. I think it is the make of my particular breadbroad.

Jay can you aslo test whether a IC socket can be inserted properly on your breadboard?
 
eblc1388 said:
Jay can you aslo test whether a IC socket can be inserted properly on your breadboard?
Sure! I have no problems with either standard and turned pin sockets.
See the picture.
 

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Jay.slovak said:
Sure! I have no problems with either standard and turned pin sockets.

Thanks Jay. I dismantled my breadboard after seeing your post and found that the breadboard contacts are just too short so only IC pins can make good contact but not socket pins. No problem for other components though.
 
eblc1388 said:
Unfortunately none of the normal IC sockets I have would sit properly on my breadbroad

I have the same problem. Normal IC sockets pop right off the breadboard after a few seconds! Liftoff!

The turned IC sockets I have though are just the opposite, they stay stuck in the breadboard and pulling on the IC just gives me the IC. The socket sits still. There's no easy way to pull on the socket itself.

I guess a ZIF socket is the ideal solution, but it is way too expensive for all the places where I would use it. So I use the bare IC in a breadboard and break pins from time to time. When that happens, I repair them by soldering a small length of component lead to whats left of the pin. Works ok.

Back on topic, those labels are neat! :) Good tip.
 
Joel Rainville said:
The turned IC sockets I have though are just the opposite, they stay stuck in the breadboard and pulling on the IC just gives me the IC. The socket sits still. There's no easy way to pull on the socket itself.

I never use breadboards, so I don't have that problem 8)
 
Yea the part number can be easaly wiped off a PIC.But i found a trick.If you light the chip whith an super bright LED at an angle you can esaly read the part number.This dose not work whith all chips.But works well whith PICs
 
I like the labels. I think they would make it quicker and easier than constantly looking back at the datasheet. What program did you use to make them?
 
That is a great idea!
I was going to tape a pinout of the pic on the upper metal part of my breadboard...never occoured to me to tape it directly to the pic itself.

The font used...or maybe even the document itself would be quite helpful.
 
Hey everyone,

Here's a little something I came up with that you can edit yourself to match the pinout of any DIP 40 PIC. Just move your mouse over the PIC name or the pins and edit the text. The font is a bit small, but it's the only way to allow for 6-7 characters per pin. If you want bigger fonts, you need to come up with your own layout! :lol:

The mouse cursor will act funny when editing the right side pins. The vertical text field for the PIC name overlaps the pin text fields. Just click in the rightmost area of the pin's textfield and hit the home key to edit from the first caracter...

Not sure if the same can be done for smaller 300 mil DIPs, but I'll give it a try...

Can someone from the EU confirm that it prints fine on A4 paper? It should work with all versions of Acrobat Reader starting at 4.0... Please tell me if it doesn't!

Thanks for sharing that tip eblc ;)
 

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Hiya Joel,
Eh mate I just printed out that file you put up and printing on a A4 page looks about the right size. As soon as it stops hailing I'll head up to the shed and try it on a 40 pin pic but it really looks good mate well done.

Cheers Bryan :D
 
Thanks Joel for providing a handy way to make the label.

I used PaintShopPro 7 to make the labels. I first created an outline of the chip and then I added the letterings for different PICs in different layers. Doing so I can shutdown all layers but the PIC I wanted and then print it out. Because of it small size, I use 1000 pixels/inch for the label.
 

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Here's the .300 DIP version. It's 28 pins, but you can make it shorter with your scisors ;) Cut it out so that you completely remove the border line. Using the wrap around method described by eblc, I was able to attach one to even a small 8 pins DIP.
 

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