YAY!!!!!! I got my first LED to blink!

[BeeBop]

Yeah, i will have a look at Bill's kits. Then i need to get my homework done...

Yep, that's the order I'd do things in, too. So wrong, he he.

 

[Marks256]

I have my priorities...

 

[superbrew]

I have the EasyPic5 form mikroe and I would have to say it is one of the more complete kits out there. I also use Microchips C18 compiler, so I do not see how you are locked in to using mikroC if you buy one of their dev boards. My only criticism is that is not ICD2 compatible, as far as I can tell.

 

[BeeBop]

I have the EasyPic5 form mikroe and I would have to say it is one of the more complete kits out there. I also use Microchips C18 compiler, so I do not see how you are locked in to using mikroC if you buy one of their dev boards. My only criticism is that is not ICD2 compatible, as far as I can tell.

Sorry, didn't mean you are locked in if you buy a board; just meant their boards are expensive, and the ones Bill is providing are at a really good price!
Not only is Mikro c ICD2 incompatible, but it can not be used within MPLab, which is what bothers me most.

 

[superbrew]

I hope that I did not come off as argumentative, I was just trying to say that the EasyPic boards are very nice. I agree that the boards are expensive, but I also think that they are a good value. Not to say that the ones from blueroom are not, but I do not have any experience with those.

 

[blueroomelectronics]

The EasyPIC boards look very nice, professional, well labeled but they seem a little too large to carry in your pocket. Personally I'm not a fan of a proprietary programmer / debugger like the EasyPIC boards contain, plus it cannot be detached from the main board when you outgrow the experimenter.

I designed my kits more along a modular basis, small, inexpensive, serviceable and it's a kit, you get to build it and that's fun IMO.
In my opinion I saw little need to add an LED or pushbutton to every port, although not as flashy a debugger (Inchworm / Junebug) can offer offer a detailed view into the microcontrollers with almost no programming effort on the users part.
My modular approach meant if you want LED displays, it's a standalone kit (Dragonfly) with it's own PIC, LCD/GLCD the Unicorn, Robotics the Mongoose, Ethernet web appliance (coming soon, a complete standalone web server)
The EasyPIC5 board looks impressive for sure, as do the many other excellent demo boards on the market.

Personally I like this style of demo board, solderless breadboards offer a lot of flexibility. Although I'd add a few more pushbuttons
**broken link removed**

 

[3v0]

Yeah, i will have a look at Bill's kits. Then i need to get my homework done...

Get a Junebug.

 

[blueroomelectronics]

Marks256 already has an ICD2, the Junebug would be almost redundant.

 

[Marks256]

Yes, i am pretty happy with my ICD2 (now that i got it working.)

I just need some material to start working off of.

Where can i find the complete instruction set for the PIC16f877a? I think there are ~35 of them? Are they in the data sheet (not enough time to look up the data sheet right now...)

 

[blueroomelectronics]

You're not going to like this... The datasheet. I also have an 16F88 (same instruction set) reference in color in the Firefly manual.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Where can i find the complete instruction set for the PIC16f877a? I think there are ~35 of them? Are they in the data sheet (not enough time to look up the data sheet right now...)

You don't think it would have been faster to look in the datasheet index, which clearly lists the instruction set, rather than posting a pointless question here?.

 

[3v0]

Yes, i am pretty happy with my ICD2 (now that i got it working.)

The RS232 ICD2 you have works well with 16F chips and the 18F chips with the smaller memories. Keep the SFR display turned off when debugging.

In time you will want a Junebug. But the ICD2 should work well for now.

 

[Marks256]

You don't think it would have been faster to look in the datasheet index, which clearly lists the instruction set, rather than posting a pointless question here?.

I have been very pressed for time this past month. I barely have time to check my email, ETO, and the blogs i like to visit. This is a forum. It is meant to ask pointless questions.


I will play around some more when i get some time.

 

[Peter_wadley]

Great Job Marks!!!! ... only took ~2 years and ~2000 posts!!!

Congrats

 

[3v0]

Great Job Marks!!!! ... only took ~2 years and ~2000 posts!!!

Congrats

Best post of the day LOL.

 

[Marks256]

Most of you have seen the pictures of my basement... I have done some MAJOR cleaning. I can actually walk down there, now. I have shelves, carts, and most importantly, boxes. Now i can actually get some stuff done down there....