"john jardine" wrote in message
...

"ian field" wrote in message
...
Does anyone have any info on whether MPLAB has RS232 compatible
programmer
support?

Having downloaded a number of programmer schematics, I've found that a
couple (Serpic & David Tait) that are very similar to the Velleman K8048
and
wondered if this is some sort of industry standard.

If anyone is interested, the examples including Velleman K8048 schematic
are
easy to find with google.

The RS232 connector is as follows:

Pin7 (RTS); CLK/RB6/PGC
Pin4 (DTR); DATA/RB7/PGD
Pin8 (CTS); DATA/RB7/PGD
Pin3 (TXD); Pin3 & Pin9 hardwired together
Pin9 (RI); VPP/MCLR(NOT)

Each signal has a transistor buffer/level converter between the RS232
+-12V
and PIC logic levels.

TIA.


Just seen the post. No they don't. If your programmer isn't in the drop
down
box in Mplab then forget it.
There are reasonably priced programmers out there that pretend to be a
'Picstart Plus' (say) but their makers have gone to the trouble of copying
the Mplab proprietry programming command and reply strings. Essentially
the
copiers have had to clone a Mchip product, resulting in complexity and
unavoidable minimum costs.
There's no security or future proofing in exclusively using Mchip Mplab or
compatable proggers either. My ICD1 cost £125 and was obsoleted after 6
months when the better flash chips came out. I'm not shelling out again
for
an ICD2.
The Picstart Plus I bought cost £150. Obsolete after a year. Mchip say
they've dealt with these type of problems but I've lost faith and don't
believe 'em.
At present I'm using a Picstart Plus clone but as I write and assemble my
progs outside Mplab then I get no benefit, as I have to start up Mplab
purely to prog a PIC. May as well be using one of the cheap programmers I
used before.
Commercially, a few hundred pounds here and there on Mchip kit can be
amortised over a product run of thousands and the customer pays. From a
hobby POV I'd suggest sticking with an external progger and putting up
with
dropping in/out of Mplab to do your progging.


Did I make a big mistake aiming to learn PIC?!