(Wouter van Ooijen (www.voti.nl)) wrote in message ...
My primary electronics supplier is ELFA (www.elfa.se). They have got
the following Flash/EEPROM PIC families: PIC16F84, PIC16F87X,
PIC16C9XX.
- Remember that I did not say that a PIC is the only way...
Yes, but it seems like a good way.
- Forget the F84, a 16C is not flash, so 16F87x is the only choice,
and not a bad one, but I would pick a 16F877
- BTW I sell PICs over the 'net, but you might not like buying from
far away
I saw that after posting, maybe I'll end up buying from you (I live in
Sweden).
The 16F877 doesn't have an UART, and ELFA doesn't carry this chip
either.
What is a MSSP, and can it be used to run RS232-communication? I'm new
to PIC terminology and a web search didn't explain everything...
I would need atleast an UART (for RS-232 communication) and 8-bit
parallel I/O plus 4-bit output for LCD adressing, and some (4?) I/O
pins for status, R/W etc signals.
The whole circuit (RS232-PIC-LCD connector plus other ICs), when
completed, should preferrably be possible to build on a piece of
veroboard.
The 16F874 seems to be the choice out of availability and functions.
What do I need to get started programming/testing this PIC?
A programmer, power supply, target circuit, and of course a PC with
software.
The only programmer I could find on ELFA seems to be the ISP-PRO
(
http://www.basicmicro.com/Products_P...?CategoryID=33) with
adapter card.
This one supports most 16x PICs and a few others.
I've got a 12V power supply from an old laptop, or I may take the
power from my computer.
I would prefer to use free/open source software, the platform I'll be
running on is either DOS or windows XP.
And is it a good choice at all?
I would prefer a 16F877 (much more memory etc), or if you can get it
an 18F, for instance an 18F452. Note that a 16F877A is cheaper than an
16F877, but check whether you programmer supports it.
Wouter van Ooijen
-- ------------------------------------
http://www.voti.nl
PICmicro chips, programmers, consulting
Thanks for the advice.
I'll not be able to actually begin the project in a few weeks time,
but it helps having a good idea about how to do it.