Sign in
Search piclist
Subscribe to piclist
piclist by Keywords
12F675 | 16F628 | 16F84 | 16f877 | 16F877A | 16F88 | 18F458 | ADC | AVR | Bootloader | CAN | CCS | CRC | EAGLE | EEPROM | ICD | ICSP | IDE | JDM | LED | Macros | Microchip | MPLAB | PCB-CAD | PIC10F | Pic12f675 | PIC16F84 | PIC16F84A | PIC16F877 | PIC18 | PIC18F452 | PicBasic | PICC | PICSTART | PWM | RS-485 | RS232 | SMT | SPI | UART | USART | USB | Wireless | Wisp628 | Xilinx
Ads
Discussion Groups
Discussion Groups | Piclist | newbie
A discussion group for the PICMicro microcontroller. Also called the Microchip PIC, this list is dedicated to the use and abuse of this fine, simple, microcontroller. Close to topic posts are welcome, ie. general electronics.
newbie - meeclectick - Jun 7 16:57:00 2005
I'm currently using the basic stamp, but am reaching its limits in
speed and i/o. I am interested in exploring the PIC, but don't know
how to go about doing it. For example, with the stamp I used the
basicstamp programming language which is free and I just download
the program into the stamp. It seems that the process for
progamming the PIC is different.
I think I would like to find a place where I could buy a pre
assembled development board so I wouldn't have to do a lot of extra
circuit designing for my projects.
On the software side, I would like to find some sort of tutorials
that worked with the board and told me exactly what to do to build a
variety of projects (the basicstamp is good for this)
I'd love recommendations on vendors who have broad product lines and
do good support.
on a related note, I purchased a board from futurlec which looks
great, but I'm having some trouble getting it to work and find the
tech support at futurlec is not very responsive. I wonder if this
is just an abnormality or to be expected. Does anyone have any
experience with futurlec?
thanks
bob
(You need to be a member of piclist -- send a blank email to piclist-subscribe@yahoogroups.com )
speed and i/o. I am interested in exploring the PIC, but don't know
how to go about doing it. For example, with the stamp I used the
basicstamp programming language which is free and I just download
the program into the stamp. It seems that the process for
progamming the PIC is different.
I think I would like to find a place where I could buy a pre
assembled development board so I wouldn't have to do a lot of extra
circuit designing for my projects.
On the software side, I would like to find some sort of tutorials
that worked with the board and told me exactly what to do to build a
variety of projects (the basicstamp is good for this)
I'd love recommendations on vendors who have broad product lines and
do good support.
on a related note, I purchased a board from futurlec which looks
great, but I'm having some trouble getting it to work and find the
tech support at futurlec is not very responsive. I wonder if this
is just an abnormality or to be expected. Does anyone have any
experience with futurlec?
thanks
bob
(You need to be a member of piclist -- send a blank email to piclist-subscribe@yahoogroups.com )
newbie - techy fellow - Jun 21 22:38:00 2005
Hi Bob,
As a newbie myself, I can only share limited info with you I have gathered so far.
First, let me qualify myself, I am not trying to persuade you to go for whatever brand of
MCUs over others. I apologise in advance if I step onto someone's toes. No intention of
starting any flamewar.
1. My experience with Futurlec is the same as with you. They are not responsive at
all. The first time I purchased parts from them, I literally had to chase them not less
than 5 times. Subsequent purchases, without fail, I've to send at least 1
or 2 reminders to them. Why am I still buying stuff from them then ? It all boils doen to,
the costs of their boards are cheaper than many other places and one of their delivery
point in Thailand is near Singapore. As an added bonus, they are selling both PICs and
AVRs MUCs in any quantity which is very important for hobbyists and the price per chip is
quite reasonable. In any case, they do respond amid couple of reminders.
2. I am also using BS2. As you rightly pointed out, the speed sucks and not to
mentioned limited hardware capabilities as compared to PICs, 8015 and AVRs. Ease of use
and comes with P-BASIC perhaps, are the only advantages for newbies. The next closest
equivalent of BS is perhaps, the SX chips from Scenix also from Parallax. My guess is,
they sense it too that their BS has severe limitations (especially, cost per chip is close
to prohibitive) thus, they are selling the SX chips (so much cheaper per chip count).
You can program the SX using their SX-Key and BASIC programming software. I have bought a
set but has never have the time to try it out. You should visit their website to find out
more. (somehow, Ubicom, kept popping up in my head, not sure whether they also produce SX
chips).
3. The next MUC brand I would recommend is AVRs. I know, I should not recommend AVRs
in a PICList forum but this is just my view. In terms of power and flexibility, I am not
in a position to comment due to I am a newbie afterall. But in terms of standardization of
internal architecture, AVRs are more consistent than PICs. That is, from one
family to the next, they are almost identical thus, requires lesser to learn when you
finally decided to go for a more powerful chip. Code change should be minimal in this
respect. AVR doesn't require bank switching while PIC does required. This may not
pose a problem for experts but for newbies, this may be a nightmare.
4. PICs should be okay too due to its popularity among pure
electronic hobbyists and robotic fanatics. Because of its popularity, you should not
have any problems in finding tons of resources in the
internet.
5. Finally, here is just a few tips I can only give you due to my
limited knowledge on MCUs;
AVRs
a) You can start with the Atmel 2313 family.
b) Buy the STK500 development board from Atmel. It can program almost all of
the AVRs family although some families like the ATMega 64 and 128 requires an additional
daughter board, STK501. Check out their website (Atmel) to find out more. I have
both.
c) If cost is not too much a problem for you, you should consider purchasing
the BASIC compiler for AVRs by BASCOM. They do have a trial version that can compile codes
of up to 4KB which exactly matches the 2313. Its quite cheap for the full licenced one
(less than USD 100, I think).
PICs
a) You can consider to start with 16F877A.
b) There are plenty of PIC development boards in the market. If you are really
serious about going into PICs, perhaps, get one that can support ICD (In-Circuit
Debugging) hardware pulgging. I am using the PICDemo plus board and ICD2 from
Microchip.
c) There are so many choices of BASIC compilers for PICs in the market.Sorry,
can't remember which brand does provide a trial version sufficient for the 16F877A.
However, costs may of a problem because BASIC compilers for PICs are generally more
expensive than as compared to those for AVRs. Some can run into couple of hundreds of
dollars per pop.
Well, good luck.
cheers,
Davis
meeclectick <b...@theroans.com> wrote:
I'm currently using the basic stamp, but am reaching its limits in
speed and i/o. I am interested in exploring the PIC, but don't know
how to go about doing it. For example, with the stamp I used the
basicstamp programming language which is free and I just download
the program into the stamp. It seems that the process for
progamming the PIC is different.
I think I would like to find a place where I could buy a pre
assembled development board so I wouldn't have to do a lot of extra
circuit designing for my projects.
On the software side, I would like to find some sort of tutorials
that worked with the board and told me exactly what to do to build a
variety of projects (the basicstamp is good for this)
I'd love recommendations on vendors who have broad product lines and
do good support.
on a related note, I purchased a board from futurlec which looks
great, but I'm having some trouble getting it to work and find the
tech support at futurlec is not very responsive. I wonder if this
is just an abnormality or to be expected. Does anyone have any
experience with futurlec?
thanks
bob
to unsubscribe, go to http://www.yahoogroups.com and follow the instructions
(You need to be a member of piclist -- send a blank email to piclist-subscribe@yahoogroups.com )
Re: newbie - Leon Heller - Jun 22 0:02:00 2005
----- Original Message -----
From: "techy fellow" <techyf@tech...>
To: <piclist@picl...>
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2005 3:38 AM
Subject: [piclist] newbie
[deleted] (somehow, Ubicom, kept popping up in my head, not sure whether they also
produce SX chips).
Scenix changed their name to Ubicom.
[deleted]
Leon
---
[This E-mail has been scanned for viruses but it is your responsibility
to maintain up to date anti virus software on the device that you are
currently using to read this email. ]
(You need to be a member of piclist -- send a blank email to piclist-subscribe@yahoogroups.com )
From: "techy fellow" <techyf@tech...>
To: <piclist@picl...>
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2005 3:38 AM
Subject: [piclist] newbie
[deleted] (somehow, Ubicom, kept popping up in my head, not sure whether they also
produce SX chips).
Scenix changed their name to Ubicom.
[deleted]
Leon
---
[This E-mail has been scanned for viruses but it is your responsibility
to maintain up to date anti virus software on the device that you are
currently using to read this email. ]
(You need to be a member of piclist -- send a blank email to piclist-subscribe@yahoogroups.com )
newbie - techy fellow - Jun 22 2:33:00 2005
Thanks for the info, Leon.
Bob,
With regards to trial-version of PIC BASIC compiler, you can try mikroBasic via the
following link.
http://www.mikroelektronika.co.yu/english/product/compilers/mikrobasic/download.htm
Currently, I am using the PIC BASIC compiler from OshonSoft.com. I've purchased a
personal licence about 6 months ago for a mere EUR25.00 which covers not 1, not 2
but, 3 types of MCUs namely, PIC, Z80 and 8085. The author is very responsive to
queries. Within a couple of months after I've bought the licence to use, he has
upgraded the compilers once. Just FYI, the EUR 25.00 covers life time free upgrade
!!! Pls note that I do not have any interest in OshonSoft.com.
cheers,
Davis
Leon Heller <l...@bulldoghome.com> wrote:
----- Original Message -----
From: "techy fellow" <t...@yahoo.com>
To: <p...@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2005 3:38 AM
Subject: [piclist] newbie
[deleted](somehow, Ubicom, kept popping up in my head, not sure whether they also
produce SX chips).
Scenix changed their name to Ubicom.
[deleted]
Leon
---
[This E-mail has been scanned for viruses but it is your responsibility
to maintain up to date anti virus software on the device that you are
currently using to read this email. ]
to unsubscribe, go to http://www.yahoogroups.com and follow the instructions
__________________________________________________
(You need to be a member of piclist -- send a blank email to piclist-subscribe@yahoogroups.com )