Well, the voltage at the output of the '06 is well above 5V when the input is logic 0. With no current flow through the base of the pass transistor the voltage will be about 13V. A totem pole TTL (or even CMOS) device can't do this. Given that 1 or two devices require this it is easier to do them all this way (OC). I think there is a revised programming requirement on newer devices that requires RB5 and RB3 be pulled down. This may be the big change in programmers for the newest devices. --- In , dkbovaird@a... wrote: > My Rev. B K149 should be here any day now, I'll see what happens with the > 16F877A chips that I have. > > But I have a couple of broader questions for the group. > > Virtually every programmer design I've come across on the net uses one of the > open collector drivers (7407, '06, '05, etc.) to drive a "pass transistor" > for both the VPP and VDD to the chip being programmed. Why? The oc driver chip > by itself, can source and sink the 200uA that the MCLR pin draws. And each data > sheet makes a point of stating that no significant current is drawn by the > MCLR pin during programming. > > The only data sheet which shows the current draw during programming for the > VDD supply is the 16F84A, and it shows a max of 50mA during programming, so I > can understand the need for the transistor to source this supply. Why are there > transistors to drive the VPP ? > > My second question is about the floating or otherwise connected RB3 and RB4 > pins in most programmer designs (the K149 pulls down these pins) that program > the 16F87x and 16F62x chips. If these pins are high during programming mode the > chip will go into a low voltage programming mode, does this cause flaky > operation for most programmers since they use the high voltage programming mode? > > thanks, > dave. > > In a message dated 5/26/03 8:29:50 PM Pacific Daylight Time, > laughtyg_techfo@y... writes: > > > ...I have read on the website that this programmer is capable of > > programming 16F877 chip too. However, although my programmer board can be detected, the > > program keeps prompting "the programmer does not recognise the 16F877 chip" > > error.... > > |