Post by thread:Newbee question

This is a repost !! > > Sheesh, but that is a broad question. My suggestion is that you call up > Intel, Motorola, and Microchip representatives in your area (these may > be distributors or field offices) and ask to speak to a "Technical Sales > Engineer" or "The person in product marketing responsible for the <xx>" > (insert the name of the processor). Then tell them you are planning a > microcontroller design and are looking for a processor to design in. > Tell them you are considering these three processors. Ask if they have > any literature on the advantages of their processor with respect to these > others. > > What you should get are three biased accounts, biased toward the processor > they make. Then read them all and decide what you want. > > > --Chuck >

Tom, The tools are more important than the chip. Microchip supplies an assembler free for the download at their website http://www.microchip.com . Take a look at the datasheets of the device families and pick one that has the items that you need in your application. Also, the 16f84 series is very popular due to the use of flash memory instead of eprom. To erase flash, it happens in the programmer, eprom requires UV, and is slower. All sorts of high level lang. tools are available, C and Basic being the most common. Alot of the answers to your questions can be found on this list in the archives. John . {Quote hidden}> Hello list, > I've just recently found out about PIC devices- I'm building an > altimeter for high power rocketry and I was trying to understand the > basics of PIC chips. > I'm using the PIC16C711 chip > How does one write the code-- what 'tools' are required ? is the code > C++ ? > What is the format of the code when 'burning' the on board PROM? i.e. > what do I select on my PROM burner ? is it binary, or hex or..? > TIA > Tom [MSEE but PIC ignorant] __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com

Thanks, But where can I find the list archives? Tom "John C. Frenzel" wrote: {Quote hidden}> Tom, > The tools are more important than the chip. Microchip supplies an > assembler free for the download at their website http://www.microchip.com . > Take a look at the datasheets of the device families and pick one that has > the items that you need in your application. Also, the 16f84 series is > very popular due to the use of flash memory instead of eprom. To erase > flash, it happens in the programmer, eprom requires UV, and is slower. All > sorts of high level lang. tools are available, C and Basic being the most > common. Alot of the answers to your questions can be found on this list in > the archives. > John > . > > Hello list, > > I've just recently found out about PIC devices- I'm building an > > altimeter for high power rocketry and I was trying to understand the > > basics of PIC chips. > > I'm using the PIC16C711 chip > > How does one write the code-- what 'tools' are required ? is the code > > C++ ? > > What is the format of the code when 'burning' the on board PROM? i.e. > > what do I select on my PROM burner ? is it binary, or hex or..? > > TIA > > Tom [MSEE but PIC ignorant] > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com

Tom Wrote > I've just recently found out about PIC devices- I'm building an > altimeter for high power rocketry and I was trying to understand the > basics of PIC chips. > I'm using the PIC16C711 chip > How does one write the code-- what 'tools' are required ? is the code > C++ ? > What is the format of the code when 'burning' the on board PROM? i.e. > what do I select on my PROM burner ? is it binary, or hex or..? > TIA > Tom [MSEE but PIC ignorant] In my humble and probably distorted opinion... I'd rather poke myself in the eye with a sharp stick ( or have Oral Surgery.. which I am off to have done in 3 hours) than use any language other than assembler. You just cant get tighter code than assembler and this matters where memory is measured in bytes, not kbytes or Mbytes. I have to admit its not the easiest to learn but I would venture that neither is C or Basic IF you haven't learnt these languages previously. Assembler is a bit rude when one is used to nice structured programming techniques where "goto's" are filthy words and "objects" are created to be linked to an application with ease, size doesn't matter in such limitless memory environment. There are also the benefits of not having to pay for the assembler (MPASM etc) and not having to hunt down language related errors (C compiler not liking your PC environment etc). I would strongly recommend you start with an Flash programme memory based PIC such as the 16F84, or 16F877. Reprogramming is fast, the old burn and try method, cheep but works.. all be it slow. I also strongly recommend the PICStart programmer for painless programming.. its not that expensive and comes with all the programmes to get you up and running (although you can download them from Microchip for free anyway). It will also seemlessly take you from code to programmed MicroController, the defaults are all set just right, you just have to set the Oscillator type and PIC number etc when asked too. Its REALLY easy compared to other environments I have used on other controllers. If you really want to get into PIC code development check out the PIC ICD for the 16F877 offered by Microchip, for $200 or so it does a moderate impersonation of an ICE. _____________________________ Lance Allen Technical Officer Uni of Auckland Psych Dept New Zealand _____________________________

Lance, I second you motion. I prefer assembly over 'C'. I own a 'C' compiler, but I have used it only once or twice. Also, with regard to PIC assembly, you only have 35 or 36 instructions to contend with, so learning assembly for the PIC is very simple. The first time I worked with a PIC was several years ago, and I had no experience with them before. I wrote an application in assembly, tested the logic with the simulator, burned the code into the part, plugged it into the circuit, powered it up, and it WORKED the way it was intended to work. The whole process took less than 8 hours. And that includes loading the software onto my computer, and reading a few line of the manual that came with the assembler (MPASM). So, in my opinion, you can't go wrong by learning assembly, and it is relatively easy to do. Once you get used to it, you probably won't want to mess with the higher level languages. But, to each his own. I'm not condemning high level languages. I just prefer to use Assembly. Good luck in your learning process. Regards, Jim {Quote hidden}>Tom Wrote > > >> I've just recently found out about PIC devices- I'm building an >> altimeter for high power rocketry and I was trying to understand the >> basics of PIC chips. >> I'm using the PIC16C711 chip >> How does one write the code-- what 'tools' are required ? is the code >> C++ ? >> What is the format of the code when 'burning' the on board PROM? i.e. >> what do I select on my PROM burner ? is it binary, or hex or..? >> TIA >> Tom [MSEE but PIC ignorant] > >In my humble and probably distorted opinion... I'd rather poke myself >in the eye with a sharp stick ( or have Oral Surgery.. which I am off >to have done in 3 hours) than use any language other than assembler. > >You just cant get tighter code than assembler and this matters where >memory is measured in bytes, not kbytes or Mbytes. >I have to admit its not the easiest to learn but I would venture that >neither is C or Basic IF you haven't learnt these languages >previously. > >Assembler is a bit rude when one is used to nice structured >programming techniques where "goto's" are filthy words and "objects" >are created to be linked to an application with ease, size doesn't >matter in such limitless memory environment. > >There are also the benefits of not having to pay for the assembler >(MPASM etc) and not having to hunt down language related errors (C >compiler not liking your PC environment etc). > >I would strongly recommend you start with an Flash programme memory >based PIC such as the 16F84, or 16F877. Reprogramming is fast, the >old burn and try method, cheep but works.. all be it slow. >I also strongly recommend the PICStart programmer for painless >programming.. its not that expensive and comes with all the >programmes to get you up and running (although you can download them >from Microchip for free anyway). >It will also seemlessly take you from code to programmed >MicroController, the defaults are all set just right, you just have >to set the Oscillator type and PIC number etc when asked too. > >Its REALLY easy compared to other environments I have used on other >controllers. > >If you really want to get into PIC code development check out the PIC >ICD for the 16F877 offered by Microchip, for $200 or so it does a >moderate impersonation of an ICE. > > >_____________________________ > >Lance Allen >Technical Officer >Uni of Auckland >Psych Dept >New Zealand >_____________________________ >

TOM VILLANI wrote: > > Hello list, > I've just recently found out about PIC devices- I'm building an > altimeter for high power rocketry and I was trying to understand the > basics of PIC chips. > I'm using the PIC16C711 chip > How does one write the code-- what 'tools' are required ? is the code > C++ ? > What is the format of the code when 'burning' the on board PROM? i.e. > what do I select on my PROM burner ? is it binary, or hex or..? > TIA > Tom [MSEE but PIC ignorant] Hi, Tom. You can write in any/all of C, Pascal, JAL, Assembler (Parallax or Microchip - your choice), among other choices. One good web page of many on where to find Demo/free languages, see: http://www.dontronics.com/piclinks.html http://www.new-elect.com/links.htm http://www.picnpoke.com/ (Might take a look at his simulators etc.) You can get free demo's of C compilers off the web, also many assemblers, and various shareware/retail compilers etc. I wouldn't say there's much done in C++ on PICs, not really enough resources (stack space esp.) for OOP, for certain *I* haven't tried it <G> I don't know of a C++ compiler for the PIC, haven't looked though. Mark

Bruce Holmen wrote: > <snipped> > Tom, > > The file used to "burn" the PIC is in hex format. A PIC programmer is > used rather than an EPROM burner. I have been using the EPIC Plus > Pocket Programmer http://www.melabs.com/mel/home.htm along with their > In-Circuit Programming Adapter. > > This adapter has a relay that switches my 16F84 into my target circuit > or into the programmer. This really speeds up the task of checking out > modifications to your program. > > Bruce Holmen Some EPRom programmers will burn PIC chips, though (Both my Needhams EMP-10 and EMP-20 will program some, and most all, respectively, PIC chips.) I have to admit that I haven't used those for that yet (long story; I like to be redundant & not wear out my tools, basically), definitely possible, probably with other pricey EPRom burners, as well. Though you may have to work to figure out how to do it, it's definitely possible. Mark