Been subscribed for a few days now - haven't seen anything for someone
just starting out programming PICs - so I thought I'd post a few questions.

First, I purchased the PIC Hobbyist Kit from Parallax.  Don't know what
to think of this.  I got a nice board - but the documentation is really
poor and the assembler doesn't support macros (at least from what I can
see).

        Is there a better, reasonably priced assembler out there?

By reasonable - I paid $100 for the stuff I got from Parallax.  Would be
nice if I could use the same programer board - just use a 'better' assembler.

        Is there a good source for a PIC assembler manual?

If the source had actual working examples - that would be nice too.  The
Parallax stuff I got has all its examples for the 16C5x - I purchased the
16C71 to get A/D capability - but these two micros are not compatible
from what I can tell (at least the examples I've typed in, assembled, and
downloaded don't work).

The simulator that I got from Parallax seems ok - but would be intersted
in feedback on simulators also.

Finally - if someone is using the 16C71 and has a simple program (like
blinking an LED) they would email - I would sure appreciate it.  I'm
trying to get an LED to blink and finding the process humbling.  My
program is only about 20 lines long - so including it in the email
message would also be appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

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--| Troy D.F. Nelson                     | EMAIL  nelson@cerc.wes.army.mil
--| Coastal Engineering Research Center  | Voice  601-634-3568
--| USAE Waterways Experiment Station    | FAX    601-634-3151
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