At 01:16 PM 12/18/96 -0600, you wrote:
>In message <15956@d-m-g.demon.co.uk>, Mayes uk writes:
>>I was always very disappointed that the picstart 16b (with a 28 pin
>>zif) could not program the 28 pin 16Cxx parts.
>>
>>However, all 16B owners should check out Jim Robertsons PHOENIX
>>project. It turns a 16B into a programmer that can program all
>>sizes and varieties of PICs. I didn't realise there were so many
>>PICs available until I looked at the list that the Phoenix will
>>program.
>
>        If one does replace the firmware in the 16B,  can we still use
>DOS to drive it and mpasm for our source?  What, if anything, do we loose
>by doing this?  It would be nice to be able to program the new 8-pin devices.
>
>
>Martin McCormick WB5AGZ  Stillwater, OK 36.7N97.4W
>OSU Center for Computing and Information Services Data Communications Group

Martin,

Using my firmware you get:

Support for every PIC16 and derivative (12C, 14000) but not the 17C family.
I _may_ be able to add the 17Cxx devices later but I would want to see
better support first.

The driver is DOS based and 100% MPASM compatible. I have also used the
same function keys as the old picstart software to make porting as easy as
possible.

What you lose is a few of the "nice" features relating to file and
directory services.
That is all I can think of. ( I can't program these things in x86
assembler, it is just getting to difficult.)

Overall, I think you come out a long way ahead. My software is easier to
use and way more useful. You may download the software and see for
yourself. I have updated the FTP area of my web site with the latest
phoenix firmware and software just before writing this.

Why not download it and tell me what you think. I would appreciate the
feedback given the huge amount of time I've put into something that is so
far being given away for free.

Regards,

Jim


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Jim Robertson
NEWFOUND ELECTRONICS
Email: newfound@ne.com.au
http://www.labyrinth.net.au/~newfound

PHOENIX Shareware Picstart 16B upgrade coming.
For more details, send email to newfound@ne.com.au with
"subscribe phoenix mail list" in the BODY of the message.
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