At 08:28 AM 5/30/00 -0600, you wrote:
>At 01:55 PM 5/30/00 +0100, Alan B Pearce wrote:
>>can someone please confirm that a Picstart 16C that I have just bought,
can be
>>upgraded with the version 2.01 firmware for the Picstart Plus? There are no
>>circuit diagrams or component layout diagrams in the manual, and I would
like
>>confirmation it is the same before I open the company Picstart Plus to
confirm
>>it.
>
>NOT compatible!
>
>Write Jim Robertson - he can sell you a pre-programmed PIC that will make a
>16C do most everything that a PS+ can do.
>
>dwayne

Well that is not quite true. The picstart 16C just is not wired for the
16C5x family or the 17cxx family. These are just not practical to support
with a 16C.

I certainly did have a replacement firmware chip for the 16C that made it
MPLAB compatible and could support all ISP programmable pics (except
the 17C7xx) I think I sold exactly one of these so now I do not bother with
upgrades even though the source code is the same as my own programmers.

On my web site there is a free firmware upgrade for the 16C that is not MPLAB
compatible but certainly extends the usefulness of the 16C way beyond where
microchip dumped it. You have a choice of a 17Cxx drop-in replacement or a
wire-it-in-yourself 16Cxx chip. This info is available at:

http://www.new-elect.com/adapters.htm

You can drive either with my free DOS software or the linux code both on my
web site. The super windows driver is not a freebie for this firmware.



Regards,

Jim Robertson
NEWFOUND ELECTRONICS
________________________________________
Email: newfound@pipeline.com.au
http://www.new-elect.com
MPLAB compatible PIC programmers.
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