In Myke Predco's book "Programming and Customizing the PIC Microcontroller"
he suggests:

        "When developing an application, put in the hardware required to
allow in-circuit
        programming of the device.  This can give you a significant board
manufacturing
        cost reduction."

Sage advice to say the least.  Casually researching this topic, I have found
suggestions to clip a connector to all pins of the in-circuit PIC to be
programmed.  This will not be a practical or reliable option in my opinion.
Likewise, I would rather not include a header that is connected to every pin
of the PIC.  My goal is to expose the fewest extra pins of the device as
possible (if any), as many pins are already brought out to headers anyway in
my design.  My question is where would I learn more about the absolute
minimum pins needed for in-circuit programming?  Can anyone point me in any
direction?

Also, I should raise the question: which PCB manufacturer is cheap and
reliable for producing very small double-sided surface mount boards in small
runs (i.e. ~100 at a time)?  My device only uses a voltage regulator, a PIC
16c73B, a Max232 equivalent, and a crystal.

Thanks.


John Clark
Indianapolis, IN

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