Hello Magnus,

Magenta Electronics in the UK do the EPE Pic Toolkit 3 for 34.99 with a =
PIC16F84 or 39.99 with a PIC16F877 (GBP)
The programmer will program most if not all the common PIC's (8, 18, 28 =
and 40 pin devices)
It's a real nice PCB and you can assemble it in a couple of hours - you =
just need to give it a small power supply. Also, the PCB has some LED's, =
LCD display, switches and a small breadboard area so you can put =
together small circuits (can't really do much with just a PIC and =
nothing else). The device connects to the parallel port of you PC, and =
under XP, you have to put the program into Win95 compatibility mode (I =
have a modified version of the software that runs under 2000) if =
required. It's basic but functional and cheap.
After messing around trying to decide which one to go for I jumped for =
that and I think it was a good choice - it works for me. The only thing =
missing is a ZIF socket. If your going to do anything serious, then I'd =
invest in a 18pin or a 40pin ZIF. You will also need a parallel printer =
cable.

Have a look at it on=20
http://www.magenta2000.co.uk/kits/880.htm

Hope it helps,
Joe.

-----Original Message-----
From: Magnus von Rosen [mailto:pt98mvo@STUDENT.BTH.SE]
Sent: 09 June 2002 15:59
To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
Subject: [PIC] Need advice: Working solution f=F6r F84A programmer & SW.


Howdy,

I'm trying to learn to program PICs, and it seems that the 16F84A is the =
way to go.
Now, I don't have the budget (student) to buy a prebuilt PICSTART or =
something like that.
I bought the Myke Predko book with the "El cheapo"-PCB and built that, =
didn't work. I really wish I could make it work, but it seems =
impossible.
I also tried building the "JDM"-programmer, but I can't get that to work =
either.=20

Does anyone have a suggestion for a programmer and compatible and =
working software, that will run in Windows XP (preferably) and costs =
less than $50? Also, it MUST be compatible with 16F84A, some of the ones =
I find on the net doesn't clearly state the F or the A...
I'm quite handy with the soldering iron, but if the electronics doesn't =
work, I usually don't know what to do.

Thanks for any advice!

Greetings from Sweden,
Magnus von Rosen, Software engineering student with too little =
electronic know-how to find errors.

pt98mvo@student.bth.se

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