With all the respect, El Cheapo is a piece of crap. It is that simple. ;-)

I also went the same route and spent a lot of time with only marginal
results (El Cheapo would
complete a programming cycle ones every 20 tries).

Eventually I purchased an assembled P16PRO40 for 18$ (they also have a 18
pin version kit for 12$) and it worked great the first time. You will also
may need a power supply (got it for 6$) and a cable (5$).

As for software, you can use the picall from (www.picallw.com) for free (as
long as you program only 16F84) or use 100% free software (I am using
ic-prog, http://www.ic-prog.com/, will send you the settings upon request,
or http://www.lpilsley.uklinux.net/software.htm).

For more information, take a look at http://www.picallw.com (follow
Hardware, Software and Buy Kits links). I got mine from
http://www.electronics123.com/amazon/catalogue/c3-3-7.htm.

BTW, I am using the programmer on a Win 2000 notebook but at least ic-prog
and picallw are specified for XP also (you may need to download an extra
driver and enable it in the software's settings).

Tal
tal(at)zapta.com



> -----Original Message-----
> From: pic microcontroller discussion list
> [mailto:PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU]On Behalf Of Magnus von Rosen
> Sent: Sunday, June 09, 2002 7:59 AM
> To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
> Subject: [PIC] Need advice: Working solution fvr 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.
>
> 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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