shawnmulligan wrote:
>
> > For Shawn and the others that have offered to support this without a
> profit,

> This whole idea has grown so much further than the idea that Sean and I had
> last weekend. The original idea included the PCB and parts for a programmer,
> a couple of well documented starter programs with included hex files and
> perhaps a roadmap to the information available on the PICList and the
> Internet.
>
> The idea was to develop a small/inexpensive package that would overcome that
> first hurdle for the beginner: getting that first PIC programmed -- and
> further, to offer a programmer and documentation that would move the
> beginner from the 16F84 to the 'F628 or '877.


I say go for the small programmer, keeping it cheap
as possible. A larger project takes a long time,
will chew up list resources, and will *cost the
beginner more* (and the generous people donating
their time and money).

Just a simple zif socket and ability to do F84/F628/
F877 etc. Cheap and simple as possible. With a
5-pin header and really simple ICSP tutorial, so they
can even do ICSP with their first project boards.

Once the beginner needs more than that, they can turn
towards some of the proper products that many nice
businesses (and many listmembers :o) ) make their
income from.
-Roman

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