At 07:42 PM 8/29/02 +1000, you wrote:
>Hi, I got some PIC 18F452's today, and having never
>used the 18 series parts I have a couple of questions;
>
>1. Does anyone know if PicStart Plus with 2.3 firmware
>and MPLAB 5.3 will program the 18F452?
>I'm just about to install the PicStart 2.3 firmware,
>but the help file that comes with it is sketchy on the
>18F parts.

No, you need to upgrade to version 3.  I'm not sure whether mplab 5.3 will
work or not, but I believe the answer is no.  When I upgraded my PicStart,
my MPLAB (I can't remember what version I was on at that point, but I think
5.4) would not work.  I had to download a new mplab to restore
functionality.  You don't need to upgrade to beta 6.0 however, the 5.7 they
have on the website will work fine.


>2. Is it worth learning the 18F instruction set? I know
>the main use of these chips is for larger projects which
>suit a higher level language, but i'm more interested
>in having the extra processing power especially once the
>18 and 8 pin 18F chips are obtainable.

Yes, it is.  At the master's this year, it was pretty clear to me that
microchip was forging on with the 18 series and dsPIC (thought that's still
a long time coming).  Anyway, I expect the price of the 18 series to
continue to fall and I expect to be using it more and more for plain
vanilla projects.

John Hansen

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