I also spent time on the El Cheapo (book version) and eventually gave
up. My understanding is that it interfaces with the parallel port in a
non standard way which makes it incompatible with some PC's. The latest
version on the site should fix this but I never tried it.

If you are looking for a reliable, cheap and fast programmer, take a
look at the P16PRO (http://www.picallw.com). Last time I checked, it was
available for about $20 including power supply. For software, you can
use the free one from http://www.ic-prog.com or the shareware from
(http://www.picallw.com).

I used the shareware version fo the software and it worked well. The
only problem is that it does not seem to be well supported anymore. For
example, the last published version is from 2001 and it does not support
newer chips such as 16F876A (which uses different programming than the
16F876). I also played with the free ic-prog and it worked very well.

If compatibility with latest programming algorithms is important, you
may want to take a look at the Warp13A (about 100$), it works well and
supports chips like 16F876A. The down side is that is seems to be
significanly slower (uses serial port rather than parallel) and the user
interface looks like an outdated Windows program.

Tal



> -----Original Message-----
> From: pic microcontroller discussion list
> [mailto:PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU] On Behalf Of Robert O'Robberson
> Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2003 1:06 PM
> To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
> Subject: [PIC]: ElCheapo PCB ver link not active, new ver
> _MCLR does not go low.
>
>
> New to the list so if I ramble or hassle ya feel free to
> monkey punch me.
>
> I built the ElCheapo (www.myke.com) PCB version that comes
> with the book. The board checks out at every step, but when I
> go to program the yellow dot on the windows interface is not
> on and it tells me that there is no link active. I did have
> to solder a 470-ohm resistor across the 1k-ohm by the
> parallel port (R2) in order to get the board to work with my port.
>
> As a side, I also built the homebuild version listed as the
> latest on the website but it also had problems. The _MCLR pin
> will not drop below 6.5V with a PIC in circuit. It will go a
> bit less than that, 4.5-5V with just the empty socket. The
> rest of the programmer checks out fine, just the _MCLR is
> giving me trouble. The PNP transistor I used for that portion
> is a 2N3906 PNP from Radio Shack with a hfe around 50. I can
> verify with the circuit, just can't program because of the
> _MCLR fault.
>
> I would like to fix one of them at least, so I can get a
> project prototyped. Although, in hindsight, I should have
> eaten ramen for a month and bought a PICStart.
>
> The PIC I am programming is a PIC16F876. I won't likely be
> using EPROM chips in the programmer, only Flash EEPROM.
>
> If there is any help one can give me to repair either one of
> the programmers, or to sob with me and let me know they have
> the same trouble and haven't fixed it I would greatly appreciate it.
>
> If there is any other programmer that is cheap enough and
> will work with better result, I would appreciate a point
> towards it. I am leary of picking another myself after
> piecing two together that are giving me trouble.
>
> Email: airdance40@hotmail.com
>
> _________________________________________________________________
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