> Look at www.voti.nl for Wouter VanOoijen's Wisp628.  Or look
> at www.melabs.com for a whole slew of others.  Or at Digikey
> for a few more.  Wouter's is probably the best for a simple
> project, since it is relatively straight forward and inexpensive.
>

I have been planning to try a Wisp628 but it hasn't happened.  I have had
relatively good luck under WinXP with a P16PRO (picallw.com) and WinPicProg
(www.winpicprog.co.uk).  I was in a pinch to get a school project done when
I got it so I ordered it assembled but you can get a kit or also a pdf
schematic to roll your own.  If you have much assembly experience it
shouldn't be too hard to wire point to point - it basically is a simple
power supply circuit (which could be simplified further if you knew you were
going to run from a DC supply), a 7406 buffer IC and 4 transistor switch
circuits.  There are around 30 components all together, probably all of
which could be gotten at Radio Shack (not sure if they would have a 7808
regulator).  Almost any small-signal PNP transistor will substitute for the
BC557 in the design.  I have had a couple of accidents that killed a few of
my transistors and I have replaced them all with 2N3905 with no problems.

My programmer works reliably with a chip in the socket and almost reliably
with an ICSP cable with the target circuit powered from its own supply and
almost not at all with ICSP trying to use the programmer's power.

I'm not trying to sell the P16PRO over the Wisp other than the fact that you
could most likely have one working in a few hours from locally available
parts without needing a preprogrammed chip to get started.

> Write your code in assembly.  That'll give you the best results,
> and let you keep your head in the game.  It's not the best idea
> to try writing a high level language right off.

I wholeheartedly agree.  Then again I've always thought assembly was fun
since my first run in with x86 assembly.  It keeps you on a lower, more
hardware-based level, so I think you get to know the chip and its strengths
and weaknesses better this way.

Have fun.

Nick

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