Bob,
Welcome to the fun (and frustrating) world of PICs and
electronics.  In addition to the materials discussed by you and
Duayne, I suggest you get a subscription to Nuts and Volts
magazine.

Not all of the content will be relevant but I find something
interesting in almost every issue.

Andrew


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---- On    , Robert L Cochran (cochranb@SPEAKEASY.NET) wrote:

> I'm more or less in this position too, except I do not have
your basic
> breadboarding experience and no one in my circle of friends
knows how to
> use one. I learned how from internet tutorials and occasional
> realizations as in, "Oh, those wires are too short." I want to
be able
> to solder my own circuits together so for this and some other
reasons
> I've spent a fair amount of money. So far I think the
investment is
> worth it.
>
> Since I want to make my own circuit boards (on perfboard and
> protoboard), I'm getting an introduction to components beyond
the PICs
> themselves. For example learning about .100 headers has been
fun: little
> did I appreciate there are a whole array of connectors one can
use and I
> suspect I'll soon be learning the ins and outs of flat ribbon
cable.
>
> Learning how to solder is an adventure too. My, am I making
mistakes,
> but so far my results are acceptable.
>
> There is the need for some tutorial type books. I think David
Benson's
> line of books are good to start with, even though Byron and
others are
> advocating the more advanced PICs and they all frown on the
PIC16F84A. I
> just think it feels easier to start with only 18 pins to worry
about and
> then move up from there. (OK Byron, I know you disagree with
that, and
> I'm just a student.) You should also print down the Mid Range
Reference
> Manual from Microchip.
>
> Subscribing to this mailing list and spending time reading the
posts is
> also important. When you need to get down to business, there
are people
> here with mountains of expertise and a willingness to help.
I'm
> continually amazed at the high quality technical discussions I
can find
> here, and wish I had subscribed to this list a long time ago.
But then
> the PIC bug had not bitten me.
>
> Bob Cochran
>
>
> Duane Wood wrote:
>
> > I am a software developer (Java, C++, C, ...) with
> > some basic hobby experience breadboarding very simple
> > circuits.  I want to get started with PICs, but I am
> > having a tough time figuring out which chip,
> > programmer, and compiler to use.
> >
> > What (I think) I want is:
> > * a PIC using the newest CPU core -- i.e., 18Fxxx
> > * in circuit programming -- I don't like the thought
> > of moving the chip around, breaking pins, etc.
> > * programmer software that runs on Windows XP
> > * an inexpensive C compiler
> > * All this for under $200 -- otherwise my wife will
> > make me pay in other ways :)
> >
> > Am I asking too much?
> >
> > Here are some options I am considering:
> > 1. Wouter van Ooijen's Wisp628 programmer. Uses
> > bootloader, but I have to get the bootloader
> > programmed.  Also, I think I would have to use JAL.
> > While this seems like a reasonable language, I would
> > prefer not to learn another language.  Also, it
> > doesn't sound like the programmer software for the PC
> > supports Windows XP.
> > 2. Warp 13.  This looks like a decent programmer, but
> > the disclaimer about in-circuit programming concerns
> > me.  I really would like to do in-circuit programming.
> > 3. MPLAB ICD 2.  This sounds like it might work, but
> > is a bit expensive.  Also, I'm not sure if it supports
> > 18Fxxx chips or whether I need additional parts.
> >
> > I would greatly appreciate any help with my decision
> > so I can get started.
> >
> > -- DW

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