On Mon, Jan 30, 2006 at 12:16:59PM +0800, Xiaofan Chen wrote: > On 1/30/06, James Newton, Host wrote: > > > It really seems to me that it would be nice to have a very simple > > programming circuit that could load at least one or two types of blank PIC > > chip. > > If you want simple programmers, what is wrong with those > JDM/tait coupled with pikdev (Linux) or WinPIC/IC-Prog/WinPIC800/PICPGM/...? > Why need another one? As I explained in a earlier post that it's getting more difficult to find machines with the appropriate ports. My last laptop had parallel and serial. My current laptop has only serial. I'm pretty sure my next laptop will be USB only. Serial interfaces are available in native form and USB. However, many native serial interfaces have voltage issues, making JDM style programmer operate erratically. USB to serial adapters often do not have tight synchronization between modem control pins and JDM style programmers need tight synchro between modem control pins and TX to operate properly. So Tait style parallel programmers don't have interfaces to connect to and serial programmers cannot be guaranteed the required environment to operate properly. Hence another option is needed if someone is interested in just wiggling some pins from their PC just enough to get a part programmed to bootstrap something else. That's the niche that this device (I'm not sure I would want to characterize it as a programmer) resides. While USB to serial cables have some issues, TX generating a serial signal with proper timing isn't one of them. BAJ -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist