>
> For one thing a real MCU programmer works out the box
> and can WORK with almost ALL varieties of hardware. My
> first PIC programmer was with ELCHEAPO. Did not work
> when I build it. I believe it was the voltage from the
> parallel that cause the INVALID programming voltage.
> Almost gave up on MCU entirely. Bought PICStart +
> which cost me plenty*Was not aware of Wouter and Olin
> during that time*. Now I own 2 programmers....... ICD2
> is the one I use currently.


The El Cheapo actually went through many versions. The latest version that
uses an inverter that fixes all logic levels works should work with all
parallel ports (although some BIOS compatibility settings might be required
if your port has fancy DMA access and such). The problem with the latest
version of the El Cheapo is no really its hardware interface, but the fact
that it doesn't have the necessary capabilities to program modern PICmicros.
I have tried various software packages, but the 16F628A and 16F877A can not
be programmed with it (and forget about the 18F series). The only reasonably
interesting current PICmicro that you can program with it is the 16F88, and
even that doesn't always go well. Of course, if you are interested in doing
OTP PICmicros, the El Cheapo is excellent, because of its very solid power
supply.

Greetings,
Maarten Hofman.
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