Or you can try using a simulator. www.virtualbreadboard.com also www.oshonsoft.com this one comes with a compiler. regards victor ----- Original Message ----- From: "Forrest Christian" To: "Microcontroller discussion list - Public." Sent: Saturday, February 17, 2007 6:33 PM Subject: Re: [PIC] Boarding the train of microcontrollers > Rikard Bosnjakovic wrote: >> So, considering the next project of mine and my background, which kind >> of uC might be good enough for me? Or atleast for starting out in the >> area, somewhere to put my feet and get the LED flashing. >> >> > > My first impression was to point you towards the parallax Basic stamp > stuff. This is a good place for the beginner to start sticking their > toe in the water so to speak. For $150 you get everything you need to > start blinking LED's. The downside is that it's all in BASIC and the > whole thing has been "sanitized" so that almost anyone can understand > it. I can't state for certain whether or not this is a good thing or > not. But it would get you started with the basic concepts of the whole > microcontroller thing. > > However, as I was composing my email, I was thinking about what tools I > would recommend if you didn't want to go the basic stamp route. There > is always the grab a breadboard and a pic and a handful of parts (don't > forget the ICD, etc) and go for it method, which is what I typically > use in the early prototyping stage of my products, but this is a pain. > > Then I got really thinking... For a long time I've had my eye on the > Easypic4 development board ( http://www.mikroe.com/en/tools/easypic4/ ). > I think this might be exactly what you are looking for. You can buy > it domestically at http://www.circuit-ed.com/easypic4.htm . For $169 > you get a complete board with lots of buttons, a multiplexed LED > display, LCD, etc. etc. etc. You should be able to do all of the "R&D" > on your project with this tool. You can use the multiplexed LED to > test out the display stuff. You can use the buttons for the inputs. > And so on. > > The reasons I've been looking at the easypic4 (again I don't have one, > so this is all based on other recommendations and reading) is that it's > one of those boards which you can do a lot of things without having to > resort to circuit building. I get kinda tired of putting lots of > components on a breadboard just to be able to play with a particular > piece of code. The manual looks awesome (easy to read/understand), and > it comes with examples in the micro-e tools. > > One disadvantage I see is that the onboard programmer uses a proprietary > interface which means that programming and ICD will need to be through > the mikro tools. All this means is that when programming, you'll need > to use their software for the programming itself (using a .hex file from > your chosen programming tool), and that the debugging part probably will > only work with their compilers. It does look like the demo versions of > their compilers will build small programs without restriction, and that > they are priced reasonably. I can't comment beyond that. > > After you do the design with this board, then you can actually build > your project, using the software you've initially prototyped on the board. > > I'm not 100% sure this is the direction I would take, but it might be > something to look at... > > -forrest > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist