Agree. Since the PICkit2 schematic is open to the public, on the power supply part of the design, you can upgrade the power supply circuit to get a dedicated power regulator for "prod" programmer purpose. Just like the following schematic did: http://www.auelectronics.com/pdfs/CB0703_PICKit2_Schematic.pdf The enhancement on the power regulator is also a great feature to take the advantage of the "Programmer-to-Go" feature which many expensive programmers don't have. It has been widely used for production ICSP (In-circuit serial programming). The following two youtube show how easy it can be done to "program without a PC": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5CR1Il07WU&eurl=http://www.auelectronics.com/System-PICkit2.htm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phPkZD4BTdE&eurl=http://www.auelectronics.com/System-PICkit2.htm And we have this power enhanced version of PICKit 2 the same low price as Microchip's design: http://www.auelectronics.com/System-PICkit2.htm Funny N. Au Group Electronics, New Bedford, MA, http://www.AuElectronics.com ----- Original Message ---- From: Olin Lathrop To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public. Sent: Sunday, August 10, 2008 12:56:00 PM Subject: Re: [PIC]: "Dev" vs. "Prod" programmers ? Christopher Head wrote: > That said... anyone up for making a tiny circuit (I'm thinking, around > the size of a flash stick) that plugs into a USB port and has a little > tiny switching boost regular, plus maybe a linear, and brings whatever > you have on the port up to a perfect 5V? Then you'd just plug a > regular USB cable into the other side of the circuit. You could > market it at EEs as a way to stabilize voltage so you can use cheap > programmers like the PK2 Or you could get a USBProg which has this built in. See page 1 of the schematic at http://www.embedinc.com/products/usbprog/eusb3.pdf. The PIC 10F204 (IC2) controls a boost switcher that makes about 8.2V. After a diode, this is linearly regulated to a steady and clean 5V by IC1. The 8.2V is the power input to the programmable target chip Vdd linear regulator on page 4. These two circuits allow the USBProg to work with any legal USB voltage but to still guarantee up to 6V target Vdd at 100mA. This is part of the extra robustness I was talking about that a "production" or "professional" programmer needs versus a hobby or development programmer like the PicKit2. Of course this is one reason the USBProg also costs more. For hobbyist the $35 PicKit2 is a great deal. For professional or production use the extra $45 for a USBProg is cheap compared to even a single field failure or having to figure out why it's not working this time. ******************************************************************** Embed Inc, Littleton Massachusetts, http://www.embedinc.com/products (978) 742-9014. Gold level PIC consultants since 2000. -- 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