Arrival of the long awaited development board!

Finally, it arrived today and everything is packed nicely.

Unfortunately, it only comes with 2 CD for the development board although we purchased 4 units. It also comes with a USB cable...

Anyway, no big deal....here is the photo.. for a tease before being distributed to our buddies...

Temptation... next round maybe...

Saw this unit on ebay selling for USD29 (+USD22 s/h)... even on single unit purchase it is only about RM175 total... price inclusive on a 40-pin programming board... It's an ICD2 clone... it will allow in-circuit debugging for bunch of PICs... may be something the gang want to consider later after initial hurdle of learning PIC and MikroC... just ways to spend more... :-)


If you like making one yourself, serial port based... not USB, you can find the details here. I've built one before, it works... Just that serial port based is slower, need a serial port and need external power... USB version way too easy to use...

The USB DIY version can be found here but require some chips that might not be easily found at our regular shopping place... that's why the ebay posting looks really tempting...

Concise C Syntax Reference...

Okay gang... here's your weekend reading material... print it and keep it handy... you gonna refer to it very often once you start programming later on... BTW, it's a PDF... C Syntax and Reference

The Jumpers... while waiting for delivery...

It's too bad that the board delivery is delayed... well, rather than be saddened with it, might as well start something...

As mentioned earlier, I wanted to make special jumpers to go with the new board... here it is... the material required are the pin headers, the mating socket, wires and heat shrinkable tubes...

Bend the sockets on the strip 90 degrees and hold it as in the photo... By tilting the socket backward, melted solder will not flow into the socket making it useless... solder at the center wings and crimp the wire after that... doing it on the strip is much easier than holding single socket...

Do the same on the other ends to the pin headers... just be careful because the plastic can easily melt...

The pin header end after soldering and heat shrink tube applied...

The final result... plug the pin into the socket to test for functionality...

Some of you might ask why all this trouble, so here's the reasoning...

• The pin header will plug snug into the prototyping board and the socket will form reliable connections to the IDC headers on the development board
• The heat shrink cover will do two things; prevent shorts and acting as strain relief thus, if properly made, the jumpers will last you a loooong time.
• These jumpers are meant to bring the signal from the IDC headers to the prototyping board... on the board itself, a normal hookup wires is enough...

Board delivery

The board may not arrive this week. Latest info from the supplier, the board is still in the production department. It may arrive by next week and we should be able to start our lesson.

Let't get the ball rolling...

Okay, the gang members are now awaiting the delivery of our development board ordered from Futurlec recently... Look up the board details here...

The board uses the PIC18F4550, one of the most powerful PIC with tonnes of features... Very unlikely that one would use all the features on a single project... Nonetheless, it's there when you need it...

While waiting for the board to arrive, do the followings...

1. Download the PIC18F4550 Datasheet from Microchip website... If you have the resources, print it out as reference unless you do not mind flipping pages on your computer...
2. Download MikroC from MikroElektronika for compiler...
   
3. Start making the jumper wires... I'll post some pictures how I intend to make mine...
4. Consider how to make casing for the board...
5. Consider buying LCD display... most likely 16 by 2 characters... Hitachi chipset please... No need for graphic LCD for now...
   

Short technical spec is here... copied from Futurlec...
PIC18F4550 USB Development Board - Technical Data

• Microcontroller: PIC18F4550-I/P
• Main Crystal: 20MHz
• Speed: up to 5MHz
• Processor Language: PIC

Memory
• Program Flash Memory (Internal): 32kBytes
• RAM Memory (Internal): 2048 Bytes
• EEPROM Memory (Internal): 256 Bytes

Input/Ouput
• I/O Points Available: 35
• I/O Points Connection: Standard IDCC Connections

A/D
• A/D Inputs: Yes - 13 Channels
• A/D Accuracy: 10-bit
• A/D Speed: 500Ksps

PWM
• PWM Output Channels: Yes - 2 Channels

Timers
• Timers: Yes - One 8-bit Timer and Three 16-bit Timers

Auxiliary Communication
• RS232 Communication: Yes - 1 Channel
• USB Communication: Yes - 1 Channel
• SPI: Yes - 3-wire SPI Module
• I²C: Yes - with Master/Slave Mode

Board Features
• Pushbuttons: Yes - 4 Tactile Inputs
• LCD Connection: Yes - with Contrast Adjustment
• Indication Leds: Yes - 4 Red LED's
• A/D Inputs: Yes - 4 Adjustable Trimpots
• Speaker: Yes

Ancillary Features
• In-Circuit Programming: Yes
• Power-On Led: Yes - Red
• USB Power-Supply Led: Yes - Yellow
• Regulator Power-Supply Led: Yes - Green
• Program-Run Switch: Yes
• Reset Button: Yes

Power Supply
• Power-Supply: 7 - 12 Vdc

Dimensions
• LxWxH: 155mm x 90mm x 30mm

Parts Supplied
• Included Parts: PIC18F4550 Development Board, USB Download Cable, Download Software, Manual on CD, Examples and Sample Code, Data Sheets on CD.

First Blog Entry

Dear All,
Welcome to my Microchip PIC Lessons Blog. I'll be using this blog to provide lessons to my friends and those interested in learning about PIC... I'm no trainer nor am I an expert of PIC... I'll be sharing knowledge that I gather thus far and welcome exchange of ideas and comments on the subject...

Let's get it moving...