Comments on: PIC & Electronic Development on a Shoestring

By: mukesh kumar

mukesh kumar — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 12:11:39 +0000

sir, i really found your artical very useful to.i was searching all this for long a time. i am very thankful to u sir…

By: russ_hensel

russ_hensel — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:19:17 +0000

The compiler I use and recommend is BoostC from Source Boost ( http://www.sourceboost.com/home.html ). Some nice features of the compiler include: free version for small programs and the compiler is built into an integrated development environment ( which combines the functions of editing, building, and debugging into one user interface ). The debugging environment is particularity good, unlike some environments the debugging is in C not assembler. There is also support for external events and output devices like LED’s. You need never work in assembler with this environment, but if you wish you can include C in line, and get full assembler listings of your code. The Boost C compiler comes in a reasonably priced version ( $70.00 ) with unlimited code size, so it is not a dead end for more advanced work. If you do not like C they also support some other languages, check it out.

I have a LED Hello World tutorial at: http://home.comcast.net/~russ_hensel/RClub/BoostCTutorial.html

russ_hensel

By: dfowler

dfowler — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:27:17 +0000

James,

Great news on the article. The Picaxe article will be a great addition to the site.

We prefer plain text. Place something like [xyz.jpg] and XYZ[link: xyz.com] where you want pictures and links.

By: James Moxham

James Moxham — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 09:53:19 +0000

Hi dfowler.

This ‘development on a shoestring’ is a great subject.

Ok, in the last 24 hours I have built a demo circuit, taken lots of pictures and written most of the text. How do you prefer submissions – in html or word or as raw text and pictures?

By: dfowler

dfowler — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 20:11:54 +0000

James and others,
I do not intend to have a Ardunio/AVR bias here at uCHobby. I tend to write about Ardunio projects becase I have one and becase I have been giving them away. I also have more experience with AVR and C/C++ then with anyother part/language combination. I should get myself setup for PIC and Picaxe work to see what it’s like on the other side of the fence. I would like to see more PIC and Picaxe and even others (like MSP) here at uC Hobby.

By: Hippy

Hippy — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 17:45:14 +0000

The PICAXE may sometimes be under-rated or over-looked as being a pre-programmed “BASIC interpreter” and given its original “education” target market. PICAXE’s are used outside of education, even in commercial product, and running some applications one wouldn’t necessarily expect; driving 250kbaud DMX lighting and MIDI.

Low-cost PICAXE chips, free downloadable IDE with simulator, simple ( near zero-cost ) programming interface, comprehensive documentation and excellent forum support for users.

What more could a hobbyist on a budget want ?

By: Stan. SWAN

Stan. SWAN — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 11:32:10 +0000

Twist my arm James – I may be coerced into rolling up a joint Trans-Tasman PICAXE® article. Us colonials seem the global PICAXE champs after all!

By: James Moxham

James Moxham — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 09:16:44 +0000

Hi Dfowler, yes, I could do an article. I have been scrolling through the website getting a feel for the target audience. There does seem to be an Ardunio emphasis – I hope it wouldn’t offend people to do something on Picaxe?

I build all sorts of rather complex home automation things with picaxes, but in keeping with the theme of this article, I might see how quickly and cheaply I can get a led to flash. No expensive development kits – just a microcontroller chip, a small bit of protoboard and a few recycled components. Do you think this would be of interest?

By: dfowler

dfowler — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 07:04:59 +0000

James,

How about writing an article about development with the Picax for uC Hobby. You can get an Ardunio kit for this.

I like the AVR processors and have been warming up to the Ardunio platform. I have been doing embedded development for awhile and normaly perfer a straigh C compiler which you can of course do wiht the Ardunio setup as well.

By: jwrjr

jwrjr — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:49:28 +0000

I program PICs in assembler. This isn’t difficult, as some PICs have only 35 instructions, most of which I rarely need. I use MPLAB, of course. Inexpensive programmers can be found on Ebay, as long as you don’t mind that many of the programmers will be made in China. The one that I have works fine with MPLAB.