Will this do what I want it to do?

[sdantonio]

I am in the process of building a set of PicStep boards and will eventually need to progran the Pic's.

I found this premade JDM flash unit on ebay. Actually there are quite a few of them. The particular PIC chip used in the PicStep boards is listed in their listing of supported devices.

Does anyone here have and practical experience using one of these units? Is there anything special I need to watch out for in using this? Any special advice?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Microchip-PIC-JD...QQcmdZViewItem

Steven

(the JDM schmatics are on the web, but it would probably cost me a fair amount in parts and way to much in agrivation to make the flash unit, so for a total of $28 including shipping, buying it may be the easiest way out).

[tekno]

Nice I have been looking for one also

I dont have a clue on if its good for what we need for alens picstep V4 board tho

Im sure someone will tell us

[vacpress]

I just purchased one from singapore, but it hasnt arrived so i cannot give much details, but i do beleive it is a good choice. It is a clone of the Microchip MPLAB ICD debugger programmer. It allows you much more control in debugging assembler or C code. See the link. At around $50, i hope it is the last pic programmer i need for awhile!

i have gone through a few. they ALWAYS seem to stop working. very, very frustrating, really.. but, that is another story..

also frustrating: trying to build one yourself over and over, and failing over and over!

ICD2 On Ebay

[sdantonio]

The company that makes the one I was looking at makes one with a USB interface also for the same price. Could be very similar technology. Let me know how it works for you please.

[randyf1965]

I wish I could have found one that cheap when I built my PicSteps.... but my programmer cost me maybe $5 (large spare parts box)

[abasir]

Take note of the followings:
1. JDM-based programmer is powered by serial port. Some serial ports do not provide enough voltage for the programmer to work. That said, I've been using it (homemade) for years with no problem.
2. JDM-based programmer are not ICD (in-circuit-debugger). They are just for programming only.
3. If there is a USB version for same price, I get the USB version instead of the serial port ones.

[vladdy]

When I did my picstep boards [ bought from dbernt ??], I got a combo board kit, with both usb and serial, as I may use with both older and newer computers as time goes by..
It was the DIY K149 kit, can be ordered from Kitsrus as well as others..added the ZIF socket on later, makes it a bit easier when doing larger quantities..
price wasn't bad, it works...good enough.. think it even supports ICP..?

Had a couple of older homemade programmers, this one gave a much larger supported list, plus the software works reliably...bonus..
enjoy.

[sdantonio]

Well, I put in an order for it last night. between home, work and my folks I have access to about 10 computers of different types. If the voltage of the RS232 is off on one then I'll try on another. One should work. And the chip is supported by the flash unit and the software (at least acording to the ebay listing). The least expensive USB unit I saw was at least twice the price.

Thanks for the feedback on this.
Steven

[tekno]

I recieved my programer today. i think its a clone of kits R us.. Its complete with software. nice


Also was fast shipping


Ebay link




Tek

[vladdy]

It may be a clone, or just one of the older series KitsRus, but it's nice in that at least it comes assembled.. makes it a little easier to use right off the start..
Looks like the older B or C series K149 styles, the newer D series uses a surface mount FT232 serial interface chip, presoldered on the kits..
If he includes software on disk, it should be correct, if it's a link just make sure the series code matches, on mine the I had to use a spare pic to upgrade from DIYpack 22 to the now current DIY25 pack..
I tried mine in both serial and usb modes, and seemed to get better [more consistent one burn writes] and slightly faster writes in serial mode, but that requires an additional wallwart supply..not needed if using USB mode..

enjoy..