reagrding pic microcontroller

[yviswanathbe]

Hi Friends,

I want to start working with PIC Microcontroller.

Can somebody suggest me a low cost 8 bit micro controller (Part Number).
I am ready to buy development kit.Please help me in this regard.

Thanks and Regards,
Viswanath

 

[jumper2high]

If you've never done microcontroller programming, I'd suggest the PIC16F84A if you can still buy it (EOL). Mainly because that's the most popular PIC mentioned in basic tutorials.


The PicKIT 3 comes with a small PIC18 demonstration board which is good enough for basic learning, too, but it's quite a bit more complicated MCU to start out with.

 

[Sink0]

I would go for PIC18F2550 + PicKit2 or PicKit3.. Pic18F2550 have everything you need to learn.. and a lot of good features like a USB port.. very useful. If you go direct to C programing i think it is the same as to start with a PIC16F84A...

Cya

 

[wp100]

Hi,

Your first need a good programmer and a genuine Microchip USB Pickit2 Programmer is the one to get.

You can also buy it with little trainer boards, being the PK2 Starter kit or the PK2 Debugger kit - possibly the Starter kit will be better as it uses standard parts which can be changed, unlike the Debugger board which uses SMD.
Both kits are simple and quiet low cost - when I refer to the kits - they are all ready built.

These kits come with everything your need, hardware,software and tutorials to get programming in either C or Assembler.

By the time you have learnt all that then you will have the knowledge to make your own choice for a bigger development board.
If you rush out and buy a expensive board now without understanding things it might be a poor investment.

 

[yviswanathbe]

Hi Friends,

Thanks for your valuable replies.

I have worked on Micro controllers but i haven't had exposure on PIC Microcontrollers
thats why i wanted to know which micro controller is best to start with.


Regards,
viswanath.

 

[Nick C.]

I'd also suggest starting with one of the lower-end, popular uC's such as the PIC16F84A, PIC16F876A, and PIC16F877A.

There are so many documented projects using these parts online and in magazines (Elektor, Nuts & Volts, Everyday Practical Electronics, etc). Like with anything else, there's a certain learning curve and little things to be aware of when using these parts, and seeing other people's working projects/code can be very helpful.

For the programmer, I'd also suggest the PICkit 2. Buy the original, as it's often the same price or even cheaper ($40) than the clones. The PICkit 3 has been out for a while, but while adding new parts, it has dropped a lot of functionality (no more 3 channel logic analyzer, UART tool for monitoring serial comms, etc).

Here are two videos, one showing how to program a part with the PICkit 2, the other showing the logic analyzer (not available in the PICkit3).

 

[yviswanathbe]

Hi Nick,

Thanks alot for your suggestion.

I will go through the parts you have suggested.

Regards,
Viswanath