Basic Stamp Stack II and PICs
Jaem
Posts: 2
Hi,
you'll have to excuse me if I ask stupid questions on this forum - I'm a newbie to electronics. (that is to say, I've fiddled with electronics for years, but the first formal training I had was in grade 12 last year. I'm going into electronics engineering.)
That said, here's my question:
I've found out that Microchip gives out free product samples (quite generously), which makes them a good way of getting microcontrollers, and lots of them. Being on a low (read: student) budget, this suits me well, however, I would still need a programmer for them. I understand that they can be relatively cheap if you make them yourself, but there is also the fact that I'm no expert at soldering, and don't have all the tools that I probably should.
Because of this, I was wondering if there's any way to take a Basic Stamp Stack II (which I was given by a friend), and use it to program PICs: e.g. plug it into a socket on a PCB with the PIC - the idea being that you could still remove the Stamp, but its RS232 interface, etc. could be used to cut down on external circuitry. Also, I gather that you could do a lot with software, further reducing part count.
Would this be feasible? Would it make it any easier for someone relatively unskilled as myself, or is it complicating things more? (I am fairly comfortable with the Stamp). Has anyone done it before?
<>< Jeffery MacEachern <><
/* No Comment */
you'll have to excuse me if I ask stupid questions on this forum - I'm a newbie to electronics. (that is to say, I've fiddled with electronics for years, but the first formal training I had was in grade 12 last year. I'm going into electronics engineering.)
That said, here's my question:
I've found out that Microchip gives out free product samples (quite generously), which makes them a good way of getting microcontrollers, and lots of them. Being on a low (read: student) budget, this suits me well, however, I would still need a programmer for them. I understand that they can be relatively cheap if you make them yourself, but there is also the fact that I'm no expert at soldering, and don't have all the tools that I probably should.
Because of this, I was wondering if there's any way to take a Basic Stamp Stack II (which I was given by a friend), and use it to program PICs: e.g. plug it into a socket on a PCB with the PIC - the idea being that you could still remove the Stamp, but its RS232 interface, etc. could be used to cut down on external circuitry. Also, I gather that you could do a lot with software, further reducing part count.
Would this be feasible? Would it make it any easier for someone relatively unskilled as myself, or is it complicating things more? (I am fairly comfortable with the Stamp). Has anyone done it before?
<>< Jeffery MacEachern <><
/* No Comment */
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Chris Savage
Parallax Tech Support
If you want to program a PIC, you will need to know Assembly as that is the only way to program it "on the cheap"... google "PIC Programmer" and you will find many "free" plans and approaches..
If you don't know Assembler and want to program in PBASIC, you can create your own... the only real part you need is the "secret Sauce pre-programmed PIC" from Parallax... you can buy them here --> http://www.parallax.com/html_pages/products/basicstamps/oem_components.asp
Hope this helps!