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EPPO - a low-cost PIC-programmer
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PIC controllers are often used for simple control applications.
They are affordable, well obtainable and relatively simple to program.
For these reasons they are often used in HAM projects.
On popular demand, the museum is now able to supply a cheap self-build
PIC-programmer. Dolf Spoor -PA3AGT- and Marc Simons -PE1RRT- set out
to design a suitable kit and the result is: EPPO.
The kit costs only 25 Euros and was available for sale for the first time at
the Dutch Radio Vlooienmarkt in Rosmalen on Saturday 17 March 2007.
For the latest software release, please check the special EPPO website.
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Scripts can be created to make the programmer suitable for most of the
common PIC-processors. In the first release it is suitable for
the 12F629
and the 12F675.
The 16F84 will be added later.
Other processors will be added in the future.
The (rather old) 16F84 is commonly used in some (older) HAM applications.
The 12F629 and the 12F675 are ideal for newer HAM applications and should
be used in preference to the older 16F84.
A PIC 12F675 is included in the price. This is an 8-pin device with
lost of features packed in its small body. 6 of the 8 pins can be used for
I/O and each of the I/O pins are powerful enough to drive an LED directly.
Furthermore, this powerhouse contains an analog comparator, a 10-bit A/D converter and a 16-bit timer.
De processor can run on the internal 4MHz clock, or an external clock of
up to 20MHz. The 12F629 is a cut-down version of the 12F675 (the A/D convertor
is missing). However, due to the minor price difference, we assume that most
people will use the 12F675 for their home projects.
 Read the full article of Electron March 2007 (Dutch)
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The hardware
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As you can see in this image, EPPO is built on a professional double-sided
PCB, consisting of two parts. The leftmost part is the programmer, whilst the
right half is used for a demo circuit. The demo circuit can easily be broken
away from the other part.
The programmer (on the left) consists of a serial interface (left) and
a programming interface cosisting of two empty sockets and a header.
The empty sockets can be used to program a controller directly on the board,
whilst the header is used for in-circuit programming.
Click the image to enlarge.
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The software
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On the left are a few screen shorts of the programming software.
Click any of these images to enlarge.
More information about the software will be available in the
April 2007 issue of Electron (Dutch).
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Download
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Links
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