Microchip PIC Forum: [piclist] An introduction & Many Questions

Saturday, November 10, 2007

[piclist] An introduction & Many Questions

Howdy:
I'm what you would call an O.T.H.E. (Over-The-Hill_Engineer).
Have not done any Electrical Engineering since the early to mid 80's,
but now have the bug to resume. I plan on some minor PIC projects,
some for fun, and one to sell, small-time. My programming background
was strictly Assembly, (6800 - 6809 - 8086 - 8088), as well as
hardware. As far as programming goes, I plan on going strictly
Assembly again. I'll probably start with the 16F84, with the intent
to grow. In addition, I have an XP computer, so will need something
compatible with USB.

After surfing here for a while, I'm still confused about what
programmer/development/debugger to get. I suppose I could go direct
to Microchip - but am trying to save a few $$.

There are several on the web and ebay, in particular. Is anyone
familiar or used anything from the following ebay stores:

MDflystore ; Jeffs-store ; or the Chi-Com outfit from Hong Kong
"VirtualVillage-USA" or the Bulgarians, "Olimex" ?

There are even some that appear to be re-selling authentic Microchip
boards. I'm sure there will be a multitude of opinions, but look
forward to hearing them.

Ken