Well, well. How time flies! More than two decades ago, I was using a PicStart Plus programmer for the PIC microcontrollers. Very quickly, the model was considered as a matured product a decade later. Last year, I was trying to save (unsuccessfully) up for their most current programmer PICkit 4. And just a few days ago, an email informed me that PICkit 5 is now available. The thing is, PICstart Plus is the only programmer which has a ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) socket and I am so used to it.
But with the PICkit series, there are no such thing and all it has are a series of SIL pins. This is OK if you have only one chip to program. But if I do a run, this is going to be an issue. All the more reason I turn to my aging PICstart Plus where I can first program the chips and then solder them. But it is a matured product and does not do ‘modern’ microcontrollers.
PROGRAMMER OR CHIPS?
In this Hobby, programming the microcontroller chip is the most important stage. For without it, even if you have the most updated software and with the code ready, the whole project can fall flat just like that. I have a few options. First is, I can either try to replace or repair my failing programmer when required or, I can spend a little more to get another used unit and run the risk that they might not work well or, have compatibility issues. Or, I can just get the PICkit5 and settle with redesigning my circuit and make new adaptors.
When I first started, I was using the microcontrollers in DIL form which looks like your normal IC chip.
As I progress, I turned to SMD package which is smaller but needs an adaptor.
Another issue is that the microcontroller chips that I am currently using are can be will be superseded any time in the near or long future. This implication would mean my having to upgrade both software and hardware before I can use the newer chips. The writing is on the wall years ago but to be honest, this is still not an immediate issue as the more pressing matter would be the availability of the microcontrollers themselves. Many chip manufacturers has not recovered from the Pandemic yet. The chips I need would be available next year unless I do not mind paying a little extra if I wanted them soonest.
ICSP NOW?
PICkit5 might be the ideal model when I start to ‘upgrade’ my programmer. And because of it’s form and how it connects to the microcontroller, I would need to incorporate the ISCP (In-Circuit Serial Programming) feature into my design. This means, I can just plug in my circuit board directly to the programmer for it to do its job. This means, less physical wear and tear on the microcontroller legs which leads to unreliable programming status. This also means I can have the convenience of programming and re-programming the microcontroller without having to taking it out and in to the board.
