Simple PIC Programmer

Simple PIC Programmer

Not having touched a PIC for about 18 months, and having been offered some freelance work programming a new PIC device, I needed a quick reintroduction to their architecture, software and little quirks. I ordered a couple of 16F84 devices and looked around on the web for a simple programmer.

The simplest one I could find was a serial port programmer: JDMprog. It uses a small number of low-cost components, and is unique in that it doesn't need an external power supply, getting its power from the serial port.

I've designed a little PCB for this programmer, which is very easy to make at home. My prototype is depicted above. It's nice and compact (2.25' by 1.75'), single-sided, with seven wire links. The original JDMprog unit used a 25 way connector, I've substituted a 9 way part. It supports the newer 16F628 device as well as the 16F84.

Here is the layout:

and here is a zipped file containing the schematic and the artwork for a laser printer: jdmprog.zip.

It's supported by Bonny Gijzen's excellent IC-PROG software: https://www.ic-prog.com/.

If you are new to PICs, go here to find out how to get started with them.

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