Hi all. I recently purchased the book "PIC Robotics, A beginer's guide to Robotics Projects using the PICMicro. By John Irvine". I like the book and I want to experiment with various projects presented in it but in order to do so I need to purchase both a compiler and a programer. The problem is that the recommended programer and compiling software are a little cost prohibitive to me. $60 for the EPIC Programmer from MicroEngineering labs inc. and $100 for the PicBasic compiler, also from MicroEngineering labs inc. I was wondering if anyone could suggest cheaper substitutes that would suit the following needs.
For the programmer:
*Pre-assembled
*Able to program at least the PIC16F84 (although the ability to program other chips as well would be nice)
*Easy to use, I've never used any of this equipment before and I would rather get a cheap programmer for the time being that is more "idiot proof" even if it doesn't have as many features as other programmers on the market.
For the compiler:
*Able to compile PicBasic.
*Once again, easy to use.
I'm looking to spend as little as possible for these products while still recieving a product that will work as it's supposed to. Any suggestions would be very greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.