finally getting a PIC

[blueroomelectronics]

JDM programmers are very simple, they rely on your serial port to be able to source enough voltage with enough current to get the PIC into program mode. Also your very fast GHz PCs multithreading OS is not ideal for the slow ms timing required. That said it's an easy afternoon project that will either work or not.
JDM was designed and built when old 486PCs with windows 3.1 were the norm.

 

[Pommie]

If you have a P3 with a serial port then a JDM will probably work fine. Rather than IcProg, I would recommend WinPic, it seems more reliable.

Have a look around that site. Especially at the FAQ. It has a much better version of the JDM programmer.

Mike.

 

[skyhawk]

If you have the money, save yourself some pain and buy a PICkit 2 or Junebug. I don't want to undercut Bill's sales but will point out that the PICkit 2 comes assembled, which eliminates one potential problem for a beginner.

I don't know that they still do it, but a couple of years ago when I bought my PICkit 2 from Newark they threw in a good assortment of baseline PICs. Nice bonus worth a few bucks if you are willing to live with the limitation of baseline PIC's, mainly the 2-deep stack. I made a "LCD billboard" using a 16F54. No sweat!

 

[davidbball13]

If you have the money, save yourself some pain and buy a PICkit 2 or Junebug. I don't want to undercut Bill's sales but will point out that the PICkit 2 comes assembled, which eliminates one potential problem for a beginner.

I don't know that they still do it, but a couple of years ago when I bought my PICkit 2 from Newark they threw in a good assortment of baseline PICs. Nice bonus worth a few bucks if you are willing to live with the limitation of baseline PIC's, mainly the 2-deep stack. I made a "LCD billboard" using a 16F54. No sweat!

through hole soldering is easy. plus Bill/Will saied he can though in some PICs and what not for a few buck more.

 

[Krumlink]

Go for the junebug, as it is an incredible piece of hardware. I have 2 of them and it is a lot of fun programming one and reading it, then swapping the other one and write it, all without importing the code! it keeps it right in PicKit2 application! JDM's are a pain in the arsenic, and if you do not set the configs right you will not be able to program your PIC with the JDM. HVP'ers are better than LVP (your JDM).

@Bill: Blue resistors

For my ICSP cables, I just put a 1x5 header into the cable and plug it into the breadboard. Pretty much the same thing as futz's but without the socket's shroud.

 

[Krumlink]

Wont let me edit my previous post, but JDM are not LVP sorry