IR to PIC

[Nigel Goodwin]

3. No I don’t think I have ceramic non polar. Do you think that could cause this problem?

Makes no difference whatsoever, small electrolytics are perfectly fine around a 78xx regulator.

Tutorial 5.3 feeds LED's from IR, and doesn't use LCD at all.

 

[RMIM]

YAAAAHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

IT WORKSSSSSSSSSSS

I removed all the lines pertaining to the LCD and it works 100%.

As a double check I re-flashed with the original code, sure enough – it stopped working again. Re-flashed with modified code and it started to work like a charm!

Any thoughts as to what was going on? This kind of thing scares me a lot – a person can lose a lot of time over this. Extremely frustrating if this kind of thing happens often. I hope this is the last incident I have like this.

Thanks for all the help guys.
Thanks again for the tutorials Nigel.

[SOLVED]

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Any thoughts as to what was going on?

Don't use the wrong code - it's a bizzare idea using code to drive an LCD when you're not using an LCD.

 

[birdman0_o]

Extremely frustrating if this kind of thing happens often. I hope this is the last incident I have like this.

Welcome to the world of programming my friend!
When you start writtng your own codes it will take 2x longer to debug

 

[blueroomelectronics]

I suggest getting an 16F88 as it supports debug. The 16F628A does not.

 

[samagag]

FSO Transceiver circuit wanted

Hell, can someone show me where to get a data / audio transceiver circuit for free space optics project

 

[birdman0_o]

I suggest getting an 16F88 as it supports debug. The 16F628A does not.

What do you mean by this?

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

What do you mean by this?

Exactly what it says - what don't you understand?.

 

[birdman0_o]

The context of 'debug'

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

The context of 'debug'

A PICKit2 or ICD2 allows you to debug via MPLAB, single-stepping etc.

You can do this on many PIC's, but NOT a 16F628A.

 

[blueroomelectronics]

Debug also lets you stop & restart a running program and examine / modify any or all its SFRs and RAM. It's available in almost all PICs now (older and low pin count PICs need a debug module ~$27).

 

[birdman0_o]

It lets you debug while the uC is plugged in and running? I will have a look at the f88 datasheet!

 

[birdman0_o]

17.11 MPLAB ICD 2 In-Circuit Debugger
Microchip’s In-Circuit Debugger, MPLAB ICD 2, is a
powerful, low-cost, run-time development tool,
connecting to the host PC via an RS-232 or high-speed
USB interface. This tool is based on the Flash
PICmicro MCUs and can be used to develop for these
and other PICmicro microcontrollers. The MPLAB
ICD 2 utilizes the in-circuit debugging capability built
into the Flash devices. This feature, along with
Microchip’s In-Circuit Serial ProgrammingTM (ICSPTM)
protocol, offers cost effective in-circuit Flash debugging
from the graphical user interface of the MPLAB
Integrated Development Environment. This enables a
designer to develop and debug source code by setting
breakpoints, single-stepping and watching variables,
CPU status and peripheral registers. Running at full
speed enables testing hardware and applications in
real-time. MPLAB ICD 2 also serves as a development
programmer for selected PICmicro devices.

Neat! I will definitely need to look into this

 

[mneary]

Several places in the LCD tutorial, it waits for the LCD to indicate it's ready. Since it's a floating input on your prototype, waving a hand near it allows the code to continue.

 

[RMIM]

Don't use the wrong code - it's a bizzare idea using code to drive an LCD when you're not using an LCD.

I suppose. But I did not read that far down to Tutorial 5.3. So used 5.1.

I will now use and modify 5.3.

Still, was a good experience – next time before I start to hack my circuit I will check the code. Not that there was anything wrong with the code, a side effect of the LCD not being present was what I was experiencing.

 

[RMIM]

I suggest getting an 16F88 as it supports debug. The 16F628A does not.

Great stuff. Will do.

 

[blueroomelectronics]

Or if you want I/O the 16F887 is nice, or if you want a PIC that won't drive you crazy with bank switching and such the 18F4620 has got it all.
Of course the common 16F877A is still very popular.
All have debug and support the PK2.
I'd go for the 18F4620 or 18F1320 (like my Junebug uses) I can't find any real reason to recommend the older 14bit core stuff anymore (except it has a couple of neat 8 pin parts)