Alternative for picaxe08

Thread Starter

jose_007

Joined May 3, 2011
24
Please guide with a good alternative for PICAXE-08 microcontroller.....
Preferable programming in BASIC


Thanks
Jose
 

ErnieM

Joined Apr 24, 2011
8,377
A (real) PIC, a PICKIT 3 programmer/debugger and some free version of Basic for PICs.
QFT

I would add Microchip has free evaluation versions of their C compilers that work with the 18 series and up.

For more baseline devices (10's, 12's and 16's) see SourceBoost who also has free evaluation versions. Though more limited then MC's versions you can still push thru some useful stuff.

Though I stopped using them a few years ago oshonsoft.com has some very inexpensive Basic compilers that I found very useful, though I do not believe they integrate into the MPLAB environment (which is a very useful thing).
 

t06afre

Joined May 11, 2009
5,934
Preferable programming in BASIC
If you are going to program in basic you will need a Basic compiler. MCU programming the proper way is quite different from the way you probably know from the flimsy PICaxe way of doing things.
And also PIC have many hundred MCUs. What kind of work do you want to do with your MCU
 

Thread Starter

jose_007

Joined May 3, 2011
24
@t06afre
I had designed my circuit with picaxe 08 but its unavailable right now..So i was looking for an identical MCU of another company...Can you guide please...
 

AlexR

Joined Jan 16, 2008
732
@t06afre
I had designed my circuit with picaxe 08 but its unavailable right now..So i was looking for an identical MCU of another company...Can you guide please...
There is no other company!
The picaxe08 uses the Microchip's PIC12F629 microcontroller chip into which the picaxe people program a their proprietary Basic interpreter. No-one other than picaxe sells chips that run picaxe software.
Your options are;
1. Re-write your code to suit a picaxe you can get.
2. Learn to program Microchip PIC chips in either assembler or C and get a PICKIT2/3 programmer. This will give you access to a very larger range of microcontroller chips and the ability to create much more powerful programs that the picaxe can handle.
 
jose 007:
The Pickit 2 starter kit, includes the low pin count demo board, and would be a good way to start. GCBasic is a capable open source Basic compiler.
 

Thread Starter

jose_007

Joined May 3, 2011
24
@AlexR
thanks for reply

you mean to say that no chip other than picaxe can be programmed with BASIC ? and all require C ??
 

Thread Starter

jose_007

Joined May 3, 2011
24
sorry to say but I dont get the point.....what's picaxe concept you are talking about ?

and does it mean i should search for PIC12F629 sold by some other company or what ??I mean what should i say to vendor ?
 

AlexR

Joined Jan 16, 2008
732
As I said previously the picaxe has a basic interpreter programmed into the chip. This means that you download the Basic text file to the chip. It read the text file and on the fly translates the Basic command into machine code that the microcontroller can understand.
Only the picaxe has the picaxe Basic interpreter programmed into it so only a picaxe will run a picaxe Basic program.

If you are using a PIC chip and not the using the picaxe then you must run a compiler on you computer. It can run Basic, C, assembler or any language you like but it must be written for PIC chips. The compiler converts your text source code into binary machine code that the PIC can understand.
You then have to use a programmer to burn the binary machine code into the PIC flash memory.
 

Thread Starter

jose_007

Joined May 3, 2011
24
@alex
Thanks for explaining that.....My doubts are cleared now...
Just 3 things:
1)If I feed the same code(in BASIC) as of picaxe into any of the compilers earlier mentioned,will it work ?...Sorry if its dumb
2)Will the original circuit have to be modified ?
3)As I am not getting picaxe 08 ,can i simply ask vendor to give me any PIC12F629 chip ?


Thanks again everyone
 

AlexR

Joined Jan 16, 2008
732
@alex
Thanks for explaining that.....My doubts are cleared now...
Just 3 things:
1)If I feed the same code(in BASIC) as of picaxe into any of the compilers earlier mentioned,will it work ?...Sorry if its dumb
It might or it might not. There are no standards for the basic language so it all depends how close the basic you choose is in its commands and syntax to the basic that picaxe uses. However since picaxe seems to hide much of the PIC functionality behind high level commands I would guess that your program will need quite a bit of modification.
2)Will the original circuit have to be modified ?
Probably. If you are using the PIC12F629 chip you will gain a couple of extra I/O pins that were used by the PICAXE loader but depending on your programmer you may need to provide some programming connections.
3)As I am not getting picaxe 08 ,can i simply ask vendor to give me any PIC12F629 chip ?


Thanks again everyone
Yes you can but you also need to get a programmer some compiler software.
 

Thread Starter

jose_007

Joined May 3, 2011
24
Probably. If you are using the PIC12F629 chip you will gain a couple of extra I/O pins that were used by the PICAXE loader but depending on your programmer you may need to provide some programming connections.
in picaxe ,i was using 6 pins of i/o and 2 pins for programming.....
and PIC12F629 datasheet also says the same thing....so where am i going to gain pins ? and eventually waht will be need to modify the circuit ?


Also,if by any chance i am gaining any pin,but my circuit appears ok with old config. , is it fine to leave a pin idle ??I mean no connection anywhere


Thanks
 
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