@ t06afre: Thank you for your help. i am going to try this out too
will have to find out if the starter kit's available in this part of the universe
i hope it is. the programmers available here are all designed to use the serial port and i was told that the accompanying software won't recognise a USB - serial converter.

Stay away from any serial programmers, You will only come to grief with them. Order a Microchip device like PICkit 2 or 3.
By the way which part of the world are you located in?

 

@ t06afre: Yes, that's exactly what everyone's telling me! I live in India. i think PICkit is available here. Gotta check. The ONE good thing that happens this side of the world is that components are cheaper! i compared component prices with ones listed on the Radioshack site, it's way cheaper here!
That's the only saving grace! Apart from that, hunting for certain things is a task!

 

@ t06afre: Yes, that's exactly what everyone's telling me! I live in India. i think PICkit is available here. Gotta check. The ONE good thing that happens this side of the world is that components are cheaper! i compared component prices with ones listed on the Radioshack site, it's way cheaper here!
That's the only saving grace! Apart from that, hunting for certain things is a task!

Nick,

Sorry for getting off topic but do you have local retail stores that sell components?

I live in a fairly large city in the States and the best I can do is a store that is 30 miles away, carries few components and is only open 1-4 on weekdays. When I was young, we had a number of stores in and arounfd the city. Now all we have left is Radio Shack and they carry very little anymore.

 

@Spinnaker: Yes we do
There's this street called S.P. road about 2 mi from where i live, there are about 30 shops that sell components. I have an entire block of shops dedicated to electronic components in my hometown. some of these shops are open 7 days a week! We, thankfully, don't have a radioshack Good thing is i get components for a good price if i hunt around.
And hey, please don't ever apologise for anything. apologies are not to be wasted for something as trivial as this

 

Does anyone have a circuit schematic using PIC? I seem to have hit a dead end with circuit design! Never designed one around PICs!

 

Is this related to your blinking LEDs?

 

Does anyone have a circuit schematic using PIC? I seem to have hit a dead end with circuit design! Never designed one around PICs!

There are 100's if not 1000's of example circuits. Just do a search.


Microchip has PIC18F45K20 – MPLAB® C Lessons. It contains lessons on programming the PIC but includes a schematic in the back.

 

@t06afre: Yes.

@ Spinnaker: Thank you
will do.

 

here is some free online Ebboks including Microchip CPUs
http://www.mikroe.com/en/books/
By the way do have a PICKIT or clone now?

 

@t06afre: Yes.

@ Spinnaker: Thank you
will do.

Just post back if you get lost but it is REALLY easy. Basically a couple of .1uf capacitors, the closest you can get them to your supply pin. Your LED and a proper sized current limit resistor.

The hardest part is connecting the header connector for your programmer put that is just a matter of wiring things correctly.

Just a hint. Do voltage measurements on your socket before plugging in your PIC.

 

Just post back if you get lost but it is REALLY easy. Basically a couple of .1uf capacitors, the closest you can get them to your supply pin. Your LED and a proper sized current limit resistor.

The hardest part is connecting the header connector for your programmer put that is just a matter of wiring things correctly.

Just a hint. Do voltage measurements on your socket before plugging in your PIC.

Thank you. I'll design it this weekend. let me see how far I can get. I guess I can avoid the header if I program the PIC using a programmer, can't I? or is the header an absolute necessity?

 

here is some free online Ebboks including Microchip CPUs
http://www.mikroe.com/en/books/
By the way do have a PICKIT or clone now?

Thank you I've been hunting around for a programmer. all that most of the shops have are expensive and all use the serial port.
i got this circuit for a programmer off Instructables.com (GTP USB PIC PROGRAMMER), do you think it's worth it? Supposed to work for a wole lot of PICs!

 

Yes I don't see why you would need one if you have a programmer.

I have the PICKit 3. A lot easier than building one yourself and you can debug in circuit.

 

Yes I don't see why you would need one if you have a programmer.

I have the PICKit 3. A lot easier than building one yourself and you can debug in circuit.

Great that's the way I'm headed then
weight being a concern, I'd always welcome a way to shave as much off the gross weight as possible - even if it's a gram or two.
My next project is an Automatic Guidance System using GPS (autopilot)
Have no Idea where to begin! Well, I still am in the thinking over and 'do I have enough money to spend on it?' phase with that

 

The latest dead end i have run into is finding a programmer!
No USB programmers available! one shop moron went on to say No such thing exists!
I am going out of town for a few days, going to try and locate the elusive thing!
i went and bought a whole box of PICs more for me to fry

 

To be honest I a puzzled by the fact that your market was not filled with PICKIT clones all made locally. Microchip have made the PICKIT 2 since 2005. And they have never kept the design/firmware secret.

 

My next project is an Automatic Guidance System using GPS (autopilot)
Have no Idea where to begin! Well, I still am in the thinking over and 'do I have enough money to spend on it?' phase with that

You are in for a major project. I hope you like math!

The first thing you are going to have to work out is stability. I would think you would need a gyro to make sure your plane is flying straight and level. I am not sure how you would control yawl, maybe with sensors of some kind on the wing tips.



Then you will probably need a altimeter. The altitude from the GPS will not be accurate enough.


If you get the plane flying in a straight line at a set altitude, you accomplished a lot.


Then you can move on to a GPS. I think the interfacing part would be easy. It is the math part that would be hard. The first thing you would need to do is calculate current heading. Then you are going to have to figure out how to calculate a fix to a given waypoint.

I think here if you got the plane to fly to a waypoint and return that would be very cool. Flying a box would be a major accomplishment.


You can see from my home page that I have worked a bit with GPS devices.

 

To be honest I a puzzled by the fact that your market was not filled with PICKIT clones all made locally. Microchip have made the PICKIT 2 since 2005. And they have never kept the design/firmware secret.

I'm in a place called Bangalore and here's well known for a lot of things except what I need! there's an active electronic market here but most shop owners are pig-headed!
I am going to Bombay (now, unfortunately called, Mumbai) the electronics market there is 10 times larger and they stock everything that's ever been made.

 

You are in for a major project. I hope you like math!

Oh yea! I love math! Not that I'm a math genius, I try to figure it out myself first and then beg, plead, threaten people into helping me, if I can't. Well, what else can a High School drop out do!

The first thing you are going to have to work out is stability. I would think you would need a gyro to make sure your plane is flying straight and level. I am not sure how you would control yawl, maybe with sensors of some kind on the wing tips.

Stability can easily be worked out. Building a highly accurate gyro is the tough part well, it's gonna be fun!
My first aircraft model was the Junkers JU87 Stuka. Flew well as long as I controlled it well! My aim now, is automation!

Then you will probably need a altimeter. The altitude from the GPS will not be accurate enough.

I was planning to use an array infrared distance meters. One pointing aft, one fore, one down. somewhat like a crude Ground Proximity Warning System. I Think i'm getting ahead of myself with this! Hope that works.

If you get the plane flying in a straight line at a set altitude, you accomplished a lot.


Then you can move on to a GPS. I think the interfacing part would be easy. It is the math part that would be hard. The first thing you would need to do is calculate current heading. Then you are going to have to figure out how to calculate a fix to a given waypoint.

I think here if you got the plane to fly to a waypoint and return that would be very cool. Flying a box would be a major accomplishment.

My aim is to get the plane to fly to a set of waypoints and land back at home base. Let's see how far I go with this. Yes as you said, the interfacing is the easy part. getting the math right..... well a whole different ballgame! (I'd either end up being the first high school dropout aerospace engineer in this country or somebody's PhD thesis paper!)

You can see from my home page that I have worked a bit with GPS devices.

you are going to get a lot of pleas for help. I'll try not to bug you too much. No promises