Programmer opinion request : Solved

[rnielsen]

Hello all,

I have been using a Warp-13 programmer for many years and now I find I am needing to use MCU's that it can no longer support. I have found a programmer GQ-4X at http://www.mcumall.com/comersus/store/comersus_viewItem.asp?idProduct=4282 and would like to know if anybody has an opinion on it.

From what I can see it is a fairly good multi-part programmer.

Thanks

Ronald

[temtronic]

Had a quick look...

over priced
under PICked.

$150 CDN and only does 20+- PICs !

It appears to be an EPROM blaster more than a PIC programmer(from their 'programing parts list'

I've had great success with the PICkit3 past few years as a replacement to the TWO PICStart+ I have, as Microchip stopped supporting them
Bear in mind I ONLY use it to program PICs, not the 'simulator' or 'debug' or whatever fancy words 'they' use today. I JUST download code to PICs through it.

I've seen PK3s for $30 CDN.

Jay

[newguy]

If you're only programming PICs, then I've had great success with ICD-U40, -U64 and the Load-n-Go. If you do a lot of field work/programming, the Load-n-Go can't be beat. If you're only dealing with workbench programming, then one of the ICD units is fine. With the introduction of the ICD-U80 I take it that the -U64 is now obsolete. I have no experience with the -U80, but I assume it's absolutely fine.

[gjs_rsdi]

Very pleased with ICD-U64 as programmer.

Best wishes
Joe

[gaugeguy]

If you need to program multiples at one time for production then Prime8 from CCS works very well.
On many newer PICs ICD3 programs much faster than PicKit3.

[benoitstjean]

If I may add my two cents... I would suggest the following two options.

1) CCS's ICD-U64 programmer (p/n 429-1012-ND from DigiKey) @ 108.18$CAD + 8.00$ shipping.

2) Microchip's PICKIT3 (p/n PG164130-ND from DigiKey) @ 72.45$CAD + 8.00$ shipping.

The nice thing with the ICD-U64 is that once you compile in CCS, you then just hit 'program' and it programs the compiled hex file. You may be able to do it with the PICKIT3 but I have never looked into it just because I use the ICD-U64 although I have both.

For Microchip's programmer, you use their program... it's simple though. Once you've selected the right chip when you first start the app, it's only a matter of pressing CTRL+I to load the file and CTRL+W to program. Once you've loaded the hex file at least once, it will always re-open the same file when you hit CTRL+I...

So where I'm going with this is that once you compile in CCS, hit ALT+TAB to switch to Microchip's program, then CTRL+I to load the file then ENTER to accept the file followed by CTRL+W to program... so 4 seconds to load + burn the file instead of 1 second with the ICD-U64.

Both work well but the ICD-U64 works right in the compiler.

Ben

[newguy]

I have to clarify something. I have found (unfortunately), that when CCS releases new programmer FW, that it sometimes isn't backward compatible with early hardware revisions of the same programmer. I've learned that if I'm having programmer issues (can't verify or doesn't properly discover the attached PIC), then downgrading the FW often fixes the issue.

Note that all of my CCS programmers are very old. The couple of occasions when I had to buy newer ones through my old job, those programmers were a different HW revision than my old ones, and the CCS FW updates worked with them flawlessly.

[asmboy]

I use the U-64 on my own desk
and like it-

- but in our production/test area - a different matter

there are over a dozen ICD configured melabs "U2" programmers -

that can be had just now (1-20-17) for under
$70 each -
and i have just tested their beta software for very new parts like
the 18F47k40 etc..

handles every pic family from top to bottom

http://store.melabs.com/prod/u2/U2.html

very responsive to updating part support too.

[Gabriel]

I use a Pickit3 and its great... have not used the others mentioned here.

I use the CCS inline compilers with MPLAB as IDE.

It takes about 1 to 3 seconds depending on how big your program is.
(including verify)

I have it set so that It programs the PIC as soon as I hit compile.

1 button, 1 second... easy.

G.
_________________
CCS PCM 5.078 & CCS PCH 5.093

[guy]

If I may continue the discussion, I feel stuck with my picKit3 and MPLAB 8.92. I can't advance to newer parts.
Who can give some feedback about developing under CCS' IDE and ICD-U64? 8-bit and 16-bit parts? Stability with new chips?
Thanks!

[PCM programmer]

[temtronic]

Obvious question...but what new PICs do you just 'have' to use?

While some have a peripheral or two that might be nice, perhaps an older (tested) PIC with an external version of the peripheral may be a viable option ?

Aside from silicon issues, sometimes CCS (and others) don't quite get the bits right in the compiler...either/both can lead to extensive time lost (as well as hair !).

Jay

[guy]

PCM - I tried going into MPLAB X twice, did the tutorials like a newbie, but couldn't get them to work in a stable manner with PICkit3 - inconstant behavior, also because of the weird NetBeans infrastructure. It doesn't feel like serious embedded dev. I also got this feedback from other people on the forum. Do you use it??

Jay - no one will ever move you from your beloved 3 favorite chips and that's fine No need to persuade us again...
PICs such as the PIC16F188xx family offer analog pins on almost all of the I/O pins at a great price. Of course it has other nice peripherals. Great solution for DAQ , data loggers etc. and even as a helpline when making a mistake on an analog design and turning a digital pin to an analog on the spot.
Also the 18FxxK40 series looks promising.

[asmallri]

[guy]