CURRENT ISSUE
Contests
Feature Article
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Issue #204 July 2007
Are You Up for 16 Bits?
A look at Microchip's Family of 16 -Bit Microcontrollers
by Jeff Bachiochi
Start | Microchip's 16-Bit Family |Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe | PIC24F | PIC24H | Need DSP? | dsPIC30/33 | Standard Features | Peripheral Pin Select | DSP | DMA | Jump-Start PCBs | SMPS for $750 | Think, Enter, Win | Sources & PDF
JUMP-START PCBs
You can find a hardware development board for practically every part that Microchip manufactures. Although they are not free, they are inexpensive and most come with a plethora of information and demo code to get you rolling your own quickly. I have a few favorites that you will find helpful for this contest (see Photo 1).
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| Photo 1—These are the development boards I find useful for investigating Microchip’s 16-bit microcontroller families. Microchip is offering some nice discounts for contest entrants on select items (i.e., the DM300027 is approximately $40). |
As a participant, your contest kit includes a batch of parts, both 16-bit microcontrollers, and a slew of peripheral components. The included CD was specially prepared for the contest and includes MPLAB and a special issue of the C30 compiler.
Note that the compiler will run as a full compiler during the contest and will then revert to the function-limited student edition. Additional documentation on the CD includes datasheets and reference manuals for all the parts plus application notes, programming specifications, and other goodies.
If you choose to use special offers and purchase a demo board, you will be pleased with the level of hand holding provided to get you started. Every demo board comes with a tutorial that takes you from project creation through debugging, so you are familiar with the process. All of the necessary tutorial source code is provided so you can hit the ground running.
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