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INTRODUCING THE PACKET WHACKER

Part 1: Hitching a Ride on the Picdem.net
by Fred Eady

Start ý PICDEM.NET ý Whatýs in the PIC NIC Basket? ý Provisions ý The Packet Whacker ý Taking the Demo Out of the Board ý Programming ý Smoke Test ý Where to Go from Here ý Sources and PDF

Microchip didnýt put a breadboard area on the PICDEM.NET just to fill space, and it didnýt bring out the PIC pins to a header row just to let you know what the PICýs pin names are. The IC sockets on the PICDEM.NET are not there by accident either. The main PIC on the PICDEM.NET is socketed. The EEPROM is socketed. The RTL8019AS would be socketed that was possible.

Sockets are good things if you let the smoke out of parts youýre experimenting with, and the breadboard space allows you to compensate for the smoke. And, if youýre as handy with a soldering iron around surface-mount parts as I am, the breadboard area is a must-have item.

The PICDEM.NET is beautiful, as you can see from Photo 1. But, as pretty as the PICDEM.NET demo board is, the sockets and breadboard area tell you it's made to be hot-rodded. The RTL8019AS connections and lack of connections were carefully chosen to allow the PICDEM.NET demo board to come up in a default mode that can be successfully manipulated with little effort.

Photo 1ýThe PICDEM.NET is a great tool for launching that special Internet appliance project. I like having the onboard LCD display and integral serial port. Those features make code loading and debugging a breeze. When youýre ready to breadboard your own ideas, the Packet Whacker can help ease the pain caused by SMT parts.

One of the big reasons for the socketed PIC16F877 is to allow you to remove the demo-laden PIC16F877 that comes with the package. Why would you want to do this? To keep from erasing the goodies on the original demo PIC. After all, it is a demo board.

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