PIC Micro hardware and software techniques to help you design your projects

This page has many links to hardware and software techniques that I have found useful in developing microcontroller circuits. I hope you find them useful as well.

Jump to General, Resources, Hardware, Software, Other.

PIC Micro : General

ICSP In Circuit Serial Programming circuit and notes.

ICSP programming - How you set up the ICSP hardware and PC software.

RS232- What it is and how it works.

This method applies equally well for long cables or PCB traces. e.g. Parallel port or Serial port cables.

A quick overview of Timer mid-range 1,2 & 3

Methods to increase your Input or output pins from/to your microcontroller.  Minimum requirement is 1 pin. 

PIC Programmers Explanation of the various types of PIC programmers

PIC Micro Resources

PIC device comparison Comparing some pic microcontroller features using bubble diagrams.They also give a quick overview of the Program memory, RAM, EEPROM and peripherals.

Pinouts of some common devices used on this site

RS232 pinout diagrams at the PC connector.

Using PIC I/O : TRIS, PORT: General notes applicable to any PIC device.

Crystal ppm calculations: Notes on accuracies of crystal and other oscillators.

Interactive Timer 0 calculator showing frequency, period of Timer 0 output.

Interactive Timer 1 calculator showing frequency, period of Timer 1 output.

Interactive Timer 2 calculator as above using pre-,post- scaler & period reg.

PIC MIcro Hardware techniques

Switch debouncing Debouncing input keys on a Microcontroller port.

Does RS232 work? Five simple rules to ensure your RS232 system works. 

12F675 - How to set the OSCCAL value stored in the 12F675.

12F675 - How to recover OSCCAL.

PIC Micro Software techniques

Bits bytes and hexadecimal conversions
All about bits, bytes and hexadecimal numbers and conversions.

Soft USART (TX)The transmission part of a USART (~90 words).

Soft USART (RX/TX)  Detailsthe reception part of a USART (~? words).

Fixed point maths How to avoid using floating point maths to save memory and operate faster.

Click here for PIC microcontroller projects

Other

Reading schematics A simple introduction to reading schematics.

Multitasking A guide to simple multitasking - fits into 12F675 (1k).

Schematic symbols A list of schematic symbols and components

Prototyping Discusses solderless breadboard, stripboard and pcb methods.

Using an oscilloscope Beginners guide to using an oscilloscope.

PWM what it is and what it's for.

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