Summary of ORIGINAL PICKIT-2 MICROCONTROLLER PROGRAMMER
The article describes the author's efforts to design a better PIC programmer compatible with Microchip MPLAB IDE. Dissatisfied with existing PICkit 2 versions, the author modified the original Microchip schematic by removing memory chips and the ICSP connector and created a new single-sided PCB using mostly SMD parts to meet personal project needs.
Parts used in the PICkit 2 Microcontroller Programmer:
- Microcontroller (as per original PICkit 2 schematic)
- SMD resistors
- SMD capacitors
- USB interface components
- Programming interface components (excluding ICSP connector)
- Crystal oscillator
- Voltage regulator components
These days I was thinking about a better PIC programmer that can work with Microchip MPLAB IDE software so that I can write my own programs or edit someone else’s programs. I found that there are numerous versions of the famous Microchip PICkit 2 on the web.
Some of them are using the original schematic published by Microchip and some are lite versions – with different parts or simplified schematics. None of them satisfied my requirements. So I got the original schematic, removed the memory chips and the input ICSP connector (which I didn’t plan to use anyway) and made a new single sided PCB. I used mostly SMD parts.
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