Page 28 - Making PIC Microcontroller Instruments and Controllers

'I6 GETTIIIG SIARTEO: THE HARDWARE AIID SOFTWABE SETUE

deal exclusi,el!- trith the IBM-PC in awindows enrimtmenr. The software is not nvail
able for the Macintosh. The foliowing outlines what you will need:

! A3.5-inch floppy drive (ifthe soflware is provided on 1.4-MB 3.5-inchfloppies only
and you must read if off a diskctte for the system 10 work right). (Incidentally, yo
cannol copy the software to a CD ROM and work from there. It will not work for some
software.) If the software is plovided on CD-ROM, you need a CD-ROM drive
! A hard disk with abolt 5 MB offree space. This is for softwarc storage and general

r A serial port (COM I or COM2) if you will be using the new serial programmer, and
a USB pol1 ifyou will be using the USB programmer
I LAB-X I Experimenlers board $195
N 16F877A Microcontroller (nol part ofLAB-Xl) $10
t USB programmer $99
! PICBASIC PRO Compiler $250
! Miscellaneous electronic items lbr expcrimentation $100 allowance

At the e of lhis book there is a discount voucher fiom nicroEngineering Labs wolth
about !j?0 off their rcrslope6 Bunllle. A desciption of what you get js included with
the voucher You have to use the actual voucher in the book; a photocopy will not be
acceptcd.
The $ 100 allowance is for the sensors, servos, and other miscellaneous electronic com_
ponents. It covers the need to purchase memory- ard time based components that are
socketed ibr, but are not provided as a part oi the needs menlioned previously. You may
decide that you do not need to expedment with these at this time. The allowance pro-
vides for almost everything you need to experiment with the LAB x I board.
Labs,Inc. are a number ol other preassembled
Also provided by microEngineering
boards for experimeriation and educatioml puryoses. They are listed next and may be
more closely suited to the insfiument you are interested in creating. All can be used.

a TheLAB X I ExperimdnreJ.'r ,oa.l we are considedng.
r TheLAB X2 Experimenler's board for custom circuits.
I The LAB X20 Experimenter's board for 20-pin devices.
r The LAB 3 Experimenter's board lor 18 pin devices.
t The LAB-4 Expedmenter's board for 8 and l4-pin devioes.
t The LAB-XT Experimenter's board for telephone technology-related investigalions.
r The LAB-XUSB Expedmcnter's board forbuilding USB interfaces andperipherals

In this book, t|e will consider the LAB-XI onlr.This board provides a 2line by-20-
character display, which is very useful in the leaming environmentin that it can allow
you 10 see what is goirg on in the system as you experiment (ifyou program your pro-
grams to display the appropriatc intbnnatioD).
Start out by opening a new folder on your desktop and labcling itPIC Tools. Wewill
store everythin? that has to do v,ith all our ptujects in this a e folder.We arc opening