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6.10 EPIC programming board
Programming the PIC chip
To program the PIC chip, we connect the EPIC programming carrier
board (see Fig. 6.10) to the computer. The EPIC board connects
to the printer port. If your computer has only one printer port,
110 disconnect the printer, if one is connected, and attach the EPIC
programming board using a 6-foot (ft) DB25 cable.
When connecting the programming board to the computer, make
sure there isn’t a PIC microcontroller installed in the board. If you
have an alternating current (AC) adapter for the EPIC program-
ming board, plug it into the board. If you do not have the AC
adapter, attach two fresh 9-volt (9V) batteries and connect the
“Batt ON” jumper to apply power. The programming board must
be connected to the printer port with power applied to the board
before running the software. If not, the software will not see the
programming board connected to the printer port and will give the
error message “EPIC programmer not connected.”
When power is applied and it is connected to the printer port, the
light-emitting diode (LED) on the EPIC programmer board may be
on or off at this point. Do not insert a PIC microcontroller into the
programming board socket until the EPIC programming software is
running.
The EPIC programming board software
There are two versions of the EPIC software: EPIC.exe for DOS and
EPICWIN.exe for Windows. The Windows software is 32-bit. It may
be used with Windows 95, 98, and NT, but not 3.X.
Team LRN
Chapter six