Easy 16F84 Microcontroller Programmer - JDM

In this instructable , I 'll show you how I built and tested this simple yet powerful circuit .

The JDM Programmer is my favorite Microcontroller programmer. It is a simple circuit and compatible with many software loaders.

I 've built this circuit many years ago and learned Microcontroller programming using it and built many projects based on 16F84A Microcontroller.

This is the website of the JDM programmer

http://www.jdm.homepage.dk/newpic.htm

This Microcontroller: Micochip PIC16F84A is easy to program and powerful to use.

The photo above shows the programmer circuit after completion.

Note:

This circuit uses the serial port on the PC . You must use this circuit on a PC having a standard RS-232serial port.

The USB-to-RS-232 converter will not work as this circuit is power from the +12 volts form the serial port

Laptops and new PCs don't have the serial port that can be used with this hand made programmer. You can check this USB programmer instead.

Step 1: Assemble the Circuit

Here is the programming circuit. It is very simple and easy to build. It is called JDM Programmer.

I got it from that website.

http://www.jdm.homepage.dk/newpic.htm

The website contains the programming circuit and the programming software.

The circuit and the software supports many Microcontroller chips other than PIC 16F84A. You may try it with other chips.

Just build the circuit on a copper board, perf board or on a bread board.

Start welding the components together as shown on the schematics.

Step 2: Download Your First Application

Now , after you 've completed your circuit . You must start to test it with a programming software.

The circuit would be working fine if you could download any sample Firmware on your chip.

I made a flasher program that flashes an LED using the Microcontroller.

The LED flasher program in embedded systems world is comparable to " Hello World " in PC programming world.

The flasher program is written in C language and compiled with HiTech-PIC software.

The simulation model is made with Proteus 7 simulation software.

The Firmware is saved in the flasher.HEX file.

If you could start the IC-Prog software and download the flasher.HEX file on the Microcontroller chip using the circuit , then you 've just completed the circuit successfully.

You may proceed to the next step if you like to see the Firmware running on the Microcontroller .

I used the IC-Prog Programming software , but this JDMcircuit is supported by many software loader. You may search and try to find your favorite loader software.

This is IC-Prog website:

http://www.ic-prog.com/index1.htm

As your first start of the software , change the interface to Windows API. If you couldn't make it , press F3 so you can change the hardware settings.

icprog106C.zip
Download

Step 3: "Hello World" in Embedded

Here is the flasher program and circuit to test the Microcontroller.

The circuit consists of the Microcontroller chip , battery , oscillator and an LED.

The Microcontroller uses the external oscillator by setting in the loader software.

You can see a post about this project on my blog :

http://embedded-egypt.blogspot.com/2008/12/run-your-first-program-on-simulator.html

You can find more posts about Microcontroller projects on my blog : Embedded Egypt

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