Extreme Business Cards

Step 8 Programming the Card

The next step is to put the dialling program into the chip. If you have bought the PIC Kit 2 programmer, it has everything you need with it, but you should download the latest version of the programming software from here, as some versions of the software don't support the PIC10F chips. Download the code as well from the bottom of this page, unzip it and put it in a directory somewhere on your computer - then from within MPLAB, go to the "Project" menu, select "Open", and navigate to the "BCard" file. Change the stored number (around line 90 in the code) to your phone number rather than mine(!) - it can be a longer number, but after the last digit of your number, the following line should read:

retlw h'ff'

Go to the "Project" menu again, and select "Build All" - check there are no errors, and you are then ready to program. I use a simple technique of inserting a broken-off strip of 5 pins from a strip of 0.1" header pins into the programmer, and then just touching the 5 pins (see the picture) whilst programming. This is a little fiddly, but as the erase or program cycle only takes a second or so, it is quite manageable. If you are experimenting, it is well worth soldering the strip of 5 pins onto the board until you have finished your changes. When you are ready to program, select the "Erase" and then "Program" options from the "Programmer" menu. If all works OK, you should be able to remove the programmer, and tap the piezo to hear your phone number being dialled!