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Playing with PICs
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- Written by Mike
- Category: PIC microcontroller
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A few months ago I decided to have a play with the PIC microcontrollers, but on the cheap. Since I've been using Raspberry Pi and Arduino for a while I thought I'd see if I could use those as programmers. I'd already used an Arduino to program an ATTiny so I thought it should be possible. I found several different ways of doing it. The arduino-based PIC programmer seemed to be the easiest since, in addition to the arduino and a 13v supply, it only needed a few resistors and one transistor.
Vintage Electronics Kit
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- Written by Mike
- Category: electronics
- Hits: 1192
Years ago I had one of the Tandy 200-in-1 electronics kits. I followed most of the projects in the book but never got around to creating my own circuits. I lost interest after accidentally wiring a transistor incorrectly and it blew the top off. My interest in electronics was revitalised when I bought a Raspberry Pi 3 and soon after got one of the many electronics starter kits which came with a breadboard and a set of components.
Earlier this year I was looking for some components on ebay when I saw one of the old Tandy kits for sale. This was a late 60s kit and pre-dates affordable LEDs. It had a selection of resistors and capacitors, a single bulb, transistors metal casing and a few other bits. A lot of the projects are of their era and less suitable for modern times. The ones aimed at radio hams aren't much use for the average person.
I tested the resistors and capacitors and they seem to be ok. The solar cell also still works. I have tried a few of the experiments with mixed results. The water purity meter, which measures conductivity, seems to be 'all or nothing' and reads either zero or maximum conductivity. A morse code circuit has a very harsh sound. I will try to repeat some of these with new components to see if the results are different.