Identify this PIC Programmer?

Hi

A friend of mine recently gave me a PIC programmer that he used a few years
ago as part of a course he did at university. Unfortunately, he couldn't
remember much about it (the programmer or the course, which I suspect has
something to do with his alcohol consumption during that time period).

The end result is that I have a PIC programmer, but no software with which
to use it.

I've posted a photo of the programmer at
http://www.geocities.com/traversw1973/PICProgrammer.html. If anyone can
recognise this programmer and tell me what software I need to use to program
PICs with it, I would be extremely grateful.

The programmer has a parallel port interface and takes its power directly
from the parallel port.

The 2 IC's on the PCB are labelled: UCY7406 and CD4066BCN. When I Google
for"7406 4066 PIC", the results suggest that this could be a "Tait" style
programmer. If it is, what software should I use for programming?

There's a resistor soldered across the top of the IC labelled UCY7406. The
one side of the resistor is soldered to pin 8 (top right), and the other one
has broken loose from either pin 6 or 7 (bottom left, both have traces of
solder on them). Can anyone tell me which pin to solder the resistor back
on to?

Lastly, there's what looks to me like a variable resistor towards the bottom
left of the PCB in the photo (the blue rectangular box with the brass
screw). What is this used for?

Thanks very much for any help,

Travers

 

one

Sorry, that should be "pin 14", not "pin 8".

I'm guessing that the resistor should be between pin 14 and pin 6, since
connecting 14(Vcc) to 7(GND) with the resistor seems pointless.

 

The programmer has a parallel port interface and takes its power directly

I suspect it doesn't; I suspect those two screw terminals are for power.
Look for what goes into the big VR chip.

Yes indeed! And you're programming a PIC '84.

David Tait's TOPIC, my NOPPP, and several others fit this general
description (thought what you have is definitely not NOPPP). For many
relevant links see www.covingtoninnovations.com/noppp.

(And -- please -- don't start another flurry of e-mail. Designing NOPPP was
one of the most e-mail-creating things I've ever done; there must have been
1000 support requests, or more.)

It might be for adjusting the programming voltage. You may have to trace
the circuit.

 

Here's a little more, based on looking at it.

I think we've found it at:
http://www.ubasics.com/adam/pic/maplin.html
and in particular the pic4pgm.zip and pic84v05.zip files there.

I haven't managed to dig out the schematic yet, but it is powered by AC
(probably about 12 volts) at the two screw terminals, which feed into a
bridge rectifier, some capacitors, and an LM317T regulator. DC power will
work just as well. You should trace the input circuit to see how it derives
the voltages.

 

What concerns me about this one is that it requires both 5V and 13V but I
only see one voltage regulator. Maybe it tries to get 5V from the parallel
port, in which case I wouldn't expect it to be terribly reliable. You
should trace the power supply circuit -- maybe I missed seeing a 5-volt
Zener or something.

I think this is the Maplin kit described by David Tait. Are you in the UK?
If so, bug Maplin for some information.

 

Hi,

Yes, it *is* a Tait (David Tait) type programmer.

There are a number of utilities available out there to drive this, but
the most popular, free one arguable is the IC-PROG.

This software is well supported, and somewhat universal in that it is
configurable to drive a number of programmers.

For any further help, do write to me.

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

There are a number of variations to the original, as in some versions
use transistors in place of the 4066 IC, but the end result is the
same.

Another favourite software of mine that would also support your
programmer is http://www.qsl.net/dl4yhf/winpicpr.html.

Please note that if you are running XP on the PC, you would require
the XP driver on the ICPROG site, *and* configure it to run in
compatibility mode (Win95 or Win98).

For any further help, do write to me.

Regards,

Anand Dhuru