Why are people buying old Picstart Programmers?

I was perusing eBay recently and noticed these old Picstart Programmers going for about $50. Why???!! With an RS232 port and I'm sure limited capability, the only theory I have is as collector's items.

Reply to
hondgm
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On a sunny day (Fri, 2 Jun 2017 08:49:14 -0700 (PDT)) it happened snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote in :

I wrote my own PIC programmer software and use a modified 'noppp' programmer and guess what: it uses the PC parport (just a PCI par port card), oh wait and I made an interface cable and wrote a Raspbery GPIO version.

Why not? USB to serial adaptors plenty here too, but USB sucks. The most useful thing about the old PCs is the parport as I/O.

It, PIC, is a freaking simple 3 or 2 wire programming system, WHY buy anything?

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all done with that programmer and gpasm in Linux, and without MPlab.

I use the PC partport to test all sorts of i2c stuff from displays to GHz chips.

Reply to
Jan Panteltje

mer

thing?

This is beside the point, but to answer why buy anything? Because some peo ple don't have time to screw with it. I could for example buy a PICkit for $50 and be done with it. Or, try to get several hours of free time without the kids bugging me and trying to ignore all the more important stuff I sh ould be doing.

But the real question was why anyone is spending so much on such obsolete h ardware.

Reply to
hondgm

At a guess: one market for them would be people who want/need to program certain legacy PIC chips that require a parallel interface and (I think) a relatively high programming voltage.

The modern PIC chips use a "very few pins" serial programming interface, and the modern batch of inexpensive chip programmers often do not implement the parallal programming algorithm for PIC.

Another option, of course, would be to disassemble the code for the older PICs, and port it to a modern PIC chip. However, I suspect that this may well be a non-trivial task in many cases - the chip pinouts and the peripheral sets are different enough to require significant re-engineering.

So, for people who are repairing older hardware that uses the legacy PIC chips, or building "clones" of these devices, it may simply be cheapest and least-hassle to buy a tube of the old parts, and an old Picstart.

Reply to
Dave Platt

On a sunny day (Fri, 2 Jun 2017 10:10:40 -0700 (PDT)) it happened snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote in :

Not really,

See, that is already where you go wrong, Programming does not 'stop' there, now you have your programmer it only STARTS there, And for you to proceed you MUST know how the programming works, read the related documents, else your program will be just like many out there, needless tinkering bloated crap. It is like saying: 'I do not have to know how pliers work, I can just build the cabinet'.

There is a 'top down' approach, and in the end it results is an app called 'mama' that sits on the CEO's desk and all he has to know and do is say 'mama I want ' and it will be done. President's desk too...

No, now you need to program, and guess what, learn what you wanted to skip to save time.

Huh I am multitasking 99% if not more of the time.

Maybe they like it and it is not so 'obsolete' as you may think OR WANT OTHERS TO THINK Comprendre?

And on that tune, show me some code you wrote,

Reply to
Jan Panteltje

Sounds like you assume I don't know how to program in C or assembly.

Ummmm, what? I don't know how we even got off on this tangent.

I know how to program. The problem is getting the machine code into the PIC. My original post was about a PIC programmer, not a "programmer" as in someone who writes code.

LOL you obviously haven't been around kids very much, especially toddlers.

What's with the attitude? You not getting any? Seriously, what is your problem?

I have a webpage with projects I've built; schematics, source code, pictures and descriptions of how they work. I believe I may have posted it here at one time. I almost posted it for you but your attitude is pissing me off and I decided I got nothing to prove.

Reply to
hondgm

On a sunny day (Fri, 2 Jun 2017 11:59:34 -0700 (PDT)) it happened snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote in :

Why to you take it it refers to you? Your question was 'Why do people' I could not care less 'why do people', just ask them, I gave you why 'I' would.

Well that is your limitation :-)

So then you do NOT know how to program, do not know the hardware, cannot design the hardware. period. I showed you how I did that. Don't want to learn fine with me.

Reply to
Jan Panteltje

would.

You didn't tell me why you'd buy an obsolete RS232-based PIC programmer. T hat was my question. You only told me why you'd make your own.

lled 'mama' that sits on the CEO's desk

ill be done.

I guess. What a condescending bunch.

PIC.

If you're talking about designing a PIC programmer, yes, I do not care. So metimes I reinvent the wheel, but in this case there's no value for me to d o so. A micro programmer is a tool. In the same way I don't make my own s crewdrivers and wrenches, I don't care much to make my own programmer becau se it's a waste of time. I'd rather design the product that contains the m icro, that needs programming.

If you're talking about designing a circuit with a ucontroller, yes I can d o that. There's industrial products out there with PICs that I was the pri mary designer on. I did the circuit design and firmware, and customers pur chased them. In fact there's an airport somewhere in eastern Europe with o ur equipment on their radar. You can say any smart-ass thing you want but like I said I got nothing to prove.

I'm always up for learning something useful, but so far you've only preache d to me that I should build my own programmer instead of buying one, or som ething along those lines.

Reply to
hondgm

You're lucky to be part of the 2.5% of people that can do that effectively.

Reply to
amdx

On a sunny day (Fri, 2 Jun 2017 12:43:08 -0700 (PDT)) it happened snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote in :

You know, YOU ask a question, one that shows you did not even do basic research into the subject. if any of you humbug was true you would KNOW how to get and what to get for programmer, and how to make your own. Not knowing how the programmer and programming protocol works means you do not know how to handle the related pins in the design. (In case of in circuit programming it puts restrictions on the design), You are just here to babble about something that you clearly are too to even google for for a few minutes, and at the same time saying you need so much to save time... Go buy the f*cking thing from Microchip if you are that much in a hurry and don't bother people who took the time and trouble to provide an alternative and wrote the soft for that. End of discussion as far as i am concerned, find an other victim. Waste of time you are.

Reply to
Jan Panteltje

esearch into the subject. I started writing code for and programming PICs for 20 years bud, the CERDI P windowed type and I had a UV eraser. I'm sure you've been doing it longe r, but I'm just saying I didn't start yesterday.

or >programmer, and how to make your own.

What do you mean "what to get for programmer"? You think I was asking what I should buy for a programmer? That's not what I was asking. And like I said, it's my choice to not make my own programmer. I got better things to do than to reinvent a perfectly good wheel.

o not >know how

ing >it puts restrictions on the design), Hmmm, funny I've been able to get these things to work at all. How on eart h did any of the dozens of circuits I put together ever work?? What you're saying is like saying "you have to understand USB protocol to plug a thumb drive in".

Do you even know what the original question was? I'll repeat it for you: I asked why anyone is buying old obsolete PIC programmers for as much as new ones. How does any of what you're saying pertain to this???

native and wrote the soft for that.

I'm not buying anything. Again, you obviously didn't read my original post . It had nothing to do with me personally buying anything!!!

That's ok. The feeling is mutual.

Reply to
hondgm

I think you would have to buy 2 or 3 of them, so that you can keep working when the first one dies. I find that PICKit3s seem to kill themselves from time to time, I suspect due to some design flaw. I don't think it is ESD, as the circuit that I am programming has never died but multiple PICkits have. No, it is not that the internal PIC has lost its program, although that is also reported to be common - mine still get recognised by the PC and produce waveforms at the programming terminals, just the MCLR voltage is wrong iirc and it reports no target device connected. At one stage I started trying to fault-find one of the PICKIT3s - but I didn't have the time as I was supposed to be working on firmware for someone. Anyway I have a collection of dead PICKit3s to repair one day. No, they are not still covered by

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they want $25 (plus postage + hasle + waiting) to fix them, so at this time buying more new ones from the distributor was a better option.

Reply to
Chris Jones

Because they just work. A better question might be, "why would anybody pay $50?" )-: I'd take $50 for one of mine in a flash.

Reply to
mike

The trick, of course, is to match those in need to those having the items in question.

I'm always amazed when I see power cords selling for $7.95 (do people actually *pay* for them??!)

Reply to
Don Y

The bid-ask spread on $50 is at least $37.56 and may even be $50. (You can buy Picstarts in quantity starting at $12.44.) Caveat emptor: ebay.

Thank you,

--
Don Kuenz KB7RPU
Reply to
Don Kuenz

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