Experiments with PIC16F628A

Texas Instrument is going to make a big move into the hobbyist microcontroller market by introducing MSP430 Launchpad, a development platform for 16-bit MSP430 microcontrollers. Can you guess its price? Yes, $4.30 with free FedEx shipping. It is unbelievable! "What is LaunchPad? LaunchPad is an easy-to-use development tool intended for beginners and experienced users alike for creating microcontroller-based applications. At $4.30, the LaunchPad offers everything you need to get started with your projects.

Introduction A variable DC power supply is one of the most important tools for an electronics hobbyist. In order to carry out an experiment you need a reliable DC power source that can be varied according to the need of the experiment. Last week I felt I must have one on my workbench, and thought to make one for myself. This design is very simple but is great for powering almost all kinds electronic projects. It uses LM350 (a 3-pin IC) to generate a variable DC power supply. I would recommend to read the datasheet before doing this project. The LM350 is an adjustable 3-terminal positive voltage regulator that is capable of supplying in excess of 3A over a 1.2V to 33V output range. They are exceptionally easy to use and require only 2 external resistors to set the output voltage.

PIC12F683 has got one external interrupt input which is edge triggered. If you want to learn how to write an Interrupt Service  Routine (ISR) using mikroC compiler, check this out. When an interrpt arrives, the PIC12F683 displays the interrupt arrival information as a part of ISR on a windows PC hyper-terminal through software UART.