I've just bought myself a PIC programmer (a PIC16PRO), from EBay, so I can start some of the more interesting projects - like Propeller clocks, etc. Now, I can buy PICs locally, but the electronics supply store I go to has 4 or 5 different versions of each. So I'm confused. Do I want PDIP, SSOP, SOIC? What's the difference?
The package is the size / appearance of the chip. You can get the PIC in surface mount (small and fiddly) versions and larger versions with through-hole mounting legs. The latter is what you want. Therefore you should get the PDIP version. If you want to see the differences, see below: Hope this helps! (edited to fix picture )
On further note: The place you get these from, are these PIC16Fxxx or PIC16Cxxx chips? You dont want the PIC16Cxxx chips. These require a UV light to erase them. As for which chips, here are a few more common ones that are best for beginning: 16F872/F874/F876/F877/F876A/F877A 16F88 (dont bother with the 16F84, its outdated and the F88 is the same price). 16F676 These chips tend to produce more results when googling for example code for specific peripherals.
Well, I *was* going to buy them locally.. But then I found out they wanted $11 per 16F84A. Yuck. If I can find them for less than that online, I'll be a happy camper.
You can get samples from Microchip.com - up to 15 per month, although I suspect if you keep ordering lots of them, theyll start asking questions
