starter kits

jacobite

New Member
I'm just getting started with picaxe and plan to use mostly the 14 and 8 pin chips, I would like to keep things economical so was wondering whether it's possible to use the PICAXE 14M2 starter pack to also program 8 pin chips? What about the other starter kits? obviously the kits for smaller chips can't be used to program any larger chips, but how many of the kits for larger chips also support smaller chips? Thanks for any feedback.
 

PaulRB

Senior Member
Hi Jacobite and welcome to the forum.

If I were you I would just buy the breadboard programming adaptor and a breadboard. Then you can program any size picaxe you want, and you will have a much more flexible platform to add other components to as your experience grows. When you run out of room, buy more breadboards and clip them together.

http://www.techsupplies.co.uk/epages/Store.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/Store.TechSupplies/Products/AXE029

http://www.techsupplies.co.uk/epages/Store.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/Store.TechSupplies/Products/PCB015

Paul
 
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westaust55

Moderator
I'm just getting started with PICAXE and plan to use mostly the 14 and 8 pin chips, I would like to keep things economical so was wondering whether it's possible to use the PICAXE 14M2 starter pack to also program 8 pin chips? What about the other starter kits? obviously the kits for smaller chips can't be used to program any larger chips, but how many of the kits for larger chips also support smaller chips? Thanks for any feedback.
To answer your specific question, YES, you can program an 08M2 on a board designed for the 14M2.
The "top" 4 pins for +5V, 0V, SerialIn and SerialOut are in exactly the same positions for the 8, 14 and 20 pin M2 devices (but not the 18M2).
The 08M2 will also run on the same starter board (AXE117) and make use of the pull-down resistors on some pins (C.3, C.4 and after a DISCONNECT command pin C.4) and Darlington driver channel on other pins (C.0, C.1 and C.2)

However, whether you wish to buy a 14 pin starter pack or a breadboard plus a breadboard programming adapter as suggested by PaulRB can depend upon what you wish to do.
For a lot of experiments the breadboard can be more flexible. But you will also need to separately buy the AXE027 programming download cable which comes as part of the starter packs.
 
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jacobite

New Member
Thanks guys for the replies. I wasn't aware of the breadboard programming adaptor, that's definitely the way to go for me. Thanks again.
 

inglewoodpete

Senior Member
.... obviously the kits for smaller chips can't be used to program any larger chips....
Not so! I have the AXE092 Schools Experimenter, which was originally supplied with the 08M PICAXE. By temporarily plugging an 8-pin DIP socket on top of the existing 8-pin socket on the board, you can add some extra height to the socket.

The 08M/M2, 14M/M2, 20M/M2 and 20X2 all have the same "business end" pins (0v, +5v, S-In & S-Out) configuration, so you can program any of these chips on a board intended for just the 8-pin (or 14-pin) PICAXE.

As others have said (above), the most flexible arrangement is to use a breadboard adapter on a breadboard. This gives the advantage of being able to debug with the programming lead connected to the chip as you develop your program.
 
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