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Guide Dog Joined: 08 Nov 2003 Posts: 8371 Location: MN

hey any one know anything about programming pic chips?

here is the full back story...

my cars speedometer is off. VW won't/can't fix it, legal thing from german I guess from what I've read... the electronic pulses from the transmission sensor are correct, the odometer is correct, it is just the speedometer that is wrong. (shows 7% faster then what I'm actually doing)

rather then going out and buying a pre-built solution, I want to get back into my electronics... I can very easily draw out what I would need to make a simple speedometer off of the pulses for each rotation of the drive train, and adjust the timing on the circuit to make it accurate.

the end result of this project is to put a LCD, or a pair of 7-segment displays, on my dash, and have them function as a hud.

I could line this all up in gates, latches, and the like, but that would more then likely end up being massive... and really just sloppy.

I got a LCD from Axeman surplus with 3 7 segment displays build in, and figured out the pattern to the pin outs (no manual with stuff from axeman.) I did visit radio shack to get some gates, but radio shack is worthless, and has given up on carrying anything electronic that is more complicated then copper wire.

now my hope is to build this into a pic chip, and while I'm at it learn how to program such devices, but having never done this before, I'm looking for some sort of direction from you dawgs (otherwise I'm just going to get a book, or two off the web and start in on those...)

Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 6:36 am Post subject:

I was recently looking for communcating to a Parallel port the other day and came across a couple of PIC websites.

http://www.winpicprog.co.uk/pic_tutorial.htm

Try that one and see if it helps at all.

Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:42 am Post subject:

Radio shack stopped stocking parts in their mall stores a long time ago, but the ones around town usually still have parts. Usually.

Programming PICs isn't that hard, once you learn the proper way to write the code for them. Don't waste your time and money buying a prebuilt programmer as there are loads of plans online for free.

You know, I could probably get you a new speedo for next to nothing if you decide to not go the HUD route.

Guide Dog Joined: 08 Nov 2003 Posts: 8371 Location: MN

Dypheron wrote:
Radio shack stopped stocking parts in their mall stores a long time ago, but the ones around town usually still have parts. Usually.

Programming PICs isn't that hard, once you learn the proper way to write the code for them. Don't waste your time and money buying a prebuilt programmer as there are loads of plans online for free.

You know, I could probably get you a new speedo for next to nothing if you decide to not go the HUD route.

This was actually a radio shack store, not a mall store... I don't expect to much from mall stores other then great entertainment when you go in there and ask for a 555 timer, and they try to sell you an alarm clock, and explain that they don't carry a 555 model of it, but they have the lr-75 (or what ever model alarm clocks come in...)

I've seen plans for building the programmers, and I've never actually sat down to do it, in part because I've never had the pic chip or any reason to have one...

if your looking at VW replacement parts, then it's no good. any speedo VW makes for my car is going to be off by ~7% according to everything I've read... some wacky german law about the speedo always reading over even if you have tire the next couple of sizes up...appearently a few people with ones that go to 180 just replaced it with the in lays from ones that only go to 160 (like mine) and the problem is solved... and I suppose I could always just print out a new piece for that... but ... HUD. How can I turn away from such a brilliant Idea.

The rally replacement speedo would work though... but I'm thinking a DIY project would be good for me.

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 1:13 pm Post subject:

Funny thing, I picked up a PIC programmer and a PIC16F627 and have spent a couple weeks messing about with it. The language isn't too hard to deal with, very few instructions, basic assembly actually, getting my head around the data areas was a little interesting.

Pretty nifty stuff.

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 1:22 pm Post subject:

EdisonRex wrote:
Funny thing, I picked up a PIC programmer and a PIC16F627 and have spent a couple weeks messing about with it. The language isn't too hard to deal with, very few instructions, basic assembly actually, getting my head around the data areas was a little interesting.

Pretty nifty stuff.

I was going to say ....Rex is yer man.

DSTG_II wrote:

Dypheron wrote:

EdisonRex wrote: