Does anyone have a recommended, relatively inexpensive EEProm programmer? I built the SALT programmer and have been putting in my programs with toggle switches. Educational... yes, but very tedious now that my programs are getting much larger.

It'd also be nice to have one that can program PICs also, but not a major requirement.

Hi Gurft,

I've been using an EMP-10 programmer from Nedhams, nice programmer, but not really cheap (current versions are better of course, mine which is older is dos only, current ones have windows support) - they start at about $300 ish I think.

I'm waiting for one I got on ebay the other day - it's an enhanced willem type programmer - covers a lot of different types of chips, including direct support for 12.5 volt programmable chips, and support for 21v programmable chips (requires a circuit modification of some sort), plus it programs pics, flash memory, nvsram and more. It only cost ~$50, but I won't say its good until I've actually had a chance to use it But, it has potential so I'm hopefull.

-Tony

_________________
-Tony
KG4WFX

I bought this programmer from Ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 85544&rd=1

I have used it with a Xicor Z28C256 eeprom and with a Lattice GAL16V8D. It would not program an Atmel ATF16V8C PAL, although it is in the supported device list.

There are several PIC chips listed but I have not tried one.

It also can test standard TTL & CMOS logic chips (40 & 74 Series).

It cost me $60 including shipping. The actual manufacturer is a Chinese company with a web site written mostly in Chinese. They did not return my email requests for help with the Atmel PAL's.

You'll have to decide if the price is worth the risk.

Daryl

Hi,

I have a Needham's EMP-11 and also one of their PLCC adapters for it. I have generally had no hassles with the programmer. They have given good support during the few times I have had trouble programming a device. I bought it after having good experience with it on my previous job where we programmed dozens of parts a day with no real issues. However, with a base price of USD$335, I can't call it cheap. Also, the EMP-11 still uses the parallel port and you have to pay considerably more for a USB model.

Regards,
Mike

_________________
- Mike Naberezny (mike@naberezny.com) http://6502.org

Hello EveryOne,

I have not used the EMP-10, but I have the PB-10 which I used until I
upgraded. Never had an issue.

After upgrading my PC I was unable to use the PB-10 and had been
looking for a reasonably priced Needhams unit with no luck, so I
picked-up a Xeltek SuperPro-Z from www.GeneralDevice.com. It was
not the best price, ( as compared to Ebay ) but within my budget.
No problems so far, does all of my EPROMS ( 27C256 ) and GALS
( Lattice 16V8s )
The only thing I don't care for is that it uses the Parallel port which
adds to the number cords and cables you need to dig out and connect up.
This is a hassle when you work off the Kitchen Counter ! Ha

Regards, Wally

I'm in the market for EPROM programmer at the moment.

I found a nice one on e-Bay but my bidding was foiled when my cable modem when down just as I was about to bid.

I've been looking at the Willem type programmers (from sellers in Hong Kong and Thailand) but given the high £/$ rate at the moment I suspect its cheaper to buy direct (http://www.sivava.com/) rather than bid at auction.

I ordered a seperate PLD starter kit from a UK firm (http://www.kanda.com/) to get a programmer and test card for these devices.

_________________
Andrew Jacobs
6502 & PIC Stuff - http://www.obelisk.me.uk/
Cross-Platform 6502/65C02/65816 Macro Assembler - http://www.obelisk.me.uk/dev65/
Open Source Projects - https://github.com/andrew-jacobs

I just wanted to post an update. I got my "enhanced willem programmer" the other day and I've played with it only a little - mostly reading, erase, writing and confirming to an Atmel 29c256-70 flash module. It has worked quite well so far.

It is cheap tho - no pretty case, pretty much an exposed board with several sockets for programming, pins for ICSP programming and adapters are available for 16bit modules.

If you need something that will look decent on a desk, or don't want an exposed board, this programmer is not for you. For me it works perfectly, my pic programmer was an exposed device and I'm very happy to be able to now replace it with this so I have just one programmer to cover my basic needs (2 if you count my cpld programmer which I didn't expect this device to work with anyway, but I'm sure there is a way to make it work somehow if I really wanted.)

Pros:
Powerful little programmer offers a lot of options to program a lot of
devices.
Works off of the parallel port and the usb port (parallel for data,
usb for power, both need to be connected to use) no external
power adapter required.
Software that comes with it is fairly easy to use and specifies what
positions the dip switches should be in as well as to alert you if
you need to make changes to other settings on the board.
Supports ICSP, parallel and serial (including i2c, spi, etc) based
products
Can get addons to support 16bit devices

Cons:
Requires two ports on the computer, parallel and a usb port
The most current version of the programmer software, .97j doesn't
seem to work right on windows XP, something about io.dll that
comes with it is trying to do something privilaged and windows
complains. I don't know what the issue is, I ended up not worrying
about it as .97i and .97i+ both work fine for me.
It is an exposed circuit board, which means grasping it for insertion
and extraction can be nerveracking
The only socket that is a zif socket is the main 32pin port - granted
it is the most heavily used port by me, but I do need to use the 8
pin port for programming my i2c eeproms, so I may have to see
if something could be made to accomodate my needs so I don't
have to insert my i2c chips into "regular" sockets.
It probbaly isn't worth quite as much as is charged for it, but it is
a debateable topic.
Whomever manufactures these enhanced willem programmers is
obviously terrified of people copying the design and has sanded
off the part numbers on the ics so it would be difficult to track
down bugs and replace chips if necessary - it's a tradeoff.
The parallel cable they ship it with is a tad short IMHO, but it
can be replaced with a 25pin straight thru that has all pins
connected.

Overall its a decent programmer that I would probably buy again if I had to do it over. it serves my needs, has a windows based program to interface with it and was cheap compared to what I'd have to pay to get nedhams next grade of programmer (which trust me, if I could afford I would probably get, I really like their programmers).

That is my honest opinion about it at this moment in time. And to be clear, it will be my programmer at this time as I no longer have quick and easy access to a win98 or less OS from where I do development.

_________________
-Tony
KG4WFX

Several people make the Willem programmers. I bought the one from http://sivava.com pretty recently. No sanded-off IC #s, heheh, but sounds the same as Tancor's otherwise.

Works pretty well for me, except I wasted a 1024kB OTP EPROM when I didn't realize I had to remove a jumper (not on the dipswitch) to set VCC to 6.5V. Whoops.

But it never worked for me to program a PIC18F452, tho I suspect it'd be fixable in the software (the maintainer did send me a new .exe, didn't fix the problem tho). I just ended up getting a cheap ($15) PIC programmer in addition to it, saves me some time.

Though now I find myself interested in using PLDs, the one Daryl posted looks pretty decent. I guess there is no cheap and universal programmer for these, none that I've seen anyways.

What I'm plotting to do is skip out on an EEPROM programmer altogether, as I already have an AVR starter kit. So I intend to go ROM-less like the Kestrel whenever I get around to starting my 65816 project.

I think we all kinda need to pick out a smaller set of useful tools. You don't need to program PICs and AVRs, you just need to program one of them.

I'm also toying with getting the ByteBlaster cable. It's around $30 and can do Atmel and Altera CPLDs and Altera FPGAs. All of which also, conveniently, have free development tools available.

I built Eeprom programmer (on perf board) based on schemtic found at Batronix site:

http://www.batronix.com/electronic/circ ... mmer.shtml

It is a pretty simple design and I had all the parts in my junk box, so build cost was zero.

It's not a bad little programmer. Only downside is that software is limited to writing first 256 bytes until registered.

It would seem to me that with knowledge of the schematic, arriving at a program to program the full chip ought to be quite doable. That being said, though, looking at the circuit, it's not easy to follow.