Almost ready for start with max32, last preparations

[Dan84]

Hello, so... yesterday i've just received my max32 from farnell and i want to be sure i have all is needed for start to have fun.

1st. I still have to buy the programmer. I've saw the chipkit pgm but i've read pickit 3 is better because with it i can power on the board without external power sources which must be between 7v and 12v. Am i right ? The alimentation to the board isn't capable to drive a breadboard from the pin, right ? I will need some external power for the components ?

2nd. Online i found a lot of cheap pickit 3 clones (30 eur = programmer + eeprom adapter VS 60 eur = only programmer): can i trust and buy them or i risk to fry the board ? If the clone is good as original one, mplabx will think the same thing and will work with any difficult or i will get issues of some kind ?

3rd. About breadboard and components kit available on amazon, i see a lot of Elegoo kit: same story of pickit clones, are they good or not ?

4th. With the programmer, the reference (https://reference.digilentinc.com/chipkit_max32/refmanual) and pieces, i think i will can start. The max32 contains a bootloader that i don't need (i want use it bare with mplabx and anything else): is just sufficient connect it to pickit3 and start to write on a new firmware or i will must make something else ?

5th. I'm looking for an oscilloscope too. On amazon i see things usb around 60/70 eur and anothers lot more expensive. What should i keep in mind to buy one that is not excessive but not even a piece of crap ? As a hobbist i'm free to buy everything i want or is there something recommended ?

6th.... i don't know, for now i think that's all, thanks

[JColvin]

Hi @Dan84,

1) If you use the chipKIT PGM, you will need external power (via the standard USB A to mini B cable or an external power source like you mentioned) to have the programmer work correctly as it is not able to supply the requisite amount of current, whereas the PICkit 3 will provide the needed current on it's own. So whether or not it's better is somewhat subjective.

2). I haven't ever used a PICkit 3 clone, so I can't speak towards the efficacy of them. In the end, I would think it is always safer to use the real thing with a proven track record if you aren't certain about it and aren't planning on trying out (potentially multiple) other options.

3) I haven't heard of Elegoo before today; I can't speak towards the efficacy of the microcontroller boards that they have (or what they can be programmed by without doing more research on their website), but all of the breadboard materials (LEDs, seven-segment displays, etc) will be fine.

4) I believe that is the case yes, I don't think you will need anything further.

5) It will depend on what you what sort of things you are hoping to measure -- a lot of high speed analog signals, just digital signals for communication protocols (SPI, serial, I2C, etc, which would merit a logic analyzer rather than an oscilloscope), or a mixture of the two? If it's a mixture, and considering that I am a Digilent employee on the Digilent Forum., I am biased towards the Analog Discovery 2. I don't doubt other options exist, especially if you are looking for just an oscilloscope or just a logic analyzer, but I like to think you would be hard pressed to find a good competitor that shares all of the same features and performance at it's price point.

6) Let me know if you think of anything else.

Thanks,
JColvin

[Dan84]

Actually i'm some steps behind (before your reply i didn't know anything about logic analyzers), probably my actual needs are more like "how can i know if the btn is pressed eventually with antibounce", so i think i will start with a simple oscilloscope. In this simple case i need something particular or every oscilloscope (even the worst) are more than enough ?

[JColvin]

Hi @Dan84,

If you are looking to just confirm the button is pressed after implementing some sort of debouncing circuitry, pretty much any oscilloscope will do; I've been able to detect the state of button with the analog inputs on the Max32 and printing out the detected state on a serial terminal. Naturally, that's not the same look as an oscilloscope, but it got the job done for me.

Thanks,
JColvin