Got a design problem? EEWeb Experts have the answers

By Max Maxfield, editor-in-chief, EEWeb

One of the great things about being me (I know, I know, there are so many that we couldn’t even begin to enumerate them here) is that I bask in the brilliance of so many clever people.

If I have questions about PIC microcontrollers, for example, I can call my chum Joe Farr; queries about wibbly-wobbly analog circuits go to Peter Traneus (Rex) Anderson; riddles regarding safety-critical systems can be funneled to Elizabeth Simon; circuit board posers can be handed over to Duane Benson; conundrums about flying FPGAs in space can be passed to Adam Taylor; and the list goes on.

But what about everyone else — not only newbies who are just starting out in their engineering careers but also established engineers who are moving into unfamiliar technological territory — to whom do they turn?

Well, happily, all of the aforementioned names, along with many others, are members of our Turbo-Charged Technology Team of EEWeb Experts, wherein they graciously donate their time to rend the veils asunder and reveal the answers to the mysteries that confound the rest of us mere mortals.

(Image: pixabay.com)

I was reminded of this recently when EEWeb Community Member Rich Cox posted the following poser to the  EEWeb Forums:

Problems Programming Device — PIC32MX250F128B

Hi all, I’ve recently needed to program a PIC32MX250F128B. I’ve used a PICKIT3, no luck, PICkit2, I was desperate, and I’ve a TL866A programmer. Each cannot find the device either in auto or by selecting manually.

In the EPE edition, November 2016, there is a small project to build an Arduino Nano PIC32 programmer. I’ve tried hours with trying to program this device and still no luck. Thinking a bad chip, I got hold of a few new, and still the same. The chip has all its vcc and grounds, each vcc/gnd having 10nf caps, and its Vcap with a 10uf tantulum cap. Can someone tell me what programmer I need in order to program this chip please.

Thus far, Rich has received six replies, the most recent being from the aforementioned Joe Farr, who went above and beyond the call of duty to perform some experiments. Click here  to find out how Joe solved the problem.