Customer Reviews

Making PIC Microcontroller Instruments and Controllers

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought the Book thinking that it would have some assembly programming in it. It is pretty much all PICBasic and PICBasic PRO. I bought the Know-it-all Book as well, and I would say just get the Know-it-all book instead. there are a few helpful examples in this book but I don't think its good for you unless you are looking to expand on Basic.

This book takes the beginner through the basics of programming the PIC 16F877A microcontroller using PicBasic Pro. The author achieves this through the use of numerous well annotated and well explained example programs. At the end of the book are eight very practical and very interesting projects which use easily obtainable hardware and for which the author's programs are supplied.

While the PIC 16F877A is no longer the latest and greatest PIC microcontroller, it has a lot of features and capabilities. In addition, it is inexpensive and is available in a conventional through-hole DIP package. Thus the student can build the projects without having to work with expensive or surface-mounted components. Upon completing the book, the student knows enough about PIC programming to work with any of the latest PIC microcontrollers.

The author has a web page which contains all the programs used in the book in a form where the reader can use "cut and paste" to copy the programs into the PicBasic Pro compiler. This saves a lot of typing. In addition, the web site contains a lot of additional useful information.

I have read numerous so-called beginner level books on PIC programming. Many of these books contain a lot of errors (both typographical and factual) and/or are written by authors who lack the ability to explain basic concepts clearly. This book is an exception. The author explains the topics clearly and the book contains very few errors of any kind. I taught engineering classes for 33 years and know a good textbook when I see one. I highly recommend this book.

The information in this book was much better than expected. If you are getting started in PIC with some programming and basic electronics background, this book provides the intermediate information required to take ideas to working controllers or improve existing controler designs.

If you want to learn how to control instruments with Pic microcontrolers using a basic language then this is the book for you. I find it very useful in my lab, and recommend it to my students.

Mr. Sandhu has authored a well-written, easily understandable book covering a complex subject with ease.

To his credit, in-depth coverage of the PIC chip he has selected as a basis for the published projects is thankfully brief. Readers who purchase this book should have a reasonable amount of experience in the PIC range already, and will be pleased to discover that this book is NOT a rehash of already published data sheets and chip-specific information.

Mr. Sandhu has a refreshingly clear writing style, making a complex subject easy to understand. The book assumes the reader will have access to a development board (the LAB-X1) and is using PICBasic (from Micro Engineering Labs). However, these prerequisites are not essential to the reader's enjoyment of the book. In all cases, schematics of the projects are supplied for the reader to construct, or breadboard. A trial version of the software is available.

Instrumentation and controllers are necessary in all walks of life. Home, industry, agriculture and so on. For many years, these devices have been a `dark art', with potential users resorting to purchasing units to satisfy their instrument and/or controller needs, often being forced into a compromise situation due to exact requirements not being available in commercial equipment. No more. Mr. Sandhu supplies a wealth of information, clear instructions and employs a `universal' approach to his examples. This approach gives the reader wide scope to modify the published designs to suit their own requirements.

I have learned a huge amount from reading this book. It has filled a void in my PIC knowledge, demystifying instrumentation and control, and empowering me to confidently apply lessons learned from the book to real-world applications that are required for my particular industry.

Mr. Sandhu's clear writing style, succinct but clear explanations of very technical concepts, and wry humor make a serious subject a joy to read about and gives the reader a large dose of confidence. So much so that I acquired a LAB-X1 development board and immediately began developing embedded control and instrumentation equipment with considerable success.

Mr. Sandhu is to be commended for his writing skill, for the time he has obviously put into his work and for his approachability.

Well done, sir!

My thanks to Mr Kirby for his kind comments.

The book does contain a very detailed explanation on how to read 4x4 keyboard that Mr. Kirby seems to have missed. See pages 67 to 74.

It is not necessary to buy the entire development system used in the book. Most of the work can be done with a breadboard and stuff in an adequate junk box but it does make it much easier to have a formal system to work with. A programmer can be purchased or made from any of many designs on the internet. I did not make one, so I do not make a recommendation.

HSS (Author)