Using PL2303HX module to program PIC

Question

I'm very new to the electronics stuff. I've spent most of my discovering things so far, however there is something that I'm stuck on.

I want to get a PIC18F4550 to begin with, and I'm wondering if I can use a PL2303HX USB to TTL UART module to connect the chip to the programmer (image here).

If yes, would I need to connect RXD to RX/DT and TXD to TX/CK pins?

Yes, I know PICKit exists. I'm trying to find a way around that.

• Trygve Laugstøl: Why do you want a way around using a programmer?

Answer 1

I just took a look at the datasheet for the PIC18F4550 (link). It does support EUSART (Enhanced Universal Sync/Async Receiver Transmitter), thats what they call it I guess. You would simply have to setup transmit and receive (pg 244, 245) properly. Setup your baud, enable transmit/receive, etc. Then hookup your PL2303HX and you should be set. Specifically pin-26 and pin-25 for the 40-pin pdip diagram.

Some advice seeing that you are new to this stuff. Get a microcontroller with as much timers as you can afford (higher bit timers i.e. 16-bits are ideal). Also be careful of the suppliers you buy from, some of them sell after market parts that may have different vendor/device IDs that will render them useless unless you use their programming software. Also buy 2 of those TTL receivers, you will need it when the other burns out.

Hope this answers your question.

• Ozbekov: Well, the reason I asked was to avoid importing a PICKit from the US, however it took shorter than the answer I could get here. I have several PICs by now (PIC18s, dsPIC24s and PIC32s) and am working on my quadcopter project.
• 1337holiday: Wow, when I first started with microcontrollers I actually started building a quadcopter myself. I use mainly AVRs so I really cant say much about PICs however from what I have seen, they are all very similar.
• Ozbekov: To be honest -- I don't really care about the hardware part of it, I just want to write an autopilot for it!