Wisp628 kit

Introduction

What you will need

To be able to verify the working of your assembled Wisp628 programmer you will need (beside the assembled Wisp628 itself):

a target circuit with the target PICmicro (16f628 or 16f877 are recommended), including a +5 Volt power supply. It is recommended to build your first target circuit on a solderless breadboard.

a way to connect the Wisp628 programmer to the target circuit. The recommended way is to plug the wires supplied with the kit into a solderless breadboard target circuit.

a test program to run on the target. It is recommended to start with a simple program that is known to be working, like one of the blink-a-LED programs available on the wisp628 page.

the (free) wisp tool program, which can be downloaded from http://www.voti.nl/wisptool. This is an MsDos command line program.

a PC with a free serial port, running either MsDos, or an MsWindows version that allows direct access to the serial port hardware. (The wisp tool program will NOT work with Windows NT/2000/XP.)

a straight ('serial extension') cable to connect the programmer to the PC.

Assembly

I assume you know how to solder a PCB. The Wisp628 PCB contains some fine traces, but it is not difficult to build for someone with a little experience. Be patient, don't use too much solder and check your work under a strong lamp (a magnifying glass might be handy).

When bending the leads of the components before inserting into the PCB make sure you bend as close to the component as possible.

You can click on each of the pictures to get a larger picture.

	The description assumes that you have the board oriented as shown, so you can read the component designations on the silkscreen (component) side.
	Place the three small 1n4148 diodes D2, D3 and D4. The dark band points to the right. Solder the diodes.
	Place and solder the two 1 kΩ resistors (brown-black-red) R1 and R2.
	Place and solder the six 47 Ω resistors (yellow-purple-black) R3, R4, R5, R6, R7 and R8.
	Place and solder the big 1n4004 diode D1. The white ring must be towards you.
	The next two steps are crucial. The two D connectors are fitted directly over the PCB edge. Depending on the tolerances of the connectors this fit can be loose or tight. In both cases the solder cups must be aligned accurately with the solder pads before soldering. First fit and solder the male D15 (the one with pins, not the one with holes) at the near side of the board. The row with the most pins (8) is soldered (on the solder side of the PCB, of course), the other row (the 7 pins on the component side) is not used. Do not try to touch the pads while soldering: heat the connector cup and apply a little solder between the cup and the pad.
	The female D9 connector is soldered at the far side. Take care not to make a short between pins 4 and 5 and the trace near the pads for these pins. Due to board size tolerances you might have to keep a little space between the connector and the board to avoid such a short.
	Place and solder the 2n3904 transistor. The middle (base) lead must be bent somewhat towards the round side.
	Place and solder the two smaller 22 pF or 20 pF disk capacitors (C9, C10). The holes on the PCB are too close for a normal fit. It is recommended to bent the leads like the right cap on the picture.
	Place and solder the 0.1 µF capacitor (C11), which can be a disk type or a small blue one.
	Place and solder the larger of the two IC sockets. The indent must be at the right side.
	Place and solder the smaller of the two IC sockets. The indent must again be at the right side.
	WARNING: The pictures incorrectly show a 1uF elco for c8 and a 22uF for c4. The correct placement is: 4 * 1uF elco near the D9 connector and 2 between the chips. Place and solder the six 1 µF capacitors (C1, C2, C3, C4, C6, C7). The two in the middle of the PCB (C6, C7) must have the white stripe towards you. The four at the far (C1, C2, C3, C4) end must have the white strip towards the left. You might want to straighten the leads first.
	Place and solder the two 22 µF capacitors (C5, C8). The one at the middle right side (C5) has the white strip towards the right, the one at the left side of the transistor (C8) has the white strip towards you.
	Place and solder the crystal.
	Insert the two ICs into their sockets. You might need to bent the pins of the ICs slightly to the middle before inserting. Take care not to fold a pin under the IC. Both ICs must be placed with pin one (the pin with the dot) away from you (the indent to the right). This finishes the assembly of the PCB. A place for a three pin header remains unused; it can be used to connect a 5 Volt power supply (center pin == +5 Volt, outer pins == ground).
	Strip the ends of the colored wires and solder them to the remaining (female) D15 connector, as shown: 1 = black, 2 = red, 3 = green, 4 = blue, 5 = yellow, 6 = white. The connector has the numbers on it. In case your eyes are as bad as mine: with the connector in front of you, largest row up, solder cups towards you, pin 1 is the upper left.
	Assemble the connector. The clamp can be used when you put it together with both curves in the same direction (for a thicker cable you would have both curves in opposite direction).

Test

Build your target circuit, with a LED connected to the correct pin. The use of a solderless breadboard is recommended. For another physical realization of a target circuit you might want to build an alternative programmer-to-target connector cable (for instance with a DIP-clip).

Connect the programmer to the target circuit. The Wisp628 page shows which pins must be connected.

Connect the programmer to a serial port of your PC, using a straight ('serial extension') cable (NOT a null-modem cable).

Apply power to your target circuit.

When you use Windows: start a DOS box.

Assuming your target is a 16f628, program it with the blink-a-LED test program using the Dos command wisp port com2 go b-f628 Replace com2 with the serial port the programmer is connected to. The default is port com1. Replace b-f628 with the name of the appropriate .hex file. to use.

The LED must start blinking.

When the wisp program complains about the connection to the target you should check that you are using the right serial port, and (for NT-derived Windows versions) that direct hardware access is enabled. Remove the programmer from the cable, and instead make a connection between pins 2 and 3. Now give the command wisp port com2 term 1200 again replacing com2 with the serial port you intend to use. Now when you type something you should see it. When you don't see your typing the serial port can either not be accessed from the DOS box, or it is not the serial port your cable is connected to.