1. Trademarks and copyright

PIC and PICmicro are registered trademarks of Arizona

Microchip Inc. E-blocks is a trademark of Matrix

Technology Solutions Ltd.

2. Disclaimer

The information provided within this document is

correct at the time of going to press. Matrix TSL reserves

the right to change specifications from TSL to time.

3. Testing this product

It is advisable to test the product upon receiving it to

ensure it works correctly. Matrix provides test procedures

for all E-blocks, which can be found in the Support

section of the website.

4. Product support

If you require support for this product then please

visit the Matrix website, which contains many learning

resources for the E-blocks series. On our website you will

find:

• How to get started with E-blocks - if you are new to

E-blocks and wish to learn how to use them from the

beginning there are resources available to help.

• Relevant software and hardware that allow you to use

your E-blocks product better.

• Example files and programs.

• Ways to get technical support for your product, either

via the forums or by contacting us directly

General information

The EB006 V9 PICmicro microcontroller programmer

connects to your PC via USB to provide you with a low

cost and flexible PICmicro microcontroller programmer.

This board can be used with conventional microcontroller

programs that generate hex code for the PIC family:

MPLAB, C compilers, BASIC compilers etc. The EB006

V9 has many features that are optimised for use with

Flowcode version 6 including Ghost technology.

The board will program most 8, 14, 18, 20, 28 and 40 pin

flash PICmicro microcontroller devices using the free

‘mLoader’ programming software provided. mLoader

can be downloaded from the Matrix web site.

The board also provides ‘clean’ access to all Input/Output

lines on the relevant PICmicro microcontroller device.

These are presented on 9 way D-type connectors: 8 bits

and earth. A range of additional E-blocks boards can

plug into these D-type connectors to provide a rapid

prototyping system for learning and development.

More information on Ghost technology can be found on

our website at www.matrixtsl.com/ghost.

1. Features

• E-blocks compatible

• Low cost

• Used as a programmer and as a development board

• Programs a wide range of PICmicro MCU devices

• Full suite of programming software available

• Ghost technology included

• Removable crystal oscillator source

• 5 I/O ports

• In-Circuit Debugging via PICkit2 connector

• In-Circuit Debug with Flowcode 6

• In-Circuit Test with Flowcode 6

• Charge pump capability to allow high voltage

programming from USB supply

• 2mm power connector sockets

• Powerful 16bit host chip with Ghost technology

operating system included

• All pins on target device monitored by host

microcontroller

• On-board SRAM memory for data storage

• LEDs for Power, In-Circuit -Debug, In-Circuit -Test,

and Program

• Lower operating voltage (9V)

Circuit description

The multiprogrammer solution is made up of two

parts: a circuit board that allows various slave PICmicro

devices to be programmed, and the Windows based

programming utility ‘mLoader’.

1. Power supply

The board is normally operated from a regulated DC

supply of 7.5 - 9V or from a USB supply. This allows full

operation including programming. The board can be

operated solely from the USB cable provided. However

care must be taken, as there is only limited power that

can be taken from a computer’s USB port.

The jumper link system, J11, allows the user to decide

on the source of the power supply. If using a regulated

7.5V power supply the jumper should be positioned to

the right hand side of the jumper system labeled ‘PSU’. If

using USB power place the jumper on the left hand side

of the jumper system. LED D6 indicates that power is

correctly supplied to the board.

Please note that both USB and the PSU cables should

be removed for the Multiprogammer board BEFORE

changing the position of this jumper.

Remember that other E-blocks will have to receive their

voltage by placing a connecting wire from the “+V” screw

terminal of the Multiprogrammer to the “+V” screw

terminal of each E-Block that requires a voltage.

WARNING: Take extra care when wiring in a

power supply 12V may cause the board to run

hot.

2. Programming circuit

The Multiprogrammer connects to a personal computer

via the USB socket. Any USB socket on the PC can be

used. The host microcontroller is used to communicate

between the USB bus and the Multiprogrammer

circuitry. The host is connected to a network of analogue

switches formed by U4 and a charge pump circuit which

is used to multiply the operating voltage up to the 9-12V

programming voltage. This circuitry routes 0V, VDD and

VPP to appropriate pins on the slave PICmicro devices as

and when necessary.

3. DIL sockets and I/O ports

The slave PICmicro DIL sockets are wired in parallel (see

table of connections below) and the ports are fed out to

5 D-type sockets grouped in ports. These signals are also

!

available on a 40-way header (J5) for expansion purposes.

Other important signals can be accessed via the other

expansion header J24 (see table of connections below).

Port E has only 3 connections, which reflects the pin outs

of the various PICmicro devices themselves. When using

an 8-pin or 14-pin device it should be placed in the upper

pins of the 20-pin DIL socket as marked on the board.

Please refer to device datasheets for availability of port

outputs on each device.

NOTE: RA4 on some PICmicro devices has an open

collector output. This means that you will most likely

need a pull up resistor to be able to drive an LED etc.

Please see the datasheet on the device you are using

for further details. (Does not apply to 16F1937 device

supplied with the board).

WARNING: Only fit one PICmicro device at a time.

Inserting more then one PICmicro device will

cause programming to fail and may even cause

damage to the board or the PICmicros.

4. Reset push button

PB1 provides a reset by pulling the MCLR pin low. Note

that the programming chip will reset the slave PICmicro

as part of the send routine so that you do not need to

press this switch each time you send your program to

the board. If you are using a device with internal MCLR

functionality then you will have to ensure that the chip

is configured with an external MCLR to allow the reset

operation to work. Devices using the internal MCLR

configuration setting will be able to use the reset switch

as a digital input.

5. Frequency selection

By default the board is fitted with a 19.6608MHz crystal.

The crystal fits into a small socket, which allows the

crystal to be easily changed. For older Matrix TSL courses

a 3.2768MHz crystal is recommended. These frequencies

are chosen as they divide down by PICmicro prescalers

to give suitable frequencies for clock systems and for

facilitating serial communication using standard baud

rates.

The Jumper link system J18, J19 allows PICmicro devices

with internal oscillators to route the signals from the

oscillator pins through to Port A pins 6 and 7. This allows

the devices with internal oscillators to use all 8-bits of

the Port A for I/O operation.

6. In-Circuit Debugging

The Multiprogrammer board has an in-circuit debugging

(ICD) connection between the USB peripheral device

and the target microcontroller. This allows the Flowcode

software to start, stop, step and inspect an active

program, synchronized both in hardware and Flowcode

6 software. As well as the standard ICD operation,

Flowcode is capable of reading back real time variable

values from the target device.

To use the Microchip PICkit2 ICSP interface, remove

the power supply and the USB cable from the

Multiprogrammer. Then place the 3-way jumper link

associated with J12-14 to the left hand side of the 3 x

3 header pins, labeled ‘ICSP’. Then simply connect the

PICkit into the Multiprogrammer via header J20.

7. In-Circuit Test

The Multiprogrammer board has an in-circuit test (ICT)

connection between the USB peripheral device and all

of the target microcontroller’s I/O pins. This allows the

Flowcode 6 software to monitor all of the signals on the

board in either analogue or digital modes.

The in circuit test feature can be combined with packet

decoding to allow data and control busses to be explored

and debugged

8. Low voltage programming

Many PICmicros have a low voltage programming mode

where it is possible to program the device without the

need for a 12V supply line or charge pump. The difficulty

here is that different families of PICmicro devices use

different pins as the Low Voltage programming pin. B3 is

predominantly used for this function but B4 and B5 are

also used on some devices. For this reason the version

9 EB006 does not support low voltage programming

modes so care must be taken when generating the chip

configuration to disable the low voltage programming

functionality. If the low voltage programming

configuration is left enabled then you will not be able to

use the LVP pin as an I/O pin in your application.

Protective cover

Most of the boards in the E-blocks range can be fitted

with a plastic cover as an optional extra. These covers

are there to protect your E-blocks board therefore

extending the life of the board. The covers also prevent

the removal of external components while still allowing

for the adjustment of applicable parts on the board.

12mm M3 spacers, anti-slip M3 nuts and 25mm M3 bolts

can be used to attached the cover to the board. These

are not included but can be bought separately from our

website.

The order code for the EB006 PICmicro® MCU

microcontroller cover is EB706.