PIC cards & Gold Wafers
On the left the SMD Wafer card with the Gold wafer card next to it. The general naming for these cards is PIC cards which is derived from the processor type (PIC 16F84). These cards are equipped with a 2Kb external eeprom (24C16).
On the SMD Wafer card you can distinguish the 2 components easily. The large chip on the left is the processor, the small one is the memory chip. These cards are probably still the most popular cards for use in the satellite hobby. My guess is that every serious hobbyist has one (or more). And for a good reason. There is no other card for which more files and software is offered than these types.
On the SMD Wafer card you will notice 8 contacts. The 2 leftmost contacts (numbers 4 and 8) are not always available on all Wafer cards. But if they are, that is an indication that the eeprom is directly addressable. So in that case you don't need to use the technology of 'through PIC programming'. By using the direct programming linesyou can program the eeprom independently from the PIC. A program like ICprog for instance is capable of addressing the eeprom directly if you have the right programmer.
Some CAM's require you to disable the contacts 4 and 8. If such a CAM detects these contacts, it will not work properly. So in order to get your card to work properly on any CAM, just place a piece of cellotape over the contacts. And if you want to reprogram the card, just remove the tape. It's as simple as that.
GoldWafer cards come in many different looks. But no matter what is printed on it, the functionality remains the same. And that's no wonder, as the components are identical (16F84 + 24C16). Below you see the Gold Galaxy on the left, and the Open Platform GoldWafer next to it.
But as new technologies require more memory, the GoldWafer has been upgraded with some extra memory too. Now there is a so called Bluecard available which combines the 16F84 with a 24C64. That is 8Kb of memory, or 4 times as much as on the original GoldWafer.
