Chipdrive Mini
The Chipdrive Mini: (Category Other Programmers)
They don't come any smaller than this. At 61 x 65 mm this must absolutely be the smallest card programmer available.
And don't be fooled by it's size. In combination with the software, which is supplied with it, this nice little piece of electronics will program all popular PIC type cards available today:
- PIC wafer with only a 16F84 (untested)
- PIC wafer with 16F84/24C16
- PIC wafer with 16F84A/24LC16 (untested)
- PIC wafer with 16F876/24C64
- PIC wafer with 16F877/24C64 (untested)
There is a new firmware version (version 100) available for this programmer, which should be able to do AVR type cards (Jupiter, Fun etc.) as well, but I have not had the opprtunity to test it.
It really is a joy to use. If you are looking for an alternative for the Gold/Millenium programmer, then this should be it. The CardMaster software is probably the most user friendly PIC card programming software there is. And it is seriously fast too.
It is definitely my first choice for programming PIC cards.
If I had to describe it in 1 word, that word would be GREAT!
Only drawbacks I can think of:
- no Phoenix mode for MOSC cards
- AVR type cards (Fun, Jupiter etc.) only possible from firmware versions 100
Please make sure that you insert the cards with the contacts facing down because the programmers contacts are on the PCB.