Maxking SLA-XL
The Maxking SLA-XL programmer: (Category Universal Programmers)
This is the Maxking SLA-XL programmer, also known as a StarLight Advanced programmer. It is well built and very compact and it comes with a simple, yet good bottom side protection. The protection does not consist of a few tiny rubber feet. No, this protection covers the complete bottom side of the programmer, which is a good thing.
Still, the regular visitors of this website know by now that I am a fan of fully encased programmers. And this is no exception. On the other hand, an enclosure for this programmer would be very hard to make, since the design of the unit was never intended to be in an enclosure in the first place. The positioning of the operating switches and the mode indicator LED, do show that clearly.
Having said that, looking at this programmer, I get a strong feeling that its original design did not feature an LCD display either. It looks very much like a more recent add on. Something that was fitted at a later stage to make it look more impressive. More like a high end programmer. And to be honoust, the finish and build quality do look impeccable. But finish and quality don't tell the whole story. Programmer design has evolved also over the years, and some details tell me that this design is not a very recent one.
Look at the photograph below. Now notice the power connector on the right side, the data cable connector at the top and the card slot at the front, underneath the LCD display. That means that this programmer (like several others) uses a design with cables and card sticking out everywhere. OK, of course I am exagerating a bit now, but why not simply put the connectors next to each other and preferably at the opposite side of the card slot. But hey, most of the new programmers do feature such design improvements.
Please insert the card with the contacts facing down!!!
So how does it perform then?
Well, the programmer does work without problems with all of the universal software for universal programmers. Chipcat, Cardwriter, Masterburner, ISVedit, you name it and it will work. But.... you need to know how to operate it. So lets start with a little explanation here.
The programmer features an extra safety measure like more (older) programmers do. It will not allow you to switch programming modes while the card is inserted and the programmer has an open connection to the card. That means that you either need to extract the card from the programmer or you need to press the reset switch. That is the little red switch, just below the mode indicator LED. Only then you will be able to switch modes. This safety measure prevents the card from being damaged by unwanted power fluctuations while switching modes.
The Starlight programmer features 7 programming modes of which only 4 do fit the scope of this website. Modes 0, 1, 2 and 4 are the ones you will need for the software, available in the download archive.
Mode 0: Mouse mode 6 MHz.
Mode 1: Mouse mode 3.5 MHz
Mode 2: PIC prog mode
Mode 4: AVR prog mode