simple microchip programming 1

[crashbox455]

i'm trying to learn how to program PIC's, and am not getting very far. i'm not a computer programmer at all, i did a little QBasic back in junior high, but you can imagine how sophisticated that class was...

anyway, i have a sensor i want to read, which is a basic potentiometer. input 5V, and see what's left on the other side, is that how it works? so how do you get the processor to read a given voltage as an input? PICBasic language has a "Pot" command, but it seems like a kludge to me.

i have read that you can do this with an ADC, but i'm limited in my knowledge of electronic parts. i don't see what an ADC has to do with what i'm trying to do.

can anyone walk me through this?

 

[BartSimpson]

I was in the same boat at one time. If you haven't already done so go check out

http://www.piclist.com.

Start with the "PICList.com PIC Beginners Checklist" then on to the FAQ. The Microchip website has many useful programming examples and I'd be surprised if they did not have exactly what you are looking for. You can get the Microchip Embedded Control Handbook that not only has code examples, but shows many of the circuits that the code is built for. You will probably have to bite the bullet and expand your knowledge of electronic parts a little if you want to understand how to pull off ADC tricks with a PIC. Have fun.

 

[bearing01]

The PIC/microcontroller I programmed one time (few years back) didn't have an ADC on it. You may have to use an A2D converter and input the value on the GPIB/data bus.

 

[red300zx99x]

Just wondering in what you are trying to accomplish with this input

 

[jakedh]

I would highly recommend the Atmel AVR series. They are just as cheap as the programmer, flexible, exandable, etc.