The development board is designed to be used with either the PICtutor CD ROM or the C for PICmicro microcontrollers CD ROM. There are actually 2 versions of the development board - a deluxe version (shown in the picture on the right) and a standard/student version.

Both boards consists of a PCB containing a re-programmable PIC16F84 microcontroller, control and programming switches, LEDs and appropriate connectors. The boards can be used to both learn how to program the PIC series of microcontrollers and as a basis for further PICmicro projects. The PIC 16F84 chip can be programmed from a PC via a standard Centronics cable using software that is available on either the PICtutor CD ROM or on the C for PICmicro microcontrollers CD ROM. These development boards are rugged (designed for use in educational establishments), flexible, expandable and have designed to get you up and running as fast as possible.

The difference between the standard and deluxe versions is that the deluxe comes complete with quasi-intelligent alphanumeric display, quad 7-segment display and (in the UK only) a plug-top power supply.

If you are outside the UK you will find that two bundled versions of the CD and hardware are supported: student/home which is the standard board + student/home version of the software, and institution version which includes the full institution version license software as well as the deluxe development board.

For detailed information on using your hardware with this course navigate to the section 'Compiling and running C programs'.