[OTish] PIC Convert....

["andy_powell_is" <ukha@xxxxxxx>]

Hi,

I've been doing quite a bit of stuff (mainly temperature and
proximity sensing) with Basic Stamps of late and am convinced that I
should really be looking at migrating to the PIC.

I've found a product called PicBasic Pro which essentially has the
same command set (and a lot more) as Parallax PBasic. This would make
the transfer much easier - and for many things I wouldn't have to
rewrite them.

The problem is that there is just too much information on the PIC. I
really want a 'getting started' or 'moving from the Basic Stamp to
PIC' type book or set of documents. I /think/ I've established that
for each PIC I need a crystal thingy (ocillator?) but I don't know
that for sure. The pin configurations are throwing me a little too.

Does anyone have a good source of information on the PIC - from the
beginning?

I've taken a look at http://www.crownhill.co.uk/ for
supplies etc.
but before I get going I need to find out what I'd need, and what
pins are for what... you know really basic (hehe) stuff.

There seem to be 20 different types of programmer (hardware) etc... I
just need a few pointers in the right direction.. A search on Google
just causes information overload...

So... if any of you bods out there using PIC's for your HA stuff
could give me a shove in the right direction I'd appreciate it..

Andy