This is the programmer board from Microchip's PICkit 1 Flash Starter Kit.
I chose this particular programmer because it's made by Microchip, it's got a USB interface and it's cheap! More details on the PICkit 1 here.
Microchip have also launched a whole new family of 8 and 14-pin flash PIC microcontrollers, including the 12F629, 12F675, 16F630, 16F676, 16F684 and 16F688. See the flash PICs page for more details. There is another 8-pin device coming soon, the 12F683 which has 2k of program space.
Also on the site is a programs section offering copyright-free programs that run directly on the PICkit 1 programmer board. The programs are designed to be very simple, but do something immediately visible using the board's LEDs, potentiometer and push switch. It's an excellent place to start if you're completely new to PIC microcontrollers.
Any comments you'd like to make about the site are very welcome - email address below.
Thanks for visiting!
Julian Ilett
Please also visit my other website network-camera.co.uk
updated 25th July 2006