Kanda have been producing different standalone programmers for PIC microcontrollers for over 25 years and they are popular all over the world. All Kanda programmers are robust and the main feature is ease of use.
Why do you need a standalone PIC programmer?
The main reasons why people want a standalone programer are
- Easy for unskilled operators to use
- Simple to send to agents, distributors or field engineers
- Difficult environment for laptops eg kitchens or outdoors
- Production lines are simplified without computers
- Some standalone programmers can power target circuit and have fault protection.
PC based programmers need skill to use software and are clumsy to use outdoors for example. A standalone or handheld programmer solves both these issues.
Kanda Standalone Programmers
Kanda have four different types of PIC programmer – keyfob, single handheld, 8-way handheld and portable programmer all of which have different features to match your application.
Kanda Keyfob programmers
This is our cheapest and easiest standalone programmer that comes in a keyfob case, hence the name.
It supports all PIC16Fxxx and PIC18Fxxx microcontrollers and has a 256KB memory, enough for all PIC devices. It programs and verifies all PIC sections, including code, data, configuration bytes and User ID.
It is powered by target circuit so doesn’t need a battery but target must be powered. Once it is loaded from the PC using Kanda software and USB dongle, it just needs to be plugged into target and the button pressed. A slow flashing green LED shows sucess and a flashing red LED indicates failure – the number of red flashes shows what area failed programming.
It is ideal for quick field updates but has less protection against faulty circuits than the handheld programmer so boards in production just be checked first.
It is low cost and multi-pack options give huge discounts for an economical solution to field programming PIC microcontrollers.
PIC Keyfob Standalone Programmers
Kanda Handheld PIC Programmers
Kanda handheld PIC programmers are ideal for both production and field updates. They have protection against faulty circuits, can power the target circuit and have lots of features like limit number of programming operations allowed, LVP and HVP support.
Like the keyfob a single button press is all the operator needs to do, with green or red flashes showing the result.
As well as the standard handheld programmer, Kanda have an 8-way version that can support up to 8 different target images, each with a different PIC microcontroller and code. The correct slot is selected with a simple rotary switch followed by a single key press.
Kanda 8-way Handheld PIC Programmer
Both of these programmers are ideal for both field updates and production use.
Kanda Portable PIC Programmer
This is the most sohisticated Kanda standalone programmer. It can store up to 32 different programming images, which are selected using the keypad and LCD display. This programmer is designed for use who need lots of different firmware versions and know which one to select.
Conclusion
Kanda standalone PIC programmers are really easy to use, low cost and extremely reliable.