Specifications

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5.1 Explorer 16 Development Board
Microchip‟s® Explorer 16 Development board provides a low cost, modular
development system for 16-bit microcontroller families. This board supports both
the PIC24 and dsPIC33F microcontroller families which we will be using in the
system. This will be the main testing device for our system.
The Explorer Development board offers so many great features and capabilities
that will be beneficial to our system for testing, prototyping and building. The
development board operates with a direct 9VDC power input, which it then
powers down to the +3.3 V and +5 V needed to run our devices being tested. An
LCD display on the board lets the tester see real time results when programming
the different modules. The board also has a push button switches for user
defined inputs and for resets. There are also LED lights for various testing uses
as well, which will come in handy when running most of our debugging and
testing. On the Explorer board are socket and edge connector for PICtail card
compatibility. With both wireless modules we are using in the system having
PICtail daughter boards outlined in the sections below, this feature was a key
selling point in choosing this development board. The high level block diagram in
Figure 56 below outlines the main connections between the integral parts and
components.
Figure 56 High-Level Explorer 16 Development Board Block Diagram
(Reprinted with permission from MicroChip®)