Most radio and electronics enthusiasts have come across PIC Microcontrollers, made by Microchip Technology Inc. of Arizona, USA. Although PICs have been around for quite a while, it's only since Microchip began to use Flash memory technology in some devices that they've become so remarkably popular with Amateur Radio and construction enthusiasts. In case anyone isn't quite sure what a microcontroller is, it is simply a (usually quite small) microprocessor, which has on the same piece of silicon: a clock generator, program memory, data memory and various peripheral devices. These peripherals can include: comparators, timers, counters, serial communication interfaces, l.c.d. drivers, analogue to digital converters and even USB and Ethernet ports.
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