We decided to use some Microchip Controllers, because of the excellent Sample Service and the fact, that the Controllers are really cheap and available at the distributors like Farnell or RS-components. So for our Application we will take a closer look on following types:
- PIC24F32KA304 for extreme low Power Applications (Deep Sleep down to 20nA)
- PIC18F97J60 for Ethernet Applications (Integrated MAC 10Base-T)
- MRF89XA as RF Transmitter
There is also a low cost RF Transmitter Module with PCB Antenna provided by Microchip, so we will take this Module for first tests.
For outdoor standalone Operation i was considering that this very cheap (3.29€) Solar Module with 4V and 35mA provides enough Power to operate the RF Transmitter Module. Everythings fine up to here so lets give it a try. The new IDE called MPLabX provided by Microchip is based on Netbeans IDE so I’m really taut if the free Microchip IDE + free Compilers can satisfy me.