With a price tag of 102 Euros each, the ten Explorer 16 development boards on offer for electronica will help you evaluate the features and performance of Microchip's latest 16-bit PIC24 microcontroller and dsPIC33 digital signal controller (DSC) families. The Explorer 16 comes with two interchangeable plug-in modules (PIMs), one each for the PIC24FJ128GA010 and the dsPIC33F128GP710 DSC. Other features include a alpha-numeric 16x2 LCD display, interfaces to the MPLAB ICD 2 in-circuit debugger, USB, and RS-232. The board also includes Microchip's TC1047A high accuracy, analogue output temperature sensor, an expansion connector to access the full devices pin-out, a bread board prototyping area, and a PICtail Plus connector for future expansion boards. The kit is completed with a CD-ROM containing a user's manual, IC data sheets, schematics and PCB drawing files for the PIM modules and example programs for use with the PIC24 and dsPIC33F devices. Also provided in Gerber format are some files detailing the general purpose expansion boards that can be used with the Explorer 16 board.Microchip Technology, A4.560