Where to start ??

[praxidice]

First and foremost, whilst I have various tertiary qualifications, I've never had anything at all to do with PIC devices so I need to start from basics. From long experience with technical documentation, I'm quite aware that geeks should never be permitted within thousands of kilometers of a tutorial because they tend to omit far more minor but critical points than they include. I'm quite capable of reading well written and complete technical material but I have neither the time nor the inclination to engage on numerous wild goose chases that go nowhere.  The reason for this post is to seek relevant direction regarding the information I need to come to grips with making the PIC-GSM do what I want in the shortest possible time. There is absolutely no need for me to become an instant expert on PIC programming, all I need to acquire is the information required for this specific project as quickly as possible and without any irrelevant diversions.

I recently acquired a PIC-GSM development board plus Olimex pocket programmer from an engineer associate who couldn't figure how to make it even remotely usable for the remote control / status monitoring project he had in mind. Both of us learned assembly language and 'C' back at university however that was several lifetimes back and significant updating will be needed if programming this device relies on intimacy with assembly or 'C'.  I've pored through countless PIC programming tutorials including the Matlab ones but have yet to discover anything that hints at being helpful as none even begin to address whats involved in getting a PIC to do something halfway useful. Making an LED flash or configuring some moronic game is irrelevant bullshit
.. but if I can convince the PIC-GSM unit that it should turn a remote relay on / off and check a remote sensor / receive an SMS message consequent to triggering of a remote sensor then we might start achieving something.

Where pray tell do you suggest I go looking for enlightenment ??

Do I need to assume the PIC-GSM board is little more than an accessory that must be connected to a raspberry pi / arduino / whatever in order to fulfil any purpose ??

[JohnS]

With your wishes I suggest to avoid assembler.

PICs have many many features so expect a lot of reading.  If you wish to avoid it I'd say don't start.

John