Ever wish that your A8 could transform into a programming tool for those Microchip PIC MCU's that everyone's using for embedded projects now days?  Well even if this never crossed your mind, it did for a couple of guys on AtariAge, thus setting off on a journey that resulted in the JOY2PIC Programmer.

So how exactly does this work?  Through the use of a voltage tripler, one of the joystick's 4 I/O lines is translated into what a PIC chip needs to initiate In Circuit Serial Programming. The other 3 bits of I/O are then used to communicate with the PIC, and through the use of a custom A8 software program, re-flash the program memory space with your choice of firmware (more info on PIC ICSP).