See _readme.txt for a quick start.

This troubleshooting guide is taken from www.workingtex.com/htpic, under FAQ.

1   Do you have Hyperterminal set to the correct speed (ie: 19200bps) and COM
    port (ie: COM1), "N,8,1" with no flow control?

2.  Get an oscilloscope, and put it in pin 3 of the serial port. Type some
    characters, and you should see it coming up on the oscilloscope.

3.  Connect pins 2 and 3 on the serial cable. This makes a loopback. Everything
    you type in Hyperterm will be echoed back.

4.  The PIC sends out 5V logic levels. The serial line operates with 13V/+13V
    logic levels. Some sort of interface is needed, usually using a MAX232, MAX3222
    or SIPEX232 chip. Look up the datasheet and check that you have got it right.
    Check the capacitor values. The capacitors need to be a minimum size, anything
    above this will do. 33uF electrolytic caps are fine, if a bit of an overkill.

5.  Make sure that the order of the lines into the MAX232 chip is correct, as above.

6.  Check it from the micro side of things. Run the program, downloaded above, and
    verify that 5V logic levels are coming out of the transmit (TX) pin.

7.  Check that the crystal speed matches the value used to calculate SPBRG and
    BRGH. If you are using the ICEPIC 2000, check that the crystal speed, set in
    the menu options, matches the ones used to calculate SPBRG and BRGH. Send out
    0xAA, which is 10101010 in binary. Using the oscilloscope, measure the time
    between the pulses and verify that they match the baud rate.

7.  If all else fails, change computer and try it on another.