Mit freundlicher Genehmigung von Chiumanfu (ion.chiumanfu.com).

Damon provides free firmware updates for his T-Boards but that means you'll have to send it back to him to be re-flashed. You can easily do it your self with a cheap In Circuit Serial Programmer and a PC with a USB port. You can also try your hand at writing your own firmware... but that's a whole nother story ;). This is the cheapest and easiest method I have found. There are MANY ways to flash a PIC microprocessor. I chose the K182A programmer because it is cheap and simple with no frills.

This information has been posted with permission from Damon. All T-Board firmware linked on this page is property of Scenario Dreams LLC and protected under intellectual properties.

I am not responsible if you damage your T-Board or Programmer by following this tutorial.

K182A ICSP programmer comes pre-buit and tested. It includes a short cable with open ends to connect to the T-Board. It is available from a variety of vendors.
QKits.com in Canada
ElectronicKits.com in USA
Full list of vendors

You will need a USB cable "A" plug to "B" plug. It is not included with the programmer.

There are two ways to connect the programmer to the T-Board.
The first is using the connector on the T-Board. The pins for the socket are very small. It requires quite a bit of skill to connect them up properly... unless you happen to have the $500 Molex crimping tool ;). I just crimped them as best as I could with a pair of needle nose pliers and then anchored each one with a touch of solder

You can buy the connector and pins from me HERE
Conn = Molex 51021-0500
Pins = Molex 50079

Clip the pins off the strip.

I suggest cutting the wire anchor tabs off at the red lines. Make sure the wire insulation comes up tight to the blue line. Don't let the stripped wire pass the green line. Fold the orange dotted tabs over the stripped wire end. Anchor with a tiny bit of solder between the blue and green lines.

Insert the pins into the connector housing according to this cable map:
Programmer Pin1 -> T-Board J4 Pin5 = (Ground - Yellow)
Programmer Pin2 -> T-Board J4 Pin1 = (VCC - Black)
Programmer Pin3 -> T-Board J4 Pin2 = (Clock - White)
Programmer Pin4 -> T-Board J4 Pin3 = (Data - Green)
Programmer Pin5 -> T-Board J4 Pin4 = (VPP - Red)

You can also temporarily solder the programmer wires directly to the T-Board at specific points. This is obviously not as convenient but it will serve the purpose for the occasional updating firmware.
Programmer Pin1 -> Trigger switch middle pin (Ground - Yellow)
Programmer Pin2 -> R1 left pad (VCC - Black)
Programmer Pin3 -> Trigger switch bottom pin (Clock - White)
Programmer Pin4 -> SW1 programming button bottom pad (Data - Green)
Programmer Pin5 -> Eye connector top pin (VPP - Red)

Plug the programmer into a powered USB port. The programmer's LED will flash red/green then go solid red. Feel both the chip on the T-Board and the chip on the programmer. If either is heating up, unplug the usb cable immediately and check your wiring again.

Windows may ask you for a driver. Download the driver for your operating system from HERE. Unzip it and direct Windows "Found New Hardware" to that directory.

USB driver install guide

Find out the comm port number that was assigned to the USB device. Open you Device Manager and open the "Ports" tree. Look for the USB Serial Device entry and note the port number.

Download the MicroPro software HERE. Unzip and install. If your running WindowsXP and it gives you an error regarding 16bit applications, use this file instead HERE.

Plug the usb cable into the programmer first then start the software by going to your "Start Menu/Programs/DIYPGMR/MicroPro". You may receive an error dialog. We haven't setup the software yet, so you can ignore them.

In the top menu, open "File/Port". Enter in the comm port number that was assigned to the USB serial device.

In the top menu, goto "File/Programmer". Choose K182.

In the bottom right corner under chip selector, choose 16F688. That is the type of chip used in the T-Board (note - It is also the same chip used in the Virtue Ion Board). The program will now sense the chip and attemp to connect.

Change the mode to ICSP under the Options menu.

If everything went as expected, you should now be able to read back the program data from the chip.

Now let's load the latest firmware version to the buffer. Click "Load". A dialog box will pop up asking if you'd like to save the current data file. The current data file in the buffer is the one you just read out of the chip. Click "No" unless you wish to save it as backup just incase (probably not a bad idea).

Download and unzip the latest firmware version to your computer. The files are available at the bottom of this page. After clicking "Load" a dialog box will pop up asking what hex file to open. Navigate to the directory that you downloaded the file to and open it.

The new firmware will load into the buffer.

Click "Program". When the Confirm dialog box pops up, click "Yes".

The chip is now being reprogrammed. Watch the status in the progress bar.

Once the programming is complete. Click "Ok". Close the MicroPro software. Unplug the USB cable. Unplug the T-Board from the programmer. Test the T-Board. Enjoy the new features!!!

Scenario Dreams Ion T-Board verA and verC firmware files:

ION_V19_dmt.zip
Includes training mode.

ION_V18_dmt.zip
Last stable version before training mode was added.

ION_V10_dmt.zip
Not too sure on the version number on this one. It was the backup from my original prototype T-Board with the PIC16F686 chip.