PIC16F1938: The Tiny Microcontroller in My Automatic Antenna Tuner

PIC16F1938 is the microcontroller used in this antenna tuner. It is an 8 bit CMOS microcontroller with clock speed of 32 MHz. CMOS stands for Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor. A microcontroller is a small, self-contained computer on a single chip that includes a processor, memory, and peripherals. A microprocessor is a general-purpose processor that requires external components for memory and peripherals. PIC16F1938 is a 28 pin DIP (Dual-In-line-Package) device meant for through the hole mounting on the printed circuit board (PCB).

Maximum operating voltage is 5.5V and minimum operating voltage is 1.8V. RAM (Random Access Memory), which is the temporary, fast-access storage that holds the data and instructions the CPU needs to run programs and applications, is just 1024 bytes. RAM is volatile, meaning data is lost when power is off. Detailed datasheet of is available for download from the PIC16F1938 chip manufacturer’s website.