Thanks for clarifying that further Rick.
And when your using the (yet to be released) SS Config program ... you will have the
following things hooked up:
SS CONFIG SOFTWARE ---running on---> COMPUTER ---usb---> LYNX DONGLE ---rj45---> SS HUB ---rj45---> SS Controller ---3pin wire---> Smart String (your programming)
And in the video that Rick linked to, RJ shows it being done. There is a jumper you set to toggle the string into programming mode, and then the software programs it the
way you configure it. Then you remove the jumper and unplug the SS from the hub, then plug it back it (reboot the string).
......
Whereas the Pickit2 (or 3) is for programming (firmware) into PIC chips ... for the various hardware devices you might build.
You do that once for each device you have built. Sometimes you do it again if you want to update the firmware.
That of that being the part where you download the brains into the device (the brains of the hardware).
Most of the newer DIY devices have a PIC chip that is programmed by connecting the Pickit to the ISPF connection
(or you can put the PIC chip into the correct PIC programmer socket, program the PIC, then insert the PIC into the hardware).
So for example, you would use the PIckit to program the PIC chip on the Lynx Dongle.
If that Dongle is being used to connect to a Smart String Hub, then you'd flash it
with the Pixelnet Firmware instead of the normal Lynx Dongle firmware.
Thats the kind of thing your doing with the pickit ... programming firmware onto
PIC (programmable interface chips) ... so not it should make sense the difference between
programming smart strings (with the SS Config software) vs. programming PICs with firmware using the Pickit.