A look at a DsPIC30F4011 Development Board

• High-Performance dsPIC30F core
  • C compiler optimized instruction set architecture
  • 24-bit wide instructions, 16-bit wide data path
  • Up to 30 MIPS operation
  • DSP Engine for math intensive operations
  • Modulo and Bit-Reversed Addressing modes
  • Two, 40-bit wide accumulators with optional saturation logic
  • 17-bit x 17-bit single cycle hardware fractional/ integer multiplier
  • Single cycle Multiply-Accumulate (MAC) operation
  • 40-stage Barrel Shifter
• Operating Conditions
  • Wide operating voltage range (2.5V to 5.5V)
  • Industrial and Extended temperature ranges
• Peripheral Features
  • High current sink/source I/O pins: 25 mA/25 mA
  • Optionally pair up 16-bit timers into 32-bit timer modules
  • 3-wire SPI™ modules (supports 4 Frame modes)
  • I2C™ module supports Multi-Master/Slave mode and 7-bit/10-bit addressing
  • Addressable UART modules with FIFO buffers
  • 1 CAN module, 2.0B compliant
• Motor Control PWM Module Features
  • Motor Control PWM Module with Complementary or Independent Output modes
  • Edge and Center Aligned modes
  • Multiple duty cycle generators
  • Dedicated time base with 4 modes
  • Trigger for synchronized A/D conversions
• Quadrature Encoder Interface Module Features
  • QEI with Phase A, Phase B and Index Pulse input
  • 16-bit up/down position counter
  • Position Measurement (x2 and x4) mode
  • Programmable digital noise filters on inputs
  • Alternate 16-bit Timer/Counter mode
  • Interrupt on position counter rollover/underflow
• Analog Features
  • 10-bit 1 Msps Analog-to-Digital Converter (A/D)
  • A/D Conversion available during Sleep and Idle
  • 4 Sample/Hold Channels
  • Multiple Conversion Sequencing Options
• Special Microcontroller Features
  • Enhanced Flash program memory with 10,000 erase/write cycle (min.) for industrial temperature range, 100K (typical)
  • Data EEPROM memory with 100,000 erase/write cycle (min.) for industrial temperature range, 1M (typical)
  • Self-reprogrammable under software control
  • Power-on Reset (POR), Power-up Timer (PWRT) and Oscillator Start-up Timer (OST)
  • Flexible Watchdog Timer (WDT) with on-chip low power RC oscillator for reliable operation
  • Fail-Safe clock monitor operation
  • Detects clock failure and switches to on-chip low power RC oscillator
  • Programmable code protection
  • In-Circuit Serial Programming™ (ICSP™)
  • DC to 40 MHz external clock input
  • 4 MHz-10 MHz oscillator input with PLL active (4x, 8x, 16x)
  • Programmable Brown-out Detection and Reset generation
  • Sleep, Idle and Alternate Clock modes for power management

So a cracking controller with a lot of features, so I decided to purchase a reasonably priced development board

Development Board

Here is the board I bought from Aliexpress