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Breadboard Arduino Class at Pumping Station: One

Patrick Callahan of Pumping Station: One, a Chicago hackerspace, will be presenting a “Breadboard Arduino” class on Saturday, 12 February 2011 at 4PM.  Follow this link to find out more about the event or to sign up (4 seats left as of this writing):

http://arduinochicago.eventbrite.com/

3 thoughts on “Breadboard Arduino Class at Pumping Station: One

  1. Hello Dale,

    I bought a bunch of Atmel Atmega328 chips with boot loaders and was about to
    start in on your tutorial. Then I saw the note about not using the RS-232
    converter.

    Just for double confirmation before I put my project on hold until I get new parts,
    this http://www.sparkfun.com/products/718 is the wrong part?

  2. Shane,

    The SparkFun adapter will work, but you will have to modify it to use 5V instead of 3.3V. Here is their tutorial on how to do that, exactly:

    http://forum.sparkfun.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=21234

    This involves un-soldering a jumper on the board and re-wiring it.

    The SparkFun adapter is a “USB to TTL” adapter. This is what you want. What you DON’T want is a “USB to RS-232” adapter. You’re on the right track.

    Good luck! Let me know how it goes!

  3. Hi Shane,

    I might recommend the LillyPad FTDI breakout board from sparkfun:

    http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10275

    I like it because it’s thin and purple, and because it is already set up for 5v operation but it has a small jumper on the back that can be cut and then shorted to another pad to make it 3.3v compatible if you ever want that in the future.

    Here’s a picture of that jumper:

    http://static.sparkfun.com/images/products/10275=05.jpg

    Also, a lot of “selectable voltage” USB to TTL adapters only change the signal level and not the Vcc voltage when you change that jumper setting… this one will change both the signal level and the Vcc voltage when you change the jumper setting.

    Another one I would recommend is the FTDI Friend from adafruit:

    http://www.adafruit.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=19&products_id=284

    It’s almost exactly the same as the sparkfun adapter, but maybe a bit more configurable since it’s got three separate jumpers… one for signal level, one for Vcc voltage, and one for DTR or RTS. Additionally the FTDI Friend from adafruit comes with some extra-long headers to make it easier to plug into your breadboard… of course, I’ve gotta dock points from this one for not being purple though.

    It is worth noting that the BEST adapter out there is the one offered in Dale’s kit. Really… it’s the best one out there for working with Arduinos on a breadboard… period. So if you need another breadboard… *hint hint* 😉

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