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New Sparkfun Protoboard looks ideal for use with Prop — Parallax Forums

New Sparkfun Protoboard looks ideal for use with Prop

Matthew HayMatthew Hay Posts: 63
edited 2008-06-02 02:55 in Propeller 1
Sparkfun just posted a new board that looks good for the prop, they also have matching case and battery.

I am in no way affiliated with Sparkfun but I saw the board and thought that it would be perfect for the prop.

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8723

It has 3.3v and 5v (step up) with built on ftdi usb to serial converter, battery connector (which can be charged with usb) and space for SMD or TH.

The only thing I'm not to sure about is how well everything would fit on the board.

Anybody see a reason this wouldn't work with the prop.

Comments

  • Robot FreakRobot Freak Posts: 168
    edited 2008-05-30 08:09
    I don't see the use of this board, especially because Parallax has announced a Propeller Proto Board version with on board usb.

    That saves a lot of trouble trying to solder a Propeller on a Sparkfun board.
  • JamesxJamesx Posts: 132
    edited 2008-05-30 11:06
    Thanks for the info about this cute little unit. If nothing else, it is fascinating to see how they got a 3.6 > 5.0 DC-DC voltage converter and a Li-ion charger tweaked into the design.

    James
  • Agent420Agent420 Posts: 439
    edited 2008-05-30 11:46
    Robot Freak said...
    I don't see the use of this board, especially because Parallax has announced a Propeller Proto Board version with on board usb.

    That saves a lot of trouble trying to solder a Propeller on a Sparkfun board.
    The usb rechargable battery pack is the most interesting aspect to me.· This could be a nice mobile application foundation.

    But for static or wall powered installations, I'd stay with the Parallax board.
  • Graham StablerGraham Stabler Posts: 2,510
    edited 2008-05-30 12:37
    The area for surface mount prototyping could be very useful
  • Ken PetersonKen Peterson Posts: 806
    edited 2008-05-30 13:20
    I don't see how you can mount any of the Propeller packages on this board.· The DIP is too wide and the SMT proportions won't allow a LQFP.

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    Post Edited (Ken Peterson) : 5/30/2008 1:26:08 PM GMT
  • RaymanRayman Posts: 14,817
    edited 2008-05-30 13:47
    Ken Peterson said...

    I don't see how you can mount any of the Propeller packages on this board.· The DIP is too wide and the SMT proportions won't allow a LQFP.

    Could the DIP Prop stradle one of the SMT areas?
  • RsadeikaRsadeika Posts: 3,837
    edited 2008-05-30 14:22
    Maybe this will be a better fit for the Prop II, hopefully the carrier board will fit on the available space. But, the board does look interesting.
  • Ken PetersonKen Peterson Posts: 806
    edited 2008-05-30 14:39
    The dip is 0.6" between rows. It isn't wide enough to straddle the SMT areas and it is too wide to fit between them. It won't fit at all. This board is not perfect for the Prop, but rather cannot be used with the Prop without some major jerryrigging.

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  • Ken PetersonKen Peterson Posts: 806
    edited 2008-05-30 14:41
    On second thought, you can bend all of the legs out on the Prop DIP and solder it to the SMT areas. However, I'd call that jerryrigging for sure.

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  • Graham StablerGraham Stabler Posts: 2,510
    edited 2008-05-30 17:24
    The best way to get the prop to work might be to take a piece of veroboard, solder on a socket for the prop and then some headers to insert into the board straddling one of the smt areas, you could even add the crystal and eeprom to the veroboard. Not great but OK.

    Graham
  • DroneDrone Posts: 433
    edited 2008-06-01 18:59
    Hi Mathew,

    It seems there are 0.1" centered holes on this SparkFun protoboard. Are there not enough holes to host a 40pin Propeller chip with a socket? Hmm... The nice thing is you get both 3.3V and 5V native running off the Li-Po battery, it seems, but a lot of parts are involved to get there. If you want 3.3V only plus Li-poly charger in one chip, take a look at the new LTC3558 from www.linear.com. Yes Propeller Protoboards are cheap, but after tossing a couple "cheap" Propeller Protoboards after frying pins and/or processors (this happens some times, even to the best of us), I now exclusively use socketed 40 pin Propellers on home-brew wire-wrap break-out boards that mimic the Propeller Protoboard, in essence. It would be nice to see a Propeller Protoboard from Parallax that has a socketed 40 pin Propeller. Perhaps a one or two dollars higher in cost. But I think this has been requested many times before.

    Regards, David
  • Dennis FerronDennis Ferron Posts: 480
    edited 2008-06-01 20:43
    Ken Peterson said...
    The dip is 0.6" between rows. It isn't wide enough to straddle the SMT areas and it is too wide to fit between them. It won't fit at all. This board is not perfect for the Prop, but rather cannot be used with the Prop without some major jerryrigging.

    There is a pin header in the dimensional drawings that runs perpendicular to the SMT area, and it shows that the width of the SMT strip spans exactly 6 header pins, which are .1 inch apart. At first I was going to refute that that meant that the gap must be .6 and the .6 DIP Prop should fit it. Unfortunately the distance from the pin holes on one side to the pin holes on the other side must be .7, because we have to count a hole on both sides - I had commited a fencepost error.

    I wonder if Sparkfun made the same fencepost mistake in their design?? I can't imagine why you would deliberately build such a nice board which looks so much like it fits .6 wide DIP's, and then go 1 pin past that to render the board useless for those applications.
  • Mike HuseltonMike Huselton Posts: 746
    edited 2008-06-02 02:55
    Why don't you send an e-mail to sparkfun and ask about these technical details. They are very technically literate and respond quite well to questions. I have been dealing with them for two years and found them a pleasure to work with.

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    JMH
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