Programmer question

Arduino projects on the go
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jmendoza
Posts: 167
Joined: 18 Feb 2018, 23:07

Programmer question

Post by jmendoza »

Hello everyone.
I have a programmer for the USB/ASP as used in the Pro-Mini Strong board.
The earlier version of this board, the Pro Mini has six pins in a row, instead of two rows of three pins.
Is there an adapter available to connect my programmer to the earlier Pro-Mini, or do I have to buy another programmer?

Also, what are the settings for the earlier Pro-Mini board in the Arduino menu? I'm assuming it's 5 v, but how many MHz is the resonator? I want to change the landing gear speed, as we are using that toggle for flaps. Have already modified the sketch, but need help to interface my programmer with the earlier board. Need to also identify the pin out for the six pins.

Thanks in advance,
Jay
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Carl
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Re: Programmer question

Post by Carl »

Jay, I've used this board for a few projects now:
promini-pinout.png
promini-pinout.png (135.03 KiB) Viewed 2960 times
Is this the one you're talking about? I've just made up a cable so I have two sets of 3-way connectors to plug into the pro mini from the programmer. The image shows what the pinout is.

In the Arduino interface I've been using "Arduino Nano" funnily enough. Doesn't seem to make any difference, but maybe someone will correct me on that. The Pro Mini boards I've been using are 16mhz.

Hope this helps.

Carl
Carl

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Phil_G
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Re: Programmer question

Post by Phil_G »

When I get a mo I'll repost all the old ICSP adapters, meanwhile heres the pro-mini one:
Attachments
pro-mini_icsp_adapter.jpg
pro_mini_icsp_prog.jpg
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Phil_G
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Re: Programmer question

Post by Phil_G »

Just realised Jay I dont think you mean the Pro Mini, I think you mean the old DIY-More and Deek-Robot boards?
They need a couple of servo plugs (actually they're sockets in engineer-speak but we'll not get into that right now...) and a 6-pin header plug (as supplied with Nanos). In the IDE the board names are just a short-cut to a particular processor type, variant & clockspeed so choosing Nano, Promini, etc all works fine for these boards, its exactly like manually selecting 328P at 16mhz.
icsp_new_pcb10.jpg
icsp_new_pcb9.jpg
icsp_new_pcb8.jpg
icsp_new_pcb7.jpg
icsp_new_pcb6.jpg
icsp_new_pcb5.jpg
icsp_new_pcb4.jpg
icsp_new_pcb3.jpg
icsp_new_pcb2.jpg
icsp_new_pcb1.jpg
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F2B
Posts: 200
Joined: 16 Feb 2018, 11:23
Location: 20 m NE of Amsterdam

Re: Programmer question

Post by F2B »

Some time ago, I took Phil's example and made a similar one for programming Pro Minis, but without their headers.
Sometimes one wants just the board with wires attached....
10 'Sparkfun 'Pogo pins' do the job. 6 for programming, 4 extra, just stabilizing the board.
A rubber band holds the board while programming.

Later on, deciding I'd like to do in circuit programming too, I added the connector after all. :mrgreen:

After soldering the Pro Mini in the pcb, I'd leave the headers full length and plug the connector from below....
Attachments
Nieuwe Encoder Henk aan de programmer.jpg
Pro Mini met programmer adaptor 2.jpg
Pro Mini met programmer adaptor 1.jpg
Programmeer adaptor extra 1.jpg
F2B or not to be....
Martin
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Joined: 16 Feb 2018, 14:11
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Re: Programmer question

Post by Martin »

Here's a photo of the ridiculously basic programmer I use for my pro mini boards - it connects to the same 6 points on the board that Carl explained above.
proMiniProgrammer.jpg
I use this when the board hasn't even been fitted with pins or other connectors - I just shove the pins of the connector through the holes in the board and then apply a bit of finger pressure to angle the connector to one side so that the pins make a good electrical connection with the board's holes.

I use 'naked' boards like this on board planes to keep the weight and size as low as possible. I avoid the 6 'programming holes' for making connections to the receiver, servos or other items, so I can still use the programmer to modify the program after the Arduino has been wired up. Up till now I've also been able to avoid using the pins that fall between the two groups of three that the programmer connects to - but if I ever need to use those I can just pull the unused pins out of the programming connector.

Carl is right about not having to select the correct type of board when programming with a USBASP. Providing you select a board that uses a 328Mega (Uno, Nano, Pro Mini, ... the sketch will upload and run. It's best to select a board with the right crystal speed to match your actual board - otherwise all the timing signals done by delay(), millis(), micros() and so on will be wrong. The voltage itself doesn't matter - though the 3.3V ones tend to run at 8 MHz and the others at 16 MHz. The actual boards and the chips on them can all work at 5V - even if they are designated as 3.3V boards - but you have to be careful of any external devices that you've wired up to 3.3V boards as these might be damaged if you apply 5V.
jmendoza
Posts: 167
Joined: 18 Feb 2018, 23:07

Re: Programmer question

Post by jmendoza »

Thanks guys, thanks Phil!
No wonder you went to the Pro Mini Strong, it' s so much easier to just plug into the 6 pin connector to the 6 pin header. I have not been able to source any of the Deek Robot boards, I'm guessing they are no longer being made? No worries as the Strong is still available.

I'm going to do a Reedunio next, but have to gut the transmitter first; big choices: Orbit, Controlaire, or Kraft Custom?

Thanks again for the help and photos,

Jay
Pchristy
Posts: 413
Joined: 16 Feb 2018, 13:57
Location: South Devon, UK

Re: Programmer question

Post by Pchristy »

Jay,

Since that Variophon you were looking at a while back isn't FCC compliant, why not use that and be *completely* different? :D

At the Ponty do, there were two of us flying Reeduino'd Variophons with Frsky hack modules. Great fun!

--
Pete
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