Arduino

From: Chris (CHRISSS) 8 Dec 2015 11:36
To: ANT_THOMAS 476 of 542
Yes, looks like it. Just looking it up and they shouldn't be discharged to under 2.4V. All the cells in the laptop battery are 2.2-2.3V so maybe I shouldn't be using them. The one I charged didn't explode though.
From: ANT_THOMAS 8 Dec 2015 11:39
To: Chris (CHRISSS) 477 of 542
Do you have a 18650 battery charger?
From: Chris (CHRISSS) 8 Dec 2015 12:17
To: ANT_THOMAS 478 of 542
Yes, just got one for my bike lights.
From: Chris (CHRISSS) 9 Dec 2015 22:06
To: ALL479 of 542
My !!/really exciting/!! Atmega 328p programming board.

It's got the 16MHz crystal and caps so I can program my chips to run at 8MHz off the internal clock before sticking them in my temp sensors (only have 1 so far though).
From: Chris (CHRISSS) 9 Dec 2015 22:53
To: Chris (CHRISSS) 480 of 542
Forgot to upload the picture.
From: ANT_THOMAS 9 Dec 2015 23:39
To: Chris (CHRISSS) 481 of 542
I've got a couple of 328ps but couldn't get them to work. Need to try again.
From: Chris (CHRISSS) 9 Dec 2015 23:45
To: ANT_THOMAS 482 of 542
They're pretty easy to get working. Everything on that board will get it detected by AVRdude. You do need a USBasp to program it or upload a bootloader if it doesn't come with one.
From: Chris (CHRISSS) 9 Dec 2015 23:51
To: Chris (CHRISSS) 483 of 542
But it should have have some caps and resistors and other bits to properly connect it all up.
From: ANT_THOMAS10 Dec 2015 10:36
To: Chris (CHRISSS) 484 of 542
I think I've got some of the correct caps and a ceramic resonator but couldn't get it working last time.

Still cheaper to buy an Arduino nano though!

Maybe it's cheaper to remove a load of the voltage regulator bits off a pro mini.
From: Chris (CHRISSS)10 Dec 2015 11:15
To: ANT_THOMAS 485 of 542
Really? Cheaper to buy a fully assembled board than a single chip? How much do you buy nanos for? My 10 Atmegas cost £20 so £2 each.

I did try disconnecting the voltage regulator and power LED from a mini but couldn't get the power consumption down far enough. Much easier with the DIP chips if you want to go low power.
From: ANT_THOMAS10 Dec 2015 11:32
To: Chris (CHRISSS) 486 of 542
I bought 5 Nanos for £9.57 early this year. £1.91 each.

I think if low power really is essential then the chip is the way to go.
From: ANT_THOMAS10 Dec 2015 11:34
To: Chris (CHRISSS) 487 of 542
Looks like you can get 10x nanos for ~£16 now.

Possibly even cheaper if you searched a bit harder - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181880011056
From: ANT_THOMAS10 Dec 2015 11:35
To: Chris (CHRISSS) 488 of 542
Just found 10 pro minis for under a tenner.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201419551076
EDITED: 10 Dec 2015 11:36 by ANT_THOMAS
From: Chris (CHRISSS)10 Dec 2015 11:56
To: ANT_THOMAS 489 of 542
Wow, that's crazy cheap. How much do the official ones cost compared to that?

Cheapest I can find the chips on their own is about £1 each. No caps or crystals with that though. My other ones came with all that sfuff but I don't use them, and a DIP socket and reset button.
From: ANT_THOMAS10 Dec 2015 11:59
To: Chris (CHRISSS) 490 of 542
They're so cheap I pretty much see them as disposable now.

I might see what sort of power a pro mini uses with regulator and all LEDs removed. No USB chip to consume energy either.
From: Chris (CHRISSS)10 Dec 2015 13:10
To: ANT_THOMAS 491 of 542
Not sure if I posted this before but http://www.gammon.com.au/power is very helpful for power saving.
From: ANT_THOMAS10 Dec 2015 13:22
To: Chris (CHRISSS) 492 of 542
I have seen that before, but forgot about it!
From: Chris (CHRISSS)12 Dec 2015 02:56
To: ALL493 of 542
Soldered up another board with a Li-Ion battery now. It's powering up but not sending the temps for some reason. I'll have to try and fix it tomorrow.
From: graphitone12 Dec 2015 09:32
To: Chris (CHRISSS) 494 of 542
What's it all going to do in the end?
From: Chris (CHRISSS)12 Dec 2015 10:25
To: graphitone 495 of 542
/Exciting stuff/... display a graph.

Screenshot attached of the current one doing its job in my living room. With other bits for turning my water and heating on.