Help me choose a programmer/development board, please. :)

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Bassmus
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Posted by Bassmus: Thu. Apr 3, 2008 - 01:51 PM
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I've recently started working with AVR's through my job as a HW engineer, and I want to set up my own "development lab" at home. :) I was more or less set on purchasing an STK500, but people are talking about the Butterfly and the Dragon etc., so I'm getting a bit unsure of whether an STK500 is the way to go or not.

I'm not interested in programming 32 bits microcontrollers (at the moment), so I'm sticking with the 8 bit AVR's. Furthermore I want to work on "hole mounted" (is that the correct word?) AVR's to begin with, but I want to have the possibility of using ISP eventually. Preferably using the same programmer, if that's at all possible.. :)

Does anyone have any views on which programmer would be the better choice for me?

In regards to the financial aspect of things, I don't want to go much higher in price than the STK500, but pricing below that of the STK500 is more or less irrelevant.

Tags:

AVR Microcontrollers, megaAVR and tinyAVR
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Plons
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Posted by Plons: Thu. Apr 3, 2008 - 02:12 PM
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When you stick to TH-parts, the STK500 is IMO the best choice. Butterfly is nice as a small platform to build your own applications, and the Dragon is nice for debugging: debugWire and JTAG.
As a starter: STK500

Nard

A GIF is worth a thousend words   They are called Rosa, Sylvia, Tricia, and Ulyana. You can find them https://www.linuxmint.com/

Dragon broken ? http://aplomb.nl/TechStuff/Dragon/Dragon.html for how-to-fix tips

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pradheep
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Posted by pradheep: Thu. Apr 3, 2008 - 02:13 PM
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go for stk500 ...its the best for a newbie as you have virtually everything to get started :wink:

change without any change is no change ;-)

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Ifryd
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Posted by Ifryd: Thu. Apr 3, 2008 - 10:01 PM
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So I would choose STK 500. Why ?

1) You have Rs232 spare socket dedicated for communication with PC. Don`t need to do your own converter.

2) It is really solid. Dragon is from other people opinions to sensitive.

3) You have internall clock sources

4) It is hard to damage by mistake ;)

Disadvantages (my opinion)

1) Programming via RS232 (need to have converter if you want to program from notebook)

2) Doesn`t hae dW or JTAG simulation.

Adam

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Plons
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Posted by Plons: Thu. Apr 3, 2008 - 10:09 PM
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Bassmus, the choice is getting pretty simple now, isn't it ?
And when you are completely addicted to AVR's, you buy the next toy. A Dragon f.i.

Nard :)

A GIF is worth a thousend words   They are called Rosa, Sylvia, Tricia, and Ulyana. You can find them https://www.linuxmint.com/

Dragon broken ? http://aplomb.nl/TechStuff/Dragon/Dragon.html for how-to-fix tips

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turboscrew
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Posted by turboscrew: Fri. Apr 4, 2008 - 06:18 AM
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If you wish to try out new HW-stuff, I guess there are better solutions than Butterfly. You probably need JTAG sooner or later.

If you are only interested on SW-side, then Butterfly is a good choise, since you only need the Butterfly board (I guess ~20$) and a serial line. Everyting else is free, but there is no ICE included.

Debugging is for sissies and delivery for surgeons. Real men do demonstration.

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Bassmus
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Posted by Bassmus: Fri. Apr 4, 2008 - 06:51 AM
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Thanks for the help, guys. :) My choice seems to be pretty clear, yes. ;)

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