I ended up figuring out the power supply question (I think)... I'm using a stripped-down USB cable carrying a 10W current from an Apple iPad charger, and connecting it to both the Arduino and the mini-USB to charge the iPad. Seems to be working fine... only problem now is that the Arudino Pro Micro from SparkFun isn't reading the serial data from the Redpark cable. The Redpark still communicates fine with my other boards (Uno and an old Duecimilasomethingsomething), but the Pro Micro just doesn't seem to recognize it.
I had a little trouble with one of the TX/RX pins when I was soldering, and burned part of the trace that runs next to the pins on the Pro Micro. Could that be causing the problem? Photo attached. [edit: Uh, actually, is that just paint?]
Or is is that the Pro Micro handles serial connections differently, and won't work with the Redpark cable? Do I need to modify the serial library or something?
