adding LED's to Rx/Tx lines of 328 TFQP SMD to show uploading action

Using the surface mount version of the 328 chip, can you add LED's somehow to the rx/tx pins to show the upload event happening, like on the UNO? ...without interfering with the upload, of course?
thanks.

How are you uploading code from your computer to the ATMega328/?

Will the TX/RX pins be used for anything other than serial communications?

SouthernAtHeart:
Using the surface mount version of the 328 chip, can you add LED's somehow to the rx/tx pins to show the upload event happening, like on the UNO? ...without interfering with the upload, of course?
thanks.

The RX TX LEDs on Arduinos are signals from the USB interface chip, not the 328. Of course the RX/TX pins on the 328 are active during uploads too - but these pins are also D0 and D1 so not hard to connect to.

You could add a small MOSFET like the 2N7000 to drive the LED. This would act as a buffer and not interfere with the use of the signals. They run about 10 cents a piece. See the attached.

I think you could just add them with a 1K resistor, only adds a few mA of load to whatever is driving the lines - like D13 did with the LED on Duemilanove's and the original Uno (on Rev 2, Rev 3 they used the LM358 op amp to drive it instead). Or use a 5K resistor for less load (~0.5mA) and just a dimmer indication.

He most likely could if he was never going to use the pins for any other I/O than the serial with fairly low impedance drive, something like a like FTDI or MAX232 chip. Using the MOSFET though is a more general solution.

Agreed, MOSFET is more general, but in this case not needed as he is specifically looking to monitor upload activity.

True. I'd go with your suggestion of 5K in that case. The newer super bright LEDs can still be very noticeable with just tiny amount of current running through them.

My apologies for not acknowledging the responses here. Glad for the tips shared, and think I follow both. A 5K w/LED if I'm not using the pins for anything but serial port, and the MOSFET schematic if I use them for other I/O stuff that could be affected by the impedance.
I'm going to start adding These SMD parts to my boards.

I went with the 5K resistors. Got my first board back for the fab shop with this setup, but they don't work right. When I plug my FTDI cable into my board, the LEDs are lit up all the time. I can see them flashing when I load a sketch. Are the Rx/Tx lines of the FTDI cable normally high?
Here's the schematic of the LED's I added to the Rx/Tx lines.

Screen Shot 2013-07-05 at 11.29.22 PM.png

That's the way I have them on my 1284 mini breakout board, and I think they work correctly. Will have to power one up & confirm.

SouthernAtHeart:
Are the Rx/Tx lines of the FTDI cable normally high?

You've got your implementation backwards. The FTDI design has the LED anodes (+) going to VCC and the cathodes (-) going to the IO pins on the chip.

I think the LEDs referred to are connected to the uC Rx & x lines as added indicaters, not pins 22 & 23 of the FTDI chip.

CrossRoads:
I think the LEDs referred to are connected to the uC Rx & x lines as added indicaters, not pins 22 & 23 of the FTDI chip.

Correct.
I tested this FTDI cable I use from Sparkfun, and both the Rx/Tx lines are high when I have it plugged in my USB port.
So I may need to just skip the indicator LEDs. They were just to give a visual on loading sketches.

You could still connect them in a common anode fashion as the FTDI chip will likely sink as much current as it will source. They will then only light when the data lines go low (as in when data is being transmitted/received) and produce the desired effect of letting you know communication is occurring.

But then when I unplug the FTDI cable, the pins will be low, and the LED's will be on all the time won't they?

No, the leakage current of the AVR inputs will not be enough to light the LEDs.

Would a cheap npn transistor (10k on base) not do the job equally as well?

unless there's some kind of propagation delay or even such a tiny
amount of current on the base too much for the high/low signals?