I actually did something similar just now, exact same part number. I'd only just received the chips and wanted to make sure my setup would work. I used the Uno R3 as the ISP, and managed to hook everything up, run the "burn bootloader" operation (I set it to 8mhz, BOD disabled, as there's no way I need a clock freq. of 20MHz), and got a simple program up and running which blinked a bicolour LED and peeped a piezo buzzer.

I followed the instructions here: http://hlt.media.mit.edu/?p=1229 including using the 10uF cap between reset and ground on the Uno. I'm not sure exactly what you might be doing wrong but the setup ought to work!

For making switching converters,buck, boost or inverting , for general use this IC MC34063 can do what you need with very few external components.
Design tool here which gives all the component values needed.
http://www.nomad.ee/micros/mc34063a/

Thanks for the link mauried, but I think my application requires a LOT more current than that chip can handle. And I do want my caps to charge in less than a week I already have circuits built that can produce a few KV of p.d. but they are useless for shoving any real current around.

Thanks for the reply! As for the inductors, yeah I could buy them... but I salvaged about a mile of copper wire of varying diameters from some old CRT monitors, and have recently bought a cheap LCR meter, so that's more of an exercise than a necessity Keeps me out of trouble for a few hours

The circuit in question is this: http://uzzors2k.4hv.org/index.php?page=450vboostconverter

It's well within my abilities to build it as-is (and indeed, I shall, once I've scrounged up some cores to wind the inductors), but I also have a few Tiny85's in the mail due any day now, and I was wondering if the circuit could be simplified in terms of component count by getting the 85 to do most of the work? It seems like I could make it pretty small with only one IC and for my application, the smaller the better!

The idea I had was to get the 85 to generate the switching waveform and also read the cap bank voltage through a suitable voltage divider, with a few pins left over for LED indicators (charging/ready, probably will use a bi-colour LED here). Any reason why I couldn't/shouldn't give this a shot? I reckon it'd be a good way to get used to the device and start building circuits around it. Already got the necessary Arduino cores (I think!) and have read up on programming it using a board I already have as the ISP.

Or type prototype board (or similar) into eBay and take your pick from the hundreds of items that should pop up

Make a mechanical joint before you solder it. Bend the end of the wire into a small hook. Loop two of these hooks together and squeeze the two together. Then apply the solder.
However mounting components in mid air is not a good idea.

^ Strongly agree. This is what I do if, for example, I want an LED or something wired off-PCB, with inline resistor. I also like to heatshrink over the joint as well. I also sometimes do this with voltage regulators or similar-packaged components that are a struggle to fit in an enclosure (because of the tab height) and I'm too tight to buy another box I make off a nice long tinned end on the wire, spiral it around the Vreg's leg, solder and heatshrink. Hasn't let me down yet.

Here we go then!
http://elec-recyc.wikia.com/wiki/Recycling_Electronics_Wiki

Hah! Awesome, it actually happened I'll definitely be up for contributing next time I pull the guts out of something!

I actually like the idea of a "things you find in a [thing] " reference guide! Could possibly cover all sorts of "useful" consumer goods like CRT televisions, older computer hardware that might still use some TH parts, VCRs and all kinds of other appliances useful to the home hacker and bedroom builder

Maybe with hints on how recovered parts could be used and project examples? I know this stuff can all be googled but wouldn't it be nice to have it all there, in a lump, with nice detailed photos... if I had more time and access to a reasonable amount of junk I would totally do that.

Thanks very much! I'll report back when/if I get anything interesting done with it.

Here's what I have: http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9764

I'd like to mess about with the on-board 328 a bit, but I'm having trouble finding the schematic (note the 404 on SF's site). Anyone got one they could point me to? Assuming I can sort some kind of SPI connection to the chip - either with bodge-wires or by some other means - can I burn a bootloader on it using Arduino as ISP, or does it have one already? It seems a bit of a waste to have a whole micro just controlling a display and nothing else, so it'd be kind of cool to have it run some proper programs on it's own.

On the whole I'm less than impressed with this product, will not likely incorporate it into a "real" project, so might as well have some fun with it

Thanks doughboy, I had no idea what the name was and I'm gonna need to get some more myself soon! So your reply helped me out too

http://www.embeddedadventures.com/six_way_female_jumper_wires.html

This sort of thing, you mean? I believe you can get wider ones, I'm sure I've seen them somewhere.

Does it have an internal drive circuit? I would think (although I'm not sure) that such a circuit would prevent any voltage produced from tapping it from appearing on the input wires.

Yep, it's a piezo input - however I had in mind using an op-amp circuit (for which I have already found examples) to give me a 0-5V output which can get fed into the MCU's analog inputs.

Well, if your input to the Arduino takes the form of a bunch of 0-5V DC voltage values then all you need to do is poll the analog inputs at a suitable frequency.

Do you have any feeling for the sort of pulse length that you're expecting to generate?

Not yet, however I intend to find out by measuring a test circuit on a scope (once the one I want is in stock!). All it really has to do is hold a peak value and pass it on to the analog input. I can find a circuit for this no trouble, and I could swear I've actually built something similar once, long ago...

Thanks very much for the replies guys, by the looks of things it's not nearly as complicated as I was trying to make it. Considering what I actually NEED to do, vs what I thought I should do, I'm gonna go with your suggestion, PeterH - polling the analog inputs ever x microseconds, and then sending on the collected values every y microseconds. (Values to be determined by experimentation!). Makes it a lot easier, and while I lose out a little by not having to force myself to learn something new, I gain by actually standing a chance at making it work

Given any display will spend almost its entire life - from a chip's point of view - sitting around doing nothing between updates, and panel buttons are unlikely to be pressed while the user is hitting things, there's probably enough time to allocate for everything.

Thanks again guys, I suppose I'd better get building/coding soon.

Yep, it's a piezo input - however I had in mind using an op-amp circuit (for which I have already found examples) to give me a 0-5V output which can get fed into the MCU's analog inputs. I will probably be using a Mega1284P @ 16MHz for this application as I need a lot of free pins for other stuff.

In an ideal world, the MCU will be receiving a signal it's well equipped to deal with. Things I already have include:

Piezo elements
A metric shitload of passives, and 5V zener diodes (one schematic I saw used them, presumably to clamp the voltage between 0 and 5V)
Several choices of op-amp
An Uno/Pro/Pro Minis to practice on

So I think aside from having to go "outside" the normal functions of the IDE to set up my ADC interrupts, I might well be good-to-go So have I got the right sort of approach for this? The end result should be that whatever notes are eventually played, if played together, SOUND together as far as the human ear is concerned.

EDIT: I didn't make it clear in my original post but I did mean "at the same time from a human's point of view"