how about using just a 3.3v zenner diode and a 100nf c for de-coupling that would do it, one less component?
cheers

yup you correct of course geoff i will be adding a reg and c's, 
thanks for the advice

hi geoff thanks for the help, so im fine supplying vcc with 4.7v

i do realize its maby lazy / not best practice to add more circuitry to get it down to 3.3v, but if it works fine at 4.7v great

cheers

im hoping to use this max 3485e, due to my supply being slightly on the low side due to cable resistance, ive got 4.7v to play with.

one end in going to use a max 485e, other end max 3485e

am i right in thinking the supply for the max3485 can be max 7v, the data sheet contradicts itself  

vcc absolute max 7v,  or vcc 3.3v +-0.3v

cheers

data sheet

http://datasheets.maximintegrated.com/en/ds/MAX3483E-MAX3491E.pdf

dam i missed out, apparently this guy was selling some sparks for a grinder a while ago

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Electric-hammer-/321107196095

been after one of these for ages to put up my sky hooks. ,  

thanks for the advice, ive mainly been using my scope for building / testing power supply's and such, not really touched it for anything else yet maby i should be getting a logic analyser as well

ive also got this as a contender as well, a pc based scope really keen price

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251202113780?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

hi,
ive been using and struggling with a pocket size single channel one, think its time to move on to a 2 Chanel scope could someone please recommend me one please, possible something i could grow into as my as my knowledge gets greater, seen lots of Chinese ones look good value,  wondering about their longevity

thank you

ive stumbled across this one, looks good
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161007461332?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

i used to use uv / light box, i now use the laser toner method much much easer and better end result have a look on utube lots of guides there

i see it has a atmega168 bootloader,  will that burn a atmega168, 20pu chip?

thanks

great thanks very much for everybodys help, and on a Saturday night fantastic,

ok i ran that and got this, message and hit to load the bootloader looks like it installed it am i right?

cheers

i havnt tried that will give it a go 2 mins

here is the tutorial

http://www.gammon.com.au/forum/?id=11637

this is the error when selecting parallel programming,