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[on:]

Does anyone know if the A000006 Arduino board from Mouser is just the board or does it include parts?

Also, can the Atmega88 be used on this board?  It looks like the pinout matches.

[Reply #1 on:]

Sure looks like a great price for a complete board. 
Is the 28-pin part the same pinout as the later 168 & 328?
That'd be a steal for an embedded project - $7.20, replace the chip for $5.50, program it on an Uno first for a faster download, and off you go.
If it wasn't so late I'd compare the pinouts myself - off to be instead ...

[Reply #2 on:]

That's one of the Original Arduino boards that have been out of production for several years. It used the ATmega8 chip, and yes you could just pop the chip and replace it with a 168/328 (with bootloader) and away you go. Of course your PC has to have a true RS-232 serial port or you would need to get a USB serial cable with true RS-232 voltages.

So it's an old obsolete model, but at a great price. And version 22 of the IDE still supports mega8 boards. I wonder how mouser got a hold on them? Possibly Arduino gave them a deal they couldn't refuse to take all they had left in deep storage?

http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardSerial

[Reply #3 on:]

I wish I had noticed that before I placed my recently Mouser order.  Those are COLLECTORS ITEMS!
(I wonder if Mouser really has any or whether this is some inventory screw-up?)

[Reply #4 on:]

I compared pinouts myself and the only difference seems to be that the newer chips have more functions on top of the Atmega8 functions.  The trouble is that Mouser is out of Atmega8 chips and will be until July.  If I have to buy the parts separately I need an MCU.  If they come with I don't have to buy any MCUs.

The serial boards are great for my needs.  I really just need a circuit board already made up with the lines brought out like that.  It even has a ground plane for the analog lines.  I don't want to have to send another order and I don't want a lot of extra parts.

I built an ISP from the old Ponyprog schematics on Lancos.  It works.  I have an Attiny26 happily flashing LEDs now.  My application wants a couple of analog inputs and the Attiny gets crowded if I can't have the same port switching and watching three analog inputs.  I think it will also want that ground plane.

[Reply #5 on:]

I just purchased 5 of the 50 that are available, price dropped to $6.76 each!

[Reply #6 on:]

Oh, you can definately use newer CPUs in the older boards.  No problem there.  I have mega8, mega168, and mega328 chips that I swap around my collection of official, clone, and home-brew boards.  Crossroads: let us know what you get!

[Reply #7 on:]

Will do - sure hope its more than bare boards.

[Reply #8 on:]

If it already has the complete parts set I will use the kit as is.  Otherwise it will be the atmega48 for around $2.50.  Digikey sells the power jack for 88 cents each (Mouser doesn't seem to have one) and will mail it first class for $2.41.  I'm waiting for an email from customer service at Mouser and hopefully they will tell me on Monday if it's just the board.

Sparkfun has a really good price on a serial cable and the cable for the programmer, including a 6 pin plug. 

Whichever way it goes, it's a really good price for a board with just enough of what I need.  I don't even need the components for the serial interface.

[Reply #9 on:]

Placed an order this morning for one, so I should have it tomorrow.

I'm less than hour away from Mouser, so ground shipments come next day. 

[Reply #10 on:]

Heck James, why not drive over & just pick it up then?
Course that would probably cost you $9-12 in gas!
They ship from NJ to the Boston, 1 zone away is usually pretty quick too.

[Reply #11 on:]

FedEx just dropped off my mouser order.  This is just the PCB.

[Reply #12 on:]

Well that's  a bummer!
Guess I need to order some parts from dipmicro to complete them then.

[Reply #13 on:]

I think I'm going to keep it as-is.  Maybe on my next order I'll grab another one and populate it.

[Reply #14 on:]

I managed to trace the board to the manufacturer which is Smart Projects in Italy.  http://www.smartprj.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=6  As James said, it is just the board.  It also looks like it takes the power jack with the solder tails on it, the kind that go to wires.  The original in the parts list has small pins.  I'm going to try that one anyway.

Thank you, James.  I will order some boards and parts tonight.  It looks like a continually stocked item that is still in production.