Anyway, since I've been using my own PCBs, I'm programming them with an old USBtinyISP from adafruit and a newer Tiny AVR Programmer from Sparkfun.
In a pinch, I've also used Arduino as ISP.
The problem with these programmers is that they don't enable communication over the Serial monitor. So I am frustrated that I've lost a very powerful debugging tool!
Does anyone have a recommendation for me? I need a decent programmer that can power at least 100ma (more preferred) that gives me access to a UArt for regular, "serial monitor" style debug.
AVR Serial Programmer (Fig-1) and Universal Parallel ROM Programmer (Fig-2) are designed to perform read/write operations with fuse bits, lock bits, Flash memory, and EEPROM memory. They do not support debugging facilities except reporting various statuses.
Figure-1: AVR Serial Programmer
Figure-2: Universal Parallel ROM Programmer
Arduion as ISP Programmer performs write operations with fuse bit and Flash memory. It also does not support debugging facility.
Hi @danielfiction. I don't have any experience with it myself so I can't vouch for it, but I know some of the other forum helpers use and like this programmer, which also has a USB to serial bridge functionality:
