Is my Arduino worth keeping?

Community General Discussion
1

Hi all. I was doing a clear-out recently and found an Arduino experimentation kit I'd bought years ago and never really gave it a go. I'd love to start experimenting with it now but wonder if the board is obsolete as there have been many improvements in recent years.

It's an Arduino Uno R2. So can anyone tell me if it's worth experimenting with or if I'd be better off getting a new board? I assume the jumper wires, LEDs, motor etc in the kit would still be good whether I get a new board or not.

I'd appreciate any advice.

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Yes, It is certainly worth keeping.

When the Uno R2 was superceded by the Uno R3, there were a few minor changes, but I would think >95% of the circuit was the same.

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Here is a document that will tell you the differences between the different revisions:

An overview of different Uno boards.

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4

I agree you should definetly keep it if you want to go specific it is 93.3% the same as the arduino uno r3 board and it's great for low processor machines

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5

Yes, if it’s working, keep using it.

Example, many here use the UNO for prototyping then switch to use a Pro Mini in the final product.

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That's a great idea so the easier part is used with the board that's bigger and then if you want it to be compact and have more processing power for what you're doing you can use a different board.

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The Processor on a Pro Min is, to all intents and purposes, the same as on the UNO.

A Pro Mini is about $6.00

You will need an (one) FTDI programmer (about $7.00) to program your Pro Minis.

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Do you know if that has Micropython capabilities LarryD

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No

10

Okay thanks

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@trainor88
do you know the value of an R2 board right now

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I have a 14 year old Arduino Duemilanove (pre Uno). It is still in the board list and works fine. A major difference is that it drives the LED on pin 13 directly, so that has to be adjusted for when using that pin.

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No not a clue. When I search for it I keep getting directed to one with WiFi capabilities or alternative boards

14

Thanks for the reply. I need to get a new USB lead as it seems to be missing. But I'm looking forward to giving Arduino a go.

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I would keep it.
I think that some day these old Unos will become collector's items.

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Keep it; one of the key aspects of debugging is to swap things out, so it's always handy to have extras.

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I mainly wanted to know if I start working away on this, will what I learn be transferable to the newer boards if I decide to upgrade? From what I understand the answer is yes.

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I guess I will hang onto my Duemilanove.

Don

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Yes the answer is yes

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I'm still running a Duemilanova as well, although I have reprogrammed for optiboot and select the board as a UNO.