After much research (which I would like to share with you) I have come to the conclusion that the Mega1280 must be sacrificed to the final project and unless you are skilled in smd soldering (with paste or liquid flux or the 'push' technique). This includes schmartboards and items like this... http://www.mcustore.com/pic-mcu-cards/415-lv18fj-mcu-card6.html. Wow what a collection of boards.
I also found one product, the above board with a 1280 pre-mounted at 飞机app注册网络错误,飞机加密软件app,telegreat安卓官网版,tg在国内怎么注册
ATMEGA1280MCU part way down the page. It appears to be unavailable.
The manufacturer MikroElektronika is in USA and shipping doubles the price... http://www.mikroe.com/eng/products/view/83/bigavr-mcu-cards/ costs £24, my Mega cost £30 so...
this board would seem to be the only saving grace for the Mega, so there is little point in buying a Mega except as this post's title suggests, unless of course you paid more for your Mega than at Oomlaut.
If somebody has located a simple board like the one above, pre-mounted, please feel free to tell me and make my day and save my Mega for another day!
I hope this has been useful for somebody and there would seem to be a little business opening for somebody.
After much research (which I would like to share with you) I have come to the conclusion that the Mega1280 must be sacrificed to the final project and unless you are skilled in smd soldering (with paste or liquid flux or the 'push' technique).
Well it's a good skill to try to get. Buy some flux, good solder and solder wick. Maybe get an SMD soldering kit.
I hope this has been useful for somebody and there would seem to be a little business opening for somebody.
yah through hole CPU's are much friendlier for the do it yourselfer. Once you sort out isp/jtag (or have a source for chips w/bootloaders), the atmega328 in a socket makes going from an arduino prototype to a handful of working things really straight forward and cost/time effective.
I think you are essentially correct that a 100 pin smd cpu is an effective barrier to going from arduino prototype to small production for many people.
@Andy Brown. No, not exactly, look at the price. You may as well use the Mega as the sacrificial lamb. The cost is up due to the extras. The final project would only require the 1280 with final software on a header ready for the remainder of the project components to be added.
What you show is a mini Mega with size being the only advantage, not the price. @all
What is required is a header with the chip, ready for programming, then it is added to the remainder of the project without having to solder. It is an expensive experiment to practice soldering smd chips.
A company geared up for smd anyway could easily produce these and there would seem to be a need.
I guess what I am saying is that there is little use for a 1280 Mega unless you have the skills to solder the final project, this excludes may from its use. If it had been mounted in a socket and boards were available with just sockets, a transfer could be made as with say Uno.
Hence my title.
I don't think arduino hardware going from smd to breakout board is the right approach. Are you even sure you need more than a 328 or a 644 (or maybe a 1284 someday)?
Even with the 328 there are options for adding more storage and ports with good-old through hole chips.
You might want to google for smd toaster oven too, cuz like the incredibly useful and uncomplicated serial port, through hole doesn't have the hype that smd does and prototypers more and more don't have any through hole components that fit their application. Because when these go into production large scale they will want smd for size/automation/cost. Soldering whole boards in one shot in an oven that can fit more chips per board without having to drill 100 holes per chip is a significant manufacturing gain once you figure it out.
@dcb: I am not sure at all, however, not foreseeing the problem of which I speak, I did purchase a Mega1280 thinking it the most versatile. It is in a way but not when it comes to releasing it for other projects and wiring up the completed one. You mention other chips i.e. 644, 1284 but I don't see an Arduino for those on which to develop the sketch.
I realise NOW that I could add shift registers etc. (but not extra serial).
I did read this morning of a oven being used with smd 100 pin chip and solder paste to do the required job, but it seems a bit frought with hit and miss.
p.s. I know I could research it but maybe somebody knows already. Could a Arduino 328 MCU be exchanged for any other if the pin count is the same but maybe only memory difference, or alternatively for one with a lower pin count mounted in a socket modified to adapt Vcc etc.?
@mowcius: Yes I can see from your link a 644 board could have been a better bet, but I didn't come across it, I only found Arduino. A costly mistake. I now know better.
Perhaps somebody could answer the following which might ease my pain...
Can I program with the Mega in such a way that as long as I don't use any I/O not included on the target-and accounting for memory, and by using constants for pins (so that the only change required would be the constants -actual pin numbers) so that the compiled hex code could be doctored as mentioned above to produce a hex block that could then be uploaded to the (different) target? I am sure you know what I am trying to ask though maybe not clear.
ps is it possible to replace say a 328 chip in a UNO with some other with the same pin count but only a memory difference, or alternatively one with a different pin count but use a modified external carrier socket modified to alter any pin connections that don't match??
I know I could research it but maybe somebody knows already. Could a Arduino 328 MCU be exchanged for any other if the pin count is the same but maybe only memory difference, or alternatively for one with a lower pin count mounted in a socket modified to adapt Vcc etc.?
Yes.
Can I program with the Mega in such a way that as long as I don't use any I/O not included on the target-and accounting for memory, and by using constants for pins (so that the only change required would be the constants -actual pin numbers) so that the compiled hex code could be doctored as mentioned above to produce a hex block that could then be uploaded to the (different) target? I am sure you know what I am trying to ask though maybe not clear.
You mean can you program a mega to test but so that your code could be upoaded onto another board (with a different microcontroller), without having to change it?
Yes you can do this as long as you don't use pin specific functions such as i2c/PWM etc. These pin functions often move around on different boards.
is it possible to replace say a 328 chip in a UNO with some other with the same pin count but only a memory difference, or alternatively one with a different pin count but use a modified external carrier socket modified to alter any pin connections that don't match??
Thank you mowcius.
Item 2: I was suggesting could be overcome by using constants (that would presumably be recognisable in the hex output (wherever that can be found?) and then the specific pin numbers edited in the hex after testing and the result loaded to the target. Are we therefore saying the same?
I am slowly finding my way. It begins to strike me that maybe the true answer to all this is to have a USB module to make the input from IDE easy, then whichever components for whichever Arduino one wished to build on a breadboard. Thus having many Arduino's.
Perhaps one could even tap off a few wires from the Mega1280 to a breadboard to obtain the USB I/O saving a module.
Thanks for your help.
I was suggesting could be overcome by using constants (that would presumably be recognisable in the hex output (wherever that can be found?) and then the specific pin numbers edited in the hex after testing and the result loaded to the target. Are we therefore saying the same?
Well if you code for the mega using digital pins 0-13 and analog pins 0-7 then you can use that same code to program a duemilanove as those pins are still recognised pins on the arduino.
If you used digital 36 on the mega then the duemilanove doesn't have a digital pin 36 so it wouldn't work.
The code on the chips themselves would be different but that doesn't really matter.
I would strongly suggest obtaining a socketed 328 if you want to build things that are through hole based, without giving up the development board, you can do a lot with a 328 (and yes there is a software serial port so you can have more than two ports). It is like $25, less for a clone, even less if you make your own (and figure out isp programming).
Most projects don't really push the envelope on the 328 anyway, have a look at what these guys did with an atmega88 which has 1/4 the ram/flash of a 328
I think I am convinced to add a Uno to my collection and get the best of all worlds. I'll find a good dedicated use for the Mega. I guess the Uno will take one or two pin compatible MCUs if I want an even smaller project.
The video was fantastic, thanks for that.
and less glum 
.