I am currently doing a little research into various microcontrollers, and the offerings of the Arduino and it's surrounding community are very enticing.
My major question at this point is this: If I buy the Diecimila, is it "required" to use the board after programming the ATmega168? In other words, if I make a simple LED flasher, can I simply remove the chip from the Diecimila, and solder it onto a smaller etched pcb to use? (I know I would need the power supply, crystal, etc.)
You can definitely remove the chip and use it in another circuit. Depending on the application, you might want to program the chip directly with a programmer, eliminating the bootloader. See: http://www.arduino.cc/en/Hacking/Programmer
In skimming the articles about the bootloader (and some of the external links), it looks like I would need to buy/build/otherwise acquire an AVR programmer if I buy an atmel chip by itself.
If I'm understanding things correctly, Arduino is just one of many ways to start working with the AVR family of chips. The Diecimila just gives an easy, pre-built alternative that doesn't require a whole lot of soldering. Yes?
And, if I write something that works on the Diecimila, it should work on the Mini, or even a blank AVR chip, right?
I have a question about removing the chip from the Arduino. What is required of the circuit that I put the removed chip into? There needs to be a power supply and crystal. What kind of crystal? Is there anything else that the board provides that a circuit needs or is that it?
