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AVR Choices

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AtomSoft

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Hey guys im still on 8bit AVRs and i need some help kind of...
I want to know which AVR is used out there a lot... meaning something easy to buy and has enough memory and stuff to be a good choice to play with.

I want a avr with lots of memory so when i do develop devices i have a overkill .. this way i can simply purchase the right AVR for the job after i see whats the requierments...
 
I have AVR Tools also well only the AVR Dragon but very usefull heh... The issue with me and PICs it the way i have to use memory and linker files.. I hate it. If i want to make a array of more than 256 bytes im doomed. Then using strings is never straight forward for me... like when i want to send a string i have to format it using some formating like (unsinged rom char*)"Some String" and its not a huge issue but a pain in the but. Also im finding that pics come in horrible packages heh like either DIP or SOIC or 64PIN TQFP why they dont have a nice 32PIN TQFP in the or something. It sucks having to work around a ton of quirks

EDIT:
Im not sure if the memory issue is on the PIC24.... i like the PIC24FJ64GA004 Family
 
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I'm not going to question your point about the footprints, but you will find plenty of quirks with any embedded micro when it comes to compilers. Unless you are going to use the equivalent of a PIC stamp style module, any variant of C will probably have an equivalent of characters which are unsigned and stored in ROM.

I haven't yet looked at AVR, but I get the impression there is a lot of hype around them. At the end of the day it's just a tool.
 
I have AVR Tools also well only the AVR Dragon but very usefull heh... The issue with me and PICs it the way i have to use memory and linker files.. I hate it. If i want to make a array of more than 256 bytes im doomed. Then using strings is never straight forward for me... like when i want to send a string i have to format it using some formating like (unsinged rom char*)"Some String" and its not a huge issue but a pain in the but. Also im finding that pics come in horrible packages heh like either DIP or SOIC or 64PIN TQFP why they dont have a nice 32PIN TQFP in the or something. It sucks having to work around a ton of quirks

EDIT:
Im not sure if the memory issue is on the PIC24.... i like the PIC24FJ64GA004 Family

These are only issues with the 30yr old 14bit core (16F) PICs. The 16bit parts are really nice, even the 16bit core (18F) those issues are mostly resolved.

As for the packaging well that's another story.
 
Hi Jason,

The '328P is a good chip but it's the one used in the Arduino and so it always seems to be on backorder at Mouser.

If you can find the '328P devices there are some bargain boards available for them. Here for example is a partially populated "bare bones board" from Modern Device which you can purchase for $4.50 as a blank PCB. Unfortunately the labels on the breadboard connector at the bottom of the board match the Arduino I/O labels but still a pretty good bargain if you ask me.

Later, Mike

**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
 
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I requested AVR samples but no response yet and so I'm just reading a lot of data sheets and playing with AVR Studio 4 simulator for now.
 
Just a touch of assembly.
Atmel's AVR studio is good.
Add to it WinAVR and you have a free, superb world class C compiler, without restrictions, uncrippled, unlike with PICs.
 
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Just wondering if you've seen this?

PICKit2 AVRISP (Using unmodified PICKit2 as an AVRISP)

That is very neat and incredibly clever. Good find Mike! Almost tempted to try and sample an AVR just for the fun of it.
 
I think the best chip to play with it, is the ATMEGA 32.
It have enough Ports for external circuits like displays and switches.
It is availible in an 40pin dil package.
Technical data: max. frequency 16MHz, 32k Flash, 2k RAM, 1k EEPROM, JTAG is possible, all ATMEGA Hardware is included.

The Chip in pin compatible with ATMEGA16 if lower space is necessary.
 
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The Mega32 isn't a bad suggestion. Don't overlook the tiny line though. The Tiny25/45/85 (each one has a bit more memory) are nice 8pin dips or QFN/MLF if you want surface mount. If you want more I/O try the tiny26/46/86 which is effectively the same chip with more pins. Both are very powerful chips for smaller projects or ones that don't need large numbers of I/O where the Mega32 and it's bigger brothers are for larger projects. Some of the bigger megas have external memory and LCD interfaces as well, but don't even think about programming those in ASM unless you like drudgery =)
 
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