AVR-Chat

Kathy,

> I built a programming jig that can program AVR's quite quickly, it first
> programs the fuses for external clock 16Mhz etc. then programms at ~8Mhz
> then programs the fuses as they are needed.

neat.

> You can use the Idea I use on production PCB's I just place 6 Pads on
> the PCB with a PTH hole, the trace is connected on the bottom of the PCB
> and the top pad has NO traces leeding from it (this is to prevent
> problems if the PTH is damaged) then I press the PCB on a set of gold
> nails and the points sit in the PTH hole, I have a traffic light that
> tells me what is happening (RED means Fail Green means PASS and Yellow
> means programming) If you want speed and you know the PCB is ok and the
> program algorythm is good then you can skip the verify and just test the
> PCB's that fail (sometimes some chips need a slightly slower SCK for ISP)

Damn thats a good idea!
Cheers

> This method does not add much in the way of board realestate, and
> virtually nill cost (only 6 extra holes and size is not important as
> long as you can get some gold nails (mine are Oscope probe tips from RS
> that are just soldered to a dummy PCB (I try to keep as many designs as
> possible using the same mounting holes and places for the ISP connections)

cool, another good idea, I've got a pile of old probes in a box at home.

> Another option one customer of mine uses is to route the traces to the
> edge of the PCB and has a snap off section that goes into an edge card
> connector, just rub the contacts with a pencil eraser, plug in, program,
> test and snap off the excess PCB (the traces are spaced apart wide
> enough not to need any cleaning once snapped and do not short out....

nice, but if you run into problems and need to repair the board later,
you've desctroyed the interface.

Thanks for the ideas.
I think JIG with PTH idea is the way to go, something I can make myself.

Paul