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Design 4: Receiving

A project log for The MidBerry HB1

HB stands for "Hookers and Blackjack"

janusprotocoljanusprotocol 07/30/2024 at 11:230 Comments

I've been receiving odds and ends via Amazon over the last couple of days. Working on microelectronics like this is a bit out of my wheelhouse, as most of my electronics collection dates back to the late 1990s before SMD was ubiquitous, so there's a ton of parts I need.

In any event, I received my first order from AliExpress, which was significantly cheaper than Amazon for most of this stuff. I received the ATmega328PU chip, a 240x320 LCD screen, a couple SanDisk microSD cards of various sizes, timing crystals for use with the aforementioned ATmega chip and others in the future, and, last but not least, the Orange Pi 2 W 4G SoB. For the lattermost, as it's by far the most complex and expensive component, I decided to quickly flash Orange Pi OS to a 32 Gb card, then connect it to a monitor to see if it boots properly. It sure does!


The last thing I need is the keyboard and the adapter PCB I ordered for it. The former should be here today, the latter should be here by the end of the week. Hopefully, I'll be able to make a log on Saturday showing the keyboard, LCD, and Opi connected together and functioning!

Edit: I forgot to add that I'm considering switching to the ATmega32U4 to drive the keyboard. I'm still doing the research, and I'm definitely going to breadboard the device using what I have, but the final device may have a different chip in it. Power is going to be an issue, as with all handhelds, and I'm not sure the 328P is the best choice for that.

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