Dear Backers,

The 644/1284 User’s Manual has just been published, and is now available for anyone to use. The manual includes information on the board specifications, installing drivers, IDE configuration, programming examples, and more. Also, why I prefer 8 bit MCUs like the Microchip ATmega, over 32 bit options.

Narrow 644/1284 User’s Manual is Now Available

The 644/1284 User’s Manuals have just been published, and they are now available for anyone to use.

In the manual, you will find the following information:

• Presentation of the board
  • Board specifications
  • Pinout
• Installation
  • CH340 driver
  • Arduino environment
  • Board definition / MigthyCore
  • IDE configuration when using the MightyCore
• Programming
  • SPI programming
  • USB programming
  • Programming examples
    • Blink
    • 2nd Serial port
    • 0.49” OLED display

Please contact me if you have any more questions.

Is 32 bits More Than 8 Bits?

A case for Microchip’s ATmega 8 bits MCU

I decided to propose this board with a Microchip ATmega644 or ATmega1284 8 bits MCU because I find that these parts are perfect for Arduino development. As compared to any other MCU technology available, even in 2020, the Microchip 8 bit ATmega option is by far the easiest that will allow you to create a large program on a very compact board. The 8 bit architecture is very efficient and reliable. Some others MCU and particularly 32 bits MCUs offer much more raw power, but ATmega644 and ATmega1284 MCUs are still a very good option if:

• Your program needs a lot of memory resources
• Your circuit is powered in 5 volts
• You are looking for low power consumption
• You are an Arduino programmer and don't have time to migrate your code
• You want to exploit the huge programming resources available on the web (searching for "Uno", "Nano" and "ATmega328" programming examples) and benefit from the very good documentation from Atmel

See this article Is 32 bits more than 8 bits? for more information.