Using both 5V and 3.3V components on a Decimila?

[Jaanus]

This page says:

The new Diecimila (10,000th) has an expanded shield header with a 3.3V reference and a RESET pin...

Does this mean that the Diecimila outputs both 5V and 3.3V power, and I can thus use both types of components easily in projects, without needing to have an extra regulator for 3.3V components? (I have worked with Boarduino before which outputs only 5V, so for 3.3V I need a regulator or some such.)[/quote][/url]

[westfw]

The 3.3V output of the diecimila is provided by the internal regulator of the FTDI USB chip, and is only capable of providing 50mA of external power. That's plenty to use as a reference, and you can probably power SOME logic with it, but it's pretty limited.

[Jaanus]

Ok... I want to power some XBee chips, which say they take up to 40 mA of power. There's some margin there (40 vs 50 mA) but I don't feel too confident about it, so I might still go with the separate regulator business and not use the 3.3V reference.

[adafruit]

-personally- i think its always a good idea to have a seperate regulator since even t he 50ma is not guaranteed
but, for an xbee, i know lots of people who say it 'works just fine'

[westfw]

Do you have a recommendation for an easy-to-use LDO capable of giving us 3.3V at 100mA or so from 5V? TO-92 perhaps? Too often, LDOs seem to have obnoxious and difficult to understand requirements for input and output caps...