Observations from a new user

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SonicResidue
 
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Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2018 1:21 pm

Observations from a new user

Post by SonicResidue »

Just purchased the ARDX kit yesterday, really excited to get started. Just a few observations and questions,

1) When mounting the Uno to the plastic board, the mounting hole by the power connector is too close to allow the nut to fit properly to the mounting screw. I had to use sand paper to file the nut down a bit.

2) the LED was already blinking, maybe the blink sketch was pre loaded? However, I had to upload the blink sketch when I connected an LED to the breadboard, per the project in the guide book.

3) I’m familiar with a basic electronics, not with programming, so the book was confusing regarding loading sketches. It wasn’t until I read through ladyada’s guide on how to compile and upload that I figured it out. Maybe the next version of the guide can be a bit more clear in that regard.

4) Are the two pin headers necessary? I’m not sure what function they serve.

Anyway, I’ve been curious about these for a long time, and am excited to get started!

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Observations from a new user

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Thanks for the feedback.
1) When mounting the Uno to the plastic board, the mounting hole by the power connector is too close to allow the nut to fit properly to the mounting screw. I had to use sand paper to file the nut down a bit.
Starting with the R3 version, all Arduinos have an extra 2 pins on each header. This make the header extend right up to the mounting hole. It does make mounting a little less convenient. But the Arduino design team decided it was best to keep the board footprint the same for backwards compatibility.
2) the LED was already blinking, maybe the blink sketch was pre loaded? However, I had to upload the blink sketch when I connected an LED to the breadboard, per the project in the guide book.
The blink sketch for the on-board LED is pre-loaded as part of the QA process for the boards. It is the same blink sketch for pin 13 that is in the CIRC 01 lesson of the ARDX kit. You should not have to re-upload unless you are using a different pin for your LED.

Items 3 and 4 are probably best addressed directly to the nice folks at oomlout that design and produce these ARDX kits.
http://www.oomlout.com/a/contact

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