Arduino Serial USB Board

Replacement:DEV-09716. We make our own version of this that's smaller and cheaper. This page is for reference only.

Using the FT232RL, the Arduino Serial USB Board shows up as a com port allowing serial communication to and from the Arduino Stamp or any other serial device.

Arduino is an open-source physical computing platform based on a simple i/o board and a development environment that implements the Processing/Wiring language. Arduino can be used to develop stand-alone interactive objects or can be connected to software on your computer (e.g. Flash, Processing, MaxMSP). The open-source IDE can be downloaded for free (currently for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux).

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  • Colin / about 16 years ago / 4

    What's the difference between this and the FTDI Basic Breakout Board? This appears to work with the Arduino Stamp but the FTDI Basic Breakout Board is required for the Arduino Pro boards. Are the Arduino Serial USB Board and the FTDI Basic Breakout Board interchangeable? It would be nice if only one type of USB to Serial adapter board were needed to interface with both the Arduino Stamp and the Arduino Pros.

  • todbot / about 17 years ago / 4

    Note: this is just a USB-to-serial adapter meant for use with the Arduino Stamp. If you want a full Arduino board, consider the 'Arduino USB Board', SKU#: DEV-00666.

  • Colin / about 16 years ago / 3

    Sorry, when I referred to the Arduino Pro, I meant the Pro Mini.

  • ken536 / about 14 years ago / 2

    To program a arduino mini pro, add a 100nf cap between pin 4 (middle connector long side (connected to pin 2 on the ft232)) to the arduino reset pin.
    tx -> tx
    rx -> rx

  • awgibbons / about 15 years ago / 2

    For the record, you can get this to work with the Arduino Pro Mini, but the FTDI Basic Breakout works better. You just need to hit the reset manually. So if you really only want to buy one, you can, but you DO LOOSE FUNCTIONALITY. You loose the ability to autoreset, which is an annoyance, but better than having a programmer you can't use.

  • samuel3 / about 15 years ago / 2

    Hi!
    I'm trying to use this to convert RS-485 to USB with a MAX485 IC as this:
    TX -> DI
    RX /RE
    VCC -> DE
    and supply voltage VCC and GND to MAX485 8 and 5.
    I have some problems at the monitoring sw because of this wiring and I would need TXEN pin to control /RE and DE together.
    Any suggestion?
    Thanks!

  • GeneW / about 15 years ago / 2

    @ flash
    It looks like you didn't read the description for this product. It doesn't mention the mini pro or any other Arduino except the Arduino Stamp. That would probably explain the lack of documentation for using it with the mini pro.
    Buy the right Arduino, the Stamp, for this board and you won't have anything to complain about.

    • Mike77 / about 13 years ago / 1

      I believe Colin's point was that, perhaps the FTDI Basic Breakout Board could be used instead of this USB to Serial Adapter for both of the previously mentioned Arduino boards (and at a cheaper price).
      So, why not purchase the FTDI Basic Breakout board for less $$$ and be able to use it to program both the Stamp and the Pros? I was wondering the same.

  • flash / about 15 years ago / 2

    Horrible documentation on this. Arduino has the worst help section I have seen. Diagram and How both do not deal with the Mini pro. I have a mini pro and there is no documentation on how to hook into it with the auto reset. As well the pin outs are not printed on the bourd and the one I was shipped is not like the picture. Where is the DTR and what does the jumper do? The schematic is even wrong . Come on that is just LAZY. I got it to work and it works great but still can't auto reset.

    • Uuuhhhhh... the Pro Mini was made by SparkFun so of course arduino.cc is nit going to have the docs, SF is.
      So, some friendly advice: Do some research before combusting.

  • Cool Cap Engineer / about 15 years ago / 2

    will this work for a standalone arduino board?

  • microbyte / about 15 years ago / 2

    So this is basically the TX and RX pins of Arduino.
    The FTDI chip is the same of Arduino, right?

  • Member #370475 / about 12 years ago / 1

    Is it possible to use this for uploading your code into the Arduino Ethernet with PoE (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11361) ?

  • Member #311420 / about 12 years ago / 1

    i am trying to make a simple stepper motor system and have brought this part and a easy driver 4.4 with the motor is there any other parts i need as i am havint trobble wiring the boards together

    • rwizard / about 12 years ago / 1

      Why would you order the parts before at least reading the docs and roughly designing your solution?

      I've never used an Easy Driver, but even a very brief and cursory look at the product page leads me to suspect that your purchase of this serial/usb board was off the mark.

      You fail to explain what you are trying to accomplish, but since the Easy has a web site, I suggest you start there. If you are trying to drive steppers with a PC, there is a board discussed on that site. An Arduino would be another simple option. It really depends on your (unstated) goals.

      More generally, if you don't take the time and effort to read and study, you are going to have nothing but "trobble".

  • heymarky / about 12 years ago / 1

    I was able to get auto reset to work by adding a header to the hole marked '4', connecting that header to a 100nF capacitor and connecting the other side of the capacitor to the reset pin on the ATmega328.

                                     o     o
                                 Vcc o     o  
                                 Gnd o     o D0
             10kOhm    100nF         o     o D1
    Vcc ------^v^v^-+---||----- pin4 o     |
                    |                |-----|
                    |                |USB  |
                 Arduino             |plug |
                  Reset              +-----+
    

    It would be nice if these came with 5 pin headers, or at least on the side where pin 4 is to make this easier.

  • Circuit98 / about 12 years ago / 1

    I used this board as part of a fix to unbrick my Seagate barracuda 7200.11 hard drive that was stuck in BSY mode (not detected in BIOS anymore). It worked perfectly and I not only managed to restore the drive, but also all of the files stored on it!

  • Member #166968 / about 13 years ago / 1

    Hi,
    is it safe to use this serial board with arduino pro mini 3.3v version?

  • Member #208282 / about 13 years ago / 1

    Hello,
    does this board have a power supply select ?
    i mean can i select the source from usb or my own power supply to power it ? thanks

  • Member #161993 / about 13 years ago / 1

    I bought this because i wanted to upload sketches to an atmega328 on a breadboard, without having to pull the atmega of my arduino to do so. Can i do this? will the 104cap between pin 4 on the pcb and the reset pin on the atmega 328 make that work? if so what board/atmega config do i choose in the arduino IDE ?

  • Member #189667 / about 13 years ago / 1

    is the jumper required to be on for this board to function? I purchased this board and it seems to not be working but it didnt have a jumper and this one does....

  • arduino1324 / about 14 years ago / 1

    you guys need to upload a different picture of the newer on, cause when i got mine it was a new version than the one in the picture.

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