Powering Bluefruit EZ-Link from Boarduino

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bushi
 
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Powering Bluefruit EZ-Link from Boarduino

Post by bushi »

It appears from the Boarduino schematic that you could jumper all the PWR SEL pins together to supply 5v to the FTDI +5 pin. Would this work to power a Bluefruit EZ-Link or am I missing something? Of course, you'd remove the jumper if using a regular FTDI connection.

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adafruit_support_mike
 
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Re: Powering Bluefruit EZ-Link from Boarduino

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

Hmm.. interesting idea.

In theory it would work, but creating a permanent connection across those three pins would turn a DC Boarduino into a FTDI cable killer. If you forget to disconnect the external power before plugging in the cable, there's a good chance you'll kill the FTDI chip.

You don't need an FTDI cable to program the Boarduino if you have an EZ-Link connected to it though, and yes, you'd want the power to do the other way.

If you're going to do that, I'd suggest making a removable 3-pin jumper. Get a short chunk of female header and solder a piece of wire across all the tabs. That way you can make the connection when you want it and remove it when you want to go back to using a regular cable.

Personally, I'd still prefer to wire the EZ-Link's 5v pin to the Boarduino's 5v pin. The connections may not be as pretty, but that's what the 5v pin is for.

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