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Is there a socket for the 328P?

timb

I can't tell in the main product photos, is the ATmega328P in a socket or soldered directly to the board? It kind of looks like it's soldered on...

 

If it is soldered in place, that's a really dumb move. One of the great things about the Ardino Uno (and by proxy, the Gertboard) is the 28-pin DIP socket for the MCU. This means it's super easy to replace if you damage the chip with an improper voltage. It's going to be a complete PITA for me to de-solder (and risk damaging the board) just to add a $0.28 socket that should have been included from the start.

  • It's in a socket in the picture on Farnell's website and in the picture in the user manual.

     

    (Actually it's easy to protect the board if you don't care about the chip if you need to remove it -  carefully cut all the pins on the chip with a small pair of cutters or a new scalpel blade and then desolder the pins one at  a time. You can clean the board up with solder wick (often works better than solder suckers) - no question that sockets are easier but DIP chips aren't that hard to get out if you don't want to save them)

     

    MK

  • Hi Timothy,

     

    i don't know about the Gertboard but on Arduino UNO the 328P MUC is Mounted on a Socket.. And the IC can be taken out easily...

  • Thanks Michael, I didn't think to check the user manual. The picture on the E14 product page is top down and hard to see. For some reason it also never occurred to me to do a Google Image search! Let's chalk this one up to sleep deprivation. image

     

    Cutting the leads of a DIP chip to remove it certainly does help, but anytime you take a knife or snips to a board you risk inadvertently cutting a trace or damaging the PTH. The same applies to desoldering, anytime you put heat down you risk burning the plating ring right off the hole. I'll admit, if you've got enough experience it's pretty rare, but my concern was more for beginners who don't have the tools or skills to do it right. I know I've burnt out my fair share of MCUs from stupid stuff (setting a power supply to 33 volts instead of 3.3 comes to mind) and I'm a professional!

     

    @Saurabh Yeah, I know the Uno has a socket, I even mentioned that in my post. image

     

    Anyway, good to know it does have a socket.