2012.07.04 - USB to uC communication

recently i've started using (i.e. soldering) SMD chips. my first victim was FT232, that emulates RS-232 port, when connected to the computer (all on one chip). until now i always used MAX232 family to communicate with uCs. this is a bit redundant, since nowadays PC usually don't have serial ports, so you need to plug on into USB. then it is connected to the device, that operates on +5V, so another (level) conversion is needed. with FT232 it is just enough to connect it the the USB on the PC and uC's USART on the other side… and that's it! :)

today i've published usb2ttlrs project, using mentioned chip to allow easy connection to uC, that have TTL-level USARTs. i've also found an interesting, open source program to change default, factory settings of the FT232 chips, when needed – ft232r_prog. looks like it will be some time until i'll use MAX232 again… ;)