Lacking of proper development board always poses huge resistance for me to jump onto a new MCU. Even with the most prototyping friendly DIP packages, wiring a programming header onto the breadboard is both troublesome and unreliable. Things become worse when the MCU is an AVR. There is absolutely no way to mount a 2×3 0.1in pitch programming header onto the breadboard. It was such a pain until recently I found a elegant way to make a quick and dirty minimalism board. Here is how.
The AVR chip I’m talking about is Atmel ATTiny2313, in SOIC-20 package. To make the development board, I bought some 28 pin SOIC/SSOP to DIP adapters. These adaptors usually come in double sided design. Corresponding pins on both sides are connected via the plated through holes at edges.
I made a 2×3 AVR programming header by pulling off pins (longer ones) from a double-row right angle pin header and reinsert them into the plastic base. A needle nose pliers is very handy for this purpose.
For more detail: Minimalism AVR development board
