New positioning of USB / battery connectors?

I'm getting the new Espruino board revision laid out by Seeed this time (instead of me).

One of the changes is the use of a 4 pin through-hole Micro USB connector (I'm not taking any chances this time!) - however Seeed tell me that they can't position it where it was (if I'm honest I don't really see why).

Instead, they want to move the USB over towards the pin strip, and bring the JST battery connector back over towards the ARM (and where the USB connector was). Does anyone have any problems with this?

Obviously it's a pain if anyone is planning boxes with cutouts - but I'm not sure anyone is, apart from Phenoptix (and theirs could be changed quite easily).

Image here:

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Personally looks fine to me. Is a through hole JST connector in existance? I know I've been one of the clumsy ones breaking the usb connector, I assume that it is a matter of time before someone finds the same with the JST (which looks to be attached in a similar way?).

I consider this to be an improvement - As it's laid out currently, the USB and JST connectors are very close to each other, and I found the USB and JST connectors to get in eachother's way when trying to use both at once (though the cables I was using do have chunkier connectors than most). It looks like this gives us a wee bit more space between them, and also, by putting it near the edge, you can use a right angle USB connector to get the USB cable out of the way without blocking anything. I don't see any drawbacks to the new layout.

What, if any, other changes are planned in the new Espruino revision?

Ok, well that's interesting - would anyone else like to comment? Speak now or forever hold your peace :)

The through-hole JST connector I've seen (the one in Seeed's OPL and the one that Olimex use) is rubbish (there's no support at the front at all). I think this one's actually pretty sturdy - the thing that killed the USB was that there's twisting force because the tabs aren't right at the front of the connector - the JST doesn't seem to have that issue. The pads are much bigger and the connector that plugs in is much smaller.

On the new board:

• 4 pin through-hole USB
  
• 32kHz crystal pre-installed (hopefully)
  
• New voltage regulator, which should at least halve the power consumption in deep sleep mode. It also raises the max input voltage to 20v.
  
  

Otherwise I'm trying to keep it mostly the same...

I can't see any issues with it.

Wanted to post this a few days ago but was too busy with the mobile tech conference in Munich - which btw I gave a presentation about IOT and mentioned Espruino, too - prezi is here in case someone is interested: http://prezi.com/-35jarymj-4t/?utm_campa­ign=share&utm_medium=copy

But here's the real comment - if this is roughly about asking what would you improve on an espruino v2: add female/male headers. It took me quite a while to get 20x or 10x female headers here from Germany (you don't order a few cents worth for 5 EUR shipping) and it makes getting started really way easier.

My main point about Espruino at the conference was that it runs Javascript so all Web Devs out there have no excuse to not try it out. For them it's a showstopper if they have to solder and get the headers... to some. Also: a starter kit that includes some easy to use sensors would probably get a lot more people really started.

+hansamann has a good point - for people who've shied away from microcontrollers, having to solder pin strips on is going to discourage a good portion of potential users (particularly the web-developer type - the ones I know are so steeped in software that they can't work out how to use a shower, let alone a soldering iron). At the same time, I'd rather they not be preinstalled (at least not on the Espruinos I buy), and I think a lot of the more experienced hardware/microcontroller people wouldn't want that either. Maybe the solution to this and sensors is for there to be a starter kit with the headers pre-installed and some cheap sensors and stuff to get started with, plus a breadboard (these suck imo, but if you can't solder, you kinda need something like this) and some dupont line?

Yes... I know what you mean - I'll see about selling some that have headers pre-installed. Phenoptix already sell a kit with the headers in, but they may be open to pre-soldering them.

It was a shame not to do it for the KickStarter but I was trying to keep stuff simple. While as @DrAzzy says, more advanced users definitely won't want pre-soldered headers, all the people getting started will :)

Out of interest are people adding female or male headers on to the boards? Also anyone prefer them on the top of bottom of the board. I've been using female headers at the moment on the outer pins pointing out from the top but I'm tempted to go with male pins on the new board I bought facing down so i can push the board in to a breadboard.

I do male facing up - but that's just so I can have it resting on the desk and can easily access everything...

I also do male pins facing up. It's more convenient IMO, and I don't like the way the male ends of dupont jumpers look - they don't inspire faith, even though they work.

I'm getting stackable headers for the next one - will probably still keep the males on top, but the females will keep it off the table (currently, I have a piece of tape on the bottom in case some bit of conductive debris gets under it), and would make it convenient to make a board that it would sit on that interfaced it with other things.

Any idea when is that coming out?

Well I've got the designs and I'm waiting for the prototypes to arrive. It'll still take at least 2 months - I still have a few hundred of the rev 1v3 here that I'd have to sell first too, but hopefully they'll go relatively quickly.

32kHz crystal pre-installed (hopefully)

And with a supercap, too.

Yep, mine just broke off (the JST plug) and I'm wondering how to reconnect it. The tabs on the board have ripped off and there's nowhere to resolder the JST legs. Where can I run wires to on the board? Is C8 (the 10uF capacitor on the opposite side) connected between the positive and negative battery inputs? Or C9 on the same side?

right angle ones so they connect to the side. Is there a reason no-one does this?

Wow, the JST connector is pretty solid - I think you're the first to have any troubles with that :( The through-hole ones (specifically like the ones on the Olimexino) were a total disaster as they had no support at the front, but a vertical one would be better.

You can connect to the small SMD transistor on the opposite side of the board, or there's actually an unpopulated part next to it and you can connect to the pin on that nearest the diode (see the image). The other side of the JST is just ground.

Having said that, if you don't plan on connecting a battery while you're using USB, or if your battery is >5V then you can just connect to the 0.1" holes for Bat and GND.

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