GeorgySB's Arduino Mega EEPROM Programmer Board Doubles as a RAM Upgrade
Designed to be as simplistic as possible, this board requires very few components to interface EEPROM chips with an Arduino Mega.
Pseudonymous Russian maker "GeorgySB" has launched a simple shield for the Arduino Mega and pin-compatible microcontrollers that adds EEPROM programming capabilities — or doubles as a board for adding additional RAM.
"[I designed the board] in replacement of my clumsy breadboard EEPROM programmer I made for my Z80 bread board computer project," GeorgySB explains. "[It's] minimalistic but cool — and it's blue, which match[es] to [the] Arduino board!"
Sold as a bare PCB, the EEPROM programmer shield requires a 28-pin Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) socket to hold the EEPROM to be programmed, an LED to show when writing is complete, three surface mount resistors, and has pads for a surface-mount button — though "I don't use it," GeorgySB notes.
"In order to prevent wobbling of the shield," GeorgySB adds, I put 1 PLS stub with short end cut off in Mega pin socket 8. I could make a corresponding via on the shield to solder in this pin, but I decided not to as it would make it harder to remove the shield."
The bare board is now available on GeorgySB's Tindie store at $10.