[Question] Powering the Buono Uno R3

[selcouth]

I just ordered 10 of the Buono clones from eBay. I'm planning out the rest of my system and considering power options to run them at 3.3v.

I see some cheap options for 5v 2A AC adapters and 9v 1A AC adapters but I'm concerned about wasted energy and increased heat on the voltage regulator dropping that down to 3.3v. I'm not even sure if the Buono would take 5v on the plug side - it has a minimum of 6v on the spec list. Maybe I should just power them via 5v USB AC adapters?

How are you guys powering yours?

[computourist]

I don't use the Buono clones, but have a look at the schematic:

- input voltage should be at least 6 Volts
- a switched regulator is used to generate 5 Volts; not much heat dissipation to be expected
- the 3.3 Volts is derived from the 5 Volts using a linear regulator, that generates heat irrespective of the input voltage.

I would say you need at least 6 Volts input and need not to worry on heat generation...

BTW:
I use Pro Mini Atmega328 3.3v 8MHz boards, small & cheap... Power is provided by a USB adapter and stepped down to 3.3 Volts using an AMS1117 regulator.

- Computourist

[camblonie]

I've been running 9v 1A supplies on everything and haven't noticed any issues.