T&L Publications

I am using a basic breadboad setup (not using a Toadstool). Here are my power reduction results:

Experiment 0: 0.024 Ampere (baseline reading at 5V supply)
Experiment 1: 0.023 Ampere (PPR register set)
Experiment 2: 0.015 Ampere (sleep mode activated)
Experiment 3: 0.015 Ampere (BOD sensor disabled)
Experiment 4: 0.004 Ampere (3.3V supply)

A quite significant power reduction of 89% (from 120 mW down to 13.2 mW)!

Note: the batch of µCs that I bought turned out to be ATMega328 instead of ATMega328P, which explains why there is no change when disabling the BOD sensor (since the ATMega328 does not have a BOD sensor, according to the Atmel Datasheet).

Thanks for this series, much appreciated.

How Ya Doin'
I used the Toadstool and the ICE programmer. (328P)

I have a cheap Radio Shack multi-meter so here is what I got.

Readings at 5 volts:

0- 40 mA (average because meter moved from 38 to 42)
1- 36 mA (average for around the same reason)
2- 21.46 (correct reading I suppose because meter staid at same reading)
3- 21.46
4- Read Below

Readings at 3.3 volts:

0- 24 mA (average)
1- 23 mA (average)
2-16.09 mA
3-16.09 mA

I also started out with a new 9 volt battery. My old one failed half way through the experiments. My readings are a little higher than yours Agg, maybe Andrew can explain why.

Apologies - only saw this thread now (thanks for the heads-up Casey!)

I'm pleased that you've seen some good saving @Agg, and thanks for the kind comments on the series.

@Casey1947: Your savings will be lower, as you'll be measuring the "running gear" of the Toadstool as well - for example the power LED will continue to draw current as will the power regulation circuitry - unfortunately unavoidable. If you're feeling brave, you could de-solder the LED and see how much the reading vary.

@Agg: It would be interesting to see where in the circuit you measured your current.

Cheers from sunny South Africa
Andrew