Nerd Ralph writes:
I’ve blogged before about PL-2303HX USB-TTL adapters. In some ways they are even better than the expensive FTDI adapters – for example they work at 6mbps. In conjunction with a cheap Pro Mini clone it’s possible to get started with Arduino/AVR programming for $5. For more advanced use such as burning bootloaders or directly programming AVR chips, I usually recommend a USBasp. While writing picoboot-avrdude, I noticed avrdude supports bit-bang SPI programming not just with a parallel port, but also with a serial port. Here’s how hacked a PL-2303HX module so I could use it as a bit banging SPI AVR programmer.
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