RE: Quick way to start with cheap NRF51822 beacon board.

Edvin — Mon, 27 Aug 2018 19:53:08 GMT

Hello,

You have this beacon kit, is that correct?

As you know (obviously, since you ask this question), the beacon kit does not have a programmer. Without a segger bootloader, I would guess that your best shot at updating the application is using the preinstalled bootloader, which is discussed here.

However, you may run into the situation that your device will not enter the bootloader, if you upload some defect application, so a programmer is kind of nice to have either way.

The FTDI programmer will not work, because it requires a serial bootloader. You can create this, but again, you would need a SEGGER programmer to program it to the beacon.

To be honest, I haven't tried an FTDI programmer (I don't have one), so I don't know whether it is compatible with nRFgo studio or nrfjprog (Nordic's command line tools).

I guess the cheapest option, which probably will save you some trouble, is to use an nRF51/nRF52 DK. The nRF5x DK is also a lot easier to use during development (compared to the beacon kit), since it is easier to program and easier to debug.

Note that the Beacon Kit doesn't have a 10-pin header, but a 6-pin Needle header. You can solder on some wires directly to this, but it is probably easier to use a 6-pin needle header cable from SEGGER, but you can manage without.

However, you would still need a segger programmer to program the Nordic Beacon Kit.

Best regards,

Edvin