sparkfun nRF52832 breakout board programming without nRF52 DK (through serial beefy 3 bootloader and arduino IDE) for 2.4 GHz radio communication to nRF24L01

[Alnos]

Hello, I bought a nRF52832 Breakout Board from SparkFun. from their tutorial, you can program this board using the serial bootloader and the Arduino IDE. However, aside for a BLEperipheral library, There are no arduino libraries or examples for radio communications with the nRF52. There are arduino radio libraries for the nRF24L01 chips only. (which works very well and is easy to set up)

With that said, is there anyway I could program a proprietary 2.4 Ghz RF radio communication between the nRF52832 and nRF24L01 modules without having to buy the nRF52 DK?

All this is very confusing. do people typically code nRF modules through a dev kit board ? I feel like the only way to get familiar with the nRF52 and get example codes is by buying the DK.. 

[awneil]

Yes, using a DK is by far the recommended approach!

Using a DK you get:

• A built-in J-Link debugger & programmer;
• A known-good working platform, which is directly supported and well-known by Nordic;
• A whole host of ready-made examples & tutorials specifically for that board.

I would strongly suggest that you start on a Nordic DK, and use that to gain familiarity with the product and the tools.

Once you are familiar  with the product and the tools, then you can move on to the Sparkfun board - and/or other 3rd-party boards.

The J-Link on the Nordic DK can be used to program other Nordic devices, or you could buy a standalone J-Link, or some other compatible debug probe.

Alnos said:

I feel like the only way to get familiar with the nRF52 and get example codes is by buying the DK.. 

It's not the only way - but, IMO. it is by far the best way!

Note that I am not affiliated to Nordic, and don't get any commission for saying that. I would say the same for getting up to speed with any new microcontroller or electronic device.

PS

Yes, I have used the Sparkfun boards - they are fine.

eg:

with the Sparkfun board connected to the debugger of an nRF52-DK

[awneil]

awneil said:

I am not affiliated to Nordic

But here is a Nordic person saying, effectively, the same thing:

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/47156/use-nrf52-for-smartwatch-spi/186567#186567

[Alnos]

• Thank you for your answer! could the libraries and SDKs for the nRF52832 be used without having a nRF52 DK to program the breakout board? 

[awneil]

The means you use for loading the executable binary data into the chip has no connection to what libraries you use in your source code development!

You can use a standalone J-Link if you have one:

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/47164/can-t-flash-nrf52840-dongle-with-nrf-connect-programmer/186627#186627

Or a Keil uLink if you're using Keil

Or some other SWD adaptor if you put the effort into working it out.

Or a bootloader.