Cheap programmers for nRF51822 breakout boards

[Mad]

Hi guys,

I am having a breakout board made and would like to know what are the programmers out there which I can buy which will help me program the board. The J-Link is outside my budget. Is there anything else which can do the job for me?

[Ole Morten]

Yes, that should do, as long as your breakout board runs on ~3 V, or you make a level shifter between the J-Link Lite and your board.

BTW, I realized that a second option could be to get hold of the Evaluation Kit and a J-Link EDU, which according to a comment here is just $60: https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/index.php/can-i-use-my-nrf51822-ek-pc10001-to-debug-a-custom-pcb-board The J-Link EDU can most likely program other voltages without level shifters.

[Mad]

I just registered now so I dont think there is anyway for me to accept your answer, but thanks a lot

[Ole Morten]

I can fix that. ;-)

Good luck with your project!

[Mad]

Also, if I have a breakout board the only reason I need to purchase the Evaluation kit is for the soft device correct? Otherwise I can just use the J-Link programmer which you linked to ?

[Ole Morten]

Yes, you need the product key from either an Evaluation or a Development Kit to get access to the softdevice and SDK.