I'm fairly new at electronics, so I listen and read carefully as I can. I pay special attention to voltages for micro-controllers, since that's what makes my projects go *poof* 😳
A new forum member @voltage inquired if the Arduino Nano could be powered without USB cable, since it doesn't have a 5V input pin. I responded yes, I think so, since it has that VIN pin. (see link to other comment for details). You just connect it to 5 volts from wherever.
Here is proof, of a sort. The circuit is powered, the lights blink.
I normally plug it into a USB adapter, since I have a few of those lying around. I just soldered in the 2 screw terminal because I need the practice soldering with perfboard. But now I want to actually test if this would work. I'm willing to read the manual, watch the video, study the pinout diagram. But I feel best when I can actually try it myself and see if it really works.
Warnings:
* it worked for me, this time. I think it would work in all similar circumstances, long term. YMMV.
* The VIN = 5V because I used one of these handy little regulator thingies, which I saw in Bill's other video on power supplies. Be sure to set the little jumpers correctly, since it can supply 3.3 or 5V, or both at the same time.
* This uses the regulator, which itself connects to mains via, I think, 9V wall wart. (This is how I connect an Arduino Pro Mini, which does not have a USB connector). If I weren't using mains power, but a battery, I would still need a regulator of some kind, since the VIN needs to be 5V.
Cheers, John
In theory, theory and practice are the same.
In practice, they're different.
Thanks John for going the extra mile to verify that. I had been hunting down and reading schematics and pin-outs on the NANO and came to that conclusion that the VIN pin would work as a connection to power up the board. I too have some of those breadboard connectable voltage regulators and other tiny DC-DC convertors.
Thanks,
Voltage