Supplementary information

Issued: October 10, 2011.

The metallised semicircles at the edge of the PCB is a feature of the BOB-FT232R. This advanced technology allows the vertical SIL connectors (supplied with the module) to be soldered, as well as the module itself to be soldered directly in "piggyback" fashion onto a board of your own design. To assist you with the design of a suitable footprint, a library for Eagle CAD software (http://www.cadsoftusa.com/) is provided free of charge on this web page.

To facilitate the soldering of the vertical connectors customers are advised to use a piece of dense foam (like antistatic foam used to hold through-hole components) or a breadboard, or a carrier PCB (if correctly drilled).

The 3.3 V or 5 V I/O level voltage MUST be defined. This is done with a drop of solder tin on the relevant SMD jumper position on the board (JP1). Be careful not to solder all  pads together as that will damage the board.