I'm very new to this field (don't have an electrical engineering background), and a little confused about how to get started. I have an MSP-FET430U28 with the MSP-FET430UIF debugger. I'm not exactly certain how to get started using this system, and have a few of questions.
The board came with a 12.5pf watch crystal separate rather than connected directly to the board. I can put this on easily, but I'm not certain if I have to have load capacitors to go with it or not. From my reading, it seems that the x2xx devices can be programmed to match the capacitance. If I use these, can I just solder the crystal directly and not have to do anything else? What if I want to use a x1xx device?
Does the board get power through the FET, or do I need to supply power externally? If external, where/how do I make the connection?
My board is a rev. 3.0. The User's manual references rev. 2.1, I think. The jumper and led locations are significantly different in the 3.0 board, and are labled differently. I would assume to start I need the jumpers connected to the JTAG (but not the BSL). I can identify the LED jumper easily enough, I think. Is there a specific configuration that these jumpers need to have to get started? Is there a process that has to be done to initialize the board, like in the EXP430F5438?
I'm hoping to configure this board so that I can use it parallel to a breadboard or two, so I'll put the female headers on and make wire connections from the pins to the components on the breadboard. Does anyone else do something like this, and do you have any advice for setting it up cleanly?
