"Where in God's name does Ardunio hide the sketches?"
The compilations (including the hex file) are in
C:\[user]\AppData\Local\Temp\
It is usually in a sub-directory with a long list of numbers. That is an
encoded version of the date and compilation number and starts with "build".
Things have changed a bit with recent versions, but most compilations can
still be made with a "sketch" directory put where you want it. Make a sub-directory
named after your sketch and put the .ino file and other .cpp and .h files in there.
Also under the sketch directory, include a sub-directory named lib or libraries and
put found libraries in there. (You can also include them in the main Arduino library
directory using a zip import, but they are wiped out with each new version.
Incidentally, running the Arduino IDE in "verbose" mode (see preferences)
will give you locations of files in the window under the .ino window,
as well as error messages if any.
john
AD5YE
