How can I breadboard device with double headers?

[ags0000]

I'm wondering if the experts here have any "tricks" on how to use modules with double headers in breadboarding. For instance, I'm using the WIZnet WIZ812MJ Ethernet module and it has two headers, each 2x10 pins @ 0.1" spacing. Of course, inserting that into a breadboard will short the parallel pins in each double header.

I'm still in the prototype/design phase, and don't want to commit to a particular board design - thus I'm still in "breadboard phase". I've been limping along by just using jumper wires from the module to the breadboard. This leaves the module hanging in mid-air - not very robust, even for a prototype. Now I'm changing the design and will be using 18 signals from the module and that will be even more of a rat's nest.

Are there ways that folks have dealt with this without resorting to fabricating (from scratch) a carrier board splitting the double headers into single? I'd rather avoid etching a board just for this purpose, just for a temporary prototype phase. (I've not home-etched a board before, adding to the challenge). I'm hoping* that there are "standard" boards/parts that can be used precisely for this purpose.

Thanks for any ideas that might be shared.

* "hope" : not a valid engineering strategy.

[tstraub]

Im far from an expert but I once had a need to connect a 2x3 pin header from a TV remote to a breadboard to allow me to re-flash the EEPROM with custom codes. I devised a cable by hacking up an old ATA hard drive cable and soldering jumpers to the end of the ribbon cable. I suppose you could make a similar cable for 2x10 headers.9879

[ags0000]

Im far from an expert but I once had a need to connect a 2x3 pin header from a TV remote to a breadboard to allow me to re-flash the EEPROM with custom codes. I devised a cable by hacking up an old ATA hard drive cable and soldering jumpers to the end of the ribbon cable. I suppose you could make a similar cable for 2x10 headers.9879

That's a good idea. I wonder, is there a "standard" cable available that would have a 2x10 (or > 10) 0.1" female connector on one end an a 1x20 (or > 20) male header on the other? If not the male header, That I could just solder on myself.

I'm surprised, but even the local Fry's doesn't seem to carry any 2x<anything> female connectors, or even single female (box) headers. I must be looking in the wrong place (in the B&M store).

Thanks for the suggestion. Any other ideas?

[budude]

Another alternative - not as cheap as the IDE cable idea is to make your own custom cable using pre-made M-F wires with the appropriate headers from pololu.com. I've used these for a bunch of projects. I get the rainbow pack of wires so I can color code signal wires.

For example: http://www.pololu.com/catalog/category/73 then get whichever housing you need at either end...

[DynamoBen]

Are there ways that folks have dealt with this without resorting to fabricating (from scratch) a carrier board splitting the double headers into single? I'd rather avoid etching a board just for this purpose, just for a temporary prototype phase.


You don't have to etch anything, buy a PCB from radio shack and point to point your wiring from the dual headers to a single. See attached pic.

[Aurbo99]

http://www.opencircuits.com/Solderless_protoboard

http://hackaday.com/2010/05/07/5x2-patch-board/ <-- I used this method along with an altered version where I have a single row of headers soldered out the bottom of where the pin sockets are located. The altered version plugs right into the breadboard, the original is mounted to the breadboard base as shown in the pics.

http://www.zovirl.com/tags/avr/ Check the bottom of this link. its a similar method to what I described above.

[IdunBenhad]

Hi:
Another trick would be to cut off the row of pins you won't be using. That leaves you with one good row and a row of cut-off pins.

[ags0000]

Thanks, some really good ideas here. The Radio Shack etchless carrier looks pretty good in that I can still insert the module in the solderless breadboard, keeping it intact and from moving around causing shorts. I have 3 Fry's and dozens of Radio Shack stores nearby, but can't seem to find any local source for single-row boxed headers...

[ags0000]

Just back from another pointless trip to Fry's and Radio Shack. I just cannot find any of the female headers locally. I thought they were referred to as "boxed headers", but apparently that describes a socket that has male pins surrounded by a single outside "box" - not individual female sockets that will accept a male header (single- or double-row).

I'm trying to implement the idea DynamoBen suggested above, pictured in "carrier.jpg". I did see some proto items at Fry's called "surfboards" that allow you to solder a QFP (for example) and then break out the individual lines - but that's not going to help me. I just liked the name...

If I can't find a local supplier, I'll have to order online. I can't find what I'm looking for online because I don't know what to search for. I've tried header, header pins, female header, socket header...

Please help me stumble out of the darkness.

[ErnieHorning]

Just a quick search but are these what you're looking for. I use hundreds of these.
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?vendor=0&keywords=sam1088
http://www.mouser.com/Search/Refine.aspx?Keyword=6-534206

[DynamoBen]

Here is the digikey part for the connector. http://bit.ly/f7LcwG

These are normally called headers or sockets. This one happens to be a 20 pin, 0.100" dual row, female connector.

[ags0000]

Thanks for the replies. I can't ask for more than specific part numbers. It appears the magic phrase is "board-board" or "board-to-board" connector.

Yikes, at about $3.00 each, these are more costly than active parts! Anyone have surplus to ship via USPS in small quantities (and small profit)? :)

I've said it before: I knew years ago I was in the wrong business when packages & connectors were selling for more than semiconductors...

[DynamoBen]

Anyone have surplus to ship via USPS in small quantities (and small profit)? :)

Digikey can ship via USPS, usually only a couple of dollars for something like this. (this is one of the reasons I use digikey)

[ErnieHorning]

I always buy the longest connectors and cut them. When I just need one or two, I'll use a Hacksaw (you only need the blade). When I have a lot, I'll put them in a small vise and run them through a band saw or a Dremel.

[ErnieHorning]

Five bucks... I show two buck for shipping.
http://cgi.ebay.com/11-AMP-534206-5-BOARD-BOARD-MEZZANINE-CONNECTORS-/320667517751?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aa9460337

[ags0000]

Five bucks... I show two buck for shipping.
http://cgi.ebay.com/11-AMP-534206-5-BOARD-BOARD-MEZZANINE-CONNECTORS-/320667517751?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aa9460337

Thanks for the replies. This particular eBay item is 2x5 pins, 0.1" pitch. I need 2x10, 0.1" pitch - but the key was knowing what they are called. "Board to Board" or "Mezzanine" connectors.

I'm still very surprised that what I expected to be a ubiquitous item is so difficult to find (locally). I searched eBay (now that I know what to search for) and didn't find any 2x10 - so it looks like I'll order from DigiKey.

It was near impossible to find what I wanted searching online on my own. Without the correct name, and knowing only the rows/pins/pitch specification and what they look like, my searches turned up 10's of thousands of results. It would have been lucky if a picture of what I was looking for had turned up in the first 100 or so of the results, but it never did. It's easy to feel foolish not being able to figure this out without so much effort. I hope if anyone else is in the same position I was they will find this thread and save him/herself the embarrassment.

[P. Short]

That's why I found the print catalog from mouser to be useful. It's much easier to browse than the on-line version.

[ErnieHorning]

Thanks for the replies. This particular eBay item is 2x5 pins, 0.1" pitch. I need 2x10, 0.1" pitch.
You can stack these side by side. It seemed the total price would be about the same and you'd get a few more connectors that you might be able to use for other projects.

It's a common practice in manufacturing to stack these. If you had a board that needed a 2x5, 2x10 and a 2x20, it's likely that it would be cheaper to only stock a 2x5 and get a quantity discount.

I still keep a 2009 Digy-Key catalog because if I know what it looks like I can sometimes find it faster by looking at the pictures than figuring out the right search words. That's how I looked up the link above.

[ags0000]

You can stack these side by side. It seemed the total price would be about the same and you'd get a few more connectors that you might be able to use for other projects.

It's a common practice in manufacturing to stack these. If you had a board that needed a 2x5, 2x10 and a 2x20, it's likely that it would be cheaper to only stock a 2x5 and get a quantity discount.

I still keep a 2009 Digy-Key catalog because if I know what it looks like I can sometimes find it faster by looking at the pictures than figuring out the right search words. That's how I looked up the link above.

That is good to know. It didn't occur to me that there would be clearance to put these side-by-side without "skipping" a pin pitch in between. That is a very flexible solution.

Thanks for the reply.