GPIO to breadboard .1" wide to .3" wide header converter?

[pjc123]

I have a 26 pin female to female cable for my raspberry pi that I would like to attach to my breadboard. Connecting single jumpers is just getting way to messy. On the breadboard side a regular 26 pin male header will not work because each opposing pin would short out (P1 shorted to P2, P3 to P4, etc.). So it is necessary for the header to fit across the gap on the breadboard, much like an Integrated circuit does. The problem is that header is .1" spacing and the gap is .3" spacing.

I see that some have cut the connector off and soldered each wire to solder-able header pins. I guess another option is to try and bend each wire on the header so it spans the .3" gap. But neither method is very elegant.

What I would really like to get is a 26 pin male .1" wide spacing header to a 26 pin male .3" wide spacing header converter, that I could just plug my cable into one end and plug the other end into the breadboard. I have looked, but I can't seem to find such an animal. I would think that this is a very common problem with any device using headers such as an arduino, etc. Are there any other options?

[Lorian]

I'm using one of these to change my 2x14 way header in to 1x29 way SIL header to go to pins on a veroboard. Would work to breadboard too, just need downward facing pins to solder to it.

http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewt ... =59&t=9535

[pjc123]

I'm using one of these to change my 2x14 way header in to 1x29 way SIL header to go to pins on a veroboard. Would work to breadboard too, just need downward facing pins to solder to it.

http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewt ... =59&t=9535

Hum, that is certainly a do-able option. I have a couple of questions.

1.) Is the diameter of solder holes large enough to fit standard square header pins?

and

2.) Are the solder holes spaced .1" apart?

Thanks.

[exartemarte]

I was lucky enough to find a 20-way 0.6in transition header in my spares box (there are six unused pins on the 26-way gpio header anyway), but you don't seem to be able to get them any more.

A word of warning - ESR Electronics (in the UK) have 24-way 0.6in headers that look the part, but the pins are too short for a breadboard (I bought a couple with a view to doing a tutorial). They would be okay on pcb or Veroboard, though.

[exartemarte]

Postscript:

It occurs to me that you could plug one of ESR's 24-way headers into a 24-way IC socket, preferably one of the nice, turned pin ones - that would plug into the breadboard okay.

The headers are here(scroll down the page).

[exartemarte]

And then you could lay some hot glue inside the ic socket so it stays attached to the header. Maybe I'll do the tutorial after all!

[plugwash]

how about making a cable with THREE IDC connectors on it two of which are close together. Then plugging two of those IDC connectors onto single row header pins and the third onto the Pi.

[mahjongg]

just use the bandcable, split off separate wires, tin them, and you can push them into the breadboard sockets. Even better, for GPIO pins (not power and ground) solder them to a 100 Ohm resistor, and push the wire end of the other side of the resistor in the breadboard for built in protection of the GPIO's.

Other solution, take a pice of perfboard, solder in a 26 pin header on one side, and two 13 pin single pin strips on the other side separated wide enough so the single pin strips can be pushed in discrete connector strips of the breadboard. Solder header pins to appropriate single pin strip pins.

[pjc123]

I'm using one of these to change my 2x14 way header in to 1x29 way SIL header to go to pins on a veroboard. Would work to breadboard too, just need downward facing pins to solder to it.

http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewt ... =59&t=9535

Hum, that is certainly a do-able option. I have a couple of questions.

1.) Is the diameter of solder holes large enough to fit standard square header pins?

and

2.) Are the solder holes spaced .1" apart?

Thanks.

I answered my own questions after seeing the specs on the ebay site. It is set up to accept a 20 way single inline header at 0.1" pitch, so it would work.

[Grumpy Mike]

You can solder a IDC header directly onto 0.1" pitch veroboard. What you need to do is to cut a strip of the copper away between the holes using a sharp knife.
I did this in this project
http://www.thebox.myzen.co.uk/Raspberry/Breakout.html
and there is a video of me cutting it out near the start (so you don't have to watch it all )

[exartemarte]

I did this in this project
http://www.thebox.myzen.co.uk/Raspberry/Breakout.html

That's quite a neat arrangement - I think I'll build one of those.

[pjc123]

I see Adafruit has come out with exactly the type of connector I am looking for, but after the case I got from them broke after a week, I will pass. I might just build one as previously suggested. I am going to my storage shed today to pick up all my electronics tools, parts and "C" programming books (Because I need to brush up).

http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/02/adaf ... pins-to-w/

[clickykbd]

The adafruit breakout kit link:
http://www.adafruit.com/products/914

It got posted shortly before I was completing another order, added one. Will see.

[Ibanezjem]

In the past, I have made a few 20 way versions of something similar using Veroboard.
Now I'll have to make a new one!
I cut the board to size, to give me 4 holes per copper strip, then as wide as I need. In this case it will be 13 full strips.
Cut the strips as Grumpy Mike does, either with a sharp knike or a craft drill, (Dremel or Minicraft are options.) Be very careful, the last thing you want to do is make your finger leak red stuff!
With the board copper side up, on a flat, heatproof surface, solder a double pin header across the cut. I use something like http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/headers-p ... s/7457056/ cut down to size. You should be able to solder underneath the plastic with little difficulty.
Now use single pin header cut down to two 13 way pieces. Something like http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/headers-p ... s/7457074/.
To ensure correct alignment, I either place these in a 0.3" IC holder, or into breadboard.
Place the veroboard over the top and solder.
Use a cable prepared as Gert suggested in a previous post and you're done.
Links are for images only, I usually try to get the cheapest!

Stephen.

[TonyD]

In the past, I have made a few 20 way versions of something similar using Veroboard.
Now I'll have to make a new one!..

I've built the same for my RPi.

Using a small piece of stripboard/veroboard, 26-IDC Box Header, and 2x 13W Pin Headers. I pushed the pins of the 13W headers right the way through the plastic before I soldered them to the strip board. I'll post some pics later

[guidol]

How about using a Raspberry GPIO-Breakout pcb, which can be found on eBay?

[SN]

The adafruit breakout kit link:
http://www.adafruit.com/products/914

It got posted shortly before I was completing another order, added one. Will see.

I got a mail today inviting me to order the Adafruit Pi Plate - takes lots of header pins out to screw connectors
https://www.adafruit.com/products/801

[Ibanezjem]

I've built the same for my RPi.
Using a small piece of stripboard/veroboard, 26-IDC Box Header, and 2x 13W Pin Headers. I pushed the pins of the 13W headers right the way through the plastic before I soldered them to the strip board. I'll post some pics later

Which side is your copper strip on? I chose to have the strip side on the top from the breadboard, so there is a little strength when you try to remove the thing from the breadboard, rather than pull off the copper strip.

[TonyD]

The copper strip is on the bottom, closest to the breadboard.

[cpswan]

The adafruit breakout kit link:
http://www.adafruit.com/products/914

I've done a homebrew Pi Cobbler using a bunch a header pins and a small piece of stripboard. When combined with an old IDE cable (or a proper 26way if you prefer) it does a perfect job of taking GPIO from Pi to breadboard.

[rurwin]

For those who don't want pin headers, 0.1" screw terminals exist. RS sell them. You'll need a smaller than usual screwdriver but they are perfectly usable.

[TonyD]

Here's another homebrewed header I posted on Instructables a while back