Newbie - HAT + GPIO?

[GeoffDraper]

Hi, I am new to Raspberry Pi. I'm planning to use the Sense HAT for a project, but also want to connect GPS and other sensors via GPIO. Can I still use the other GPIO pins - ie the ones the Sense Hat doesn't use?

[scotty101]

You can. Yes.

You do so at your own risk though as the HAT standard does not allow stacking.

[DirkS]

You do so at your own risk though as the HAT standard does not allow stacking.

That's for HAT on HAT stacking.
Using GPIOs that are not claimed by the HAT have nothing to do with that.

[GeoffDraper]

A belated thank you for your replies.

I understand I shouldn't stack hats - but I don't plan to do that - just to use the other GPIO pins. It's good to know that a HAT nominates which pins it uses.

Geoff

[alphanumeric]

I've stacked multiple "Hats" with no issues. Technically they all aren't official Hats as per the standard though. The issue as I understand it is the reading of the ID EEPROM. If you stack two hats that both have an ID EEPROM neither one gets read, they interfere with each other.
I have two Sense Hats setup as weather clocks. In between my Sense Hat and Pi A+ I have Proto Hats with stacking headers. On the Proto Hat I have a RTC breakout mounted and male headers for other i2c devices I have connected. My Proto Hat doesn't have an ID EEPROM, no need for one. One setup goes Pi A+ > Proto hat > Proto Hat > Sense Hat.
https://www.adafruit.com/product/2310
https://www.adafruit.com/product/2223