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Connectors for 20-pin headers

Home › Forums › Mayfly Data Logger › Connectors for 20-pin headers

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    • 2020-08-03 at 11:37 AM #14424
      Matt Barney
      Participant

        What sort of connector do folks use when connecting to pins from one of the Mayfly’s 20-pin headers? Being somewhat new to DIY electronics, I’m unaware of what’s available out there, and searching places like DigiKey can be a bit overwhelming. In general, I prefer using some sort of modular connectors (like Grove) when connecting sensors, etc., for easy and foolproof servicing in the field. Something with screw terminals could be a plus, but soldering is OK too.

        Thanks for any suggestions!
        Matt
        Trout Unlimited

      • 2020-08-12 at 11:11 AM #14468
        Matt Barney
        Participant

          Do people just use individual jumper wires to the Mayfly pins on these headers? Or is there a modular cable of some type that works with them?

        • 2020-08-13 at 7:50 PM #14472
          neilh20
          Participant

            Hi Matt,

            There is  a Mayfly prototyping board, which I should have used for one project, and forgot to 🙂

            I’ve prototyped with a basic 2×10 male to male header using wire wrap and soldering to the header. However I cut the 2×10 from a larger length I had, and it became unreliable pretty quickly.  For a cable maybe  0.05″ ribbon cable with IDC headers, which I think only come in female (I haven’t checked for male IDC), and then a double male to fit into the Mayfly socket and IDC female socket.

            Practically speaking, for an Electrical Conductivity that interfaces to the processors analog pins (J4), as basic as you can get I found the male headers unreliable.   I made a special PCB for it. I’m still documenting it going to share it at some point.

             

          • 2020-08-17 at 11:48 AM #14474
            Matt Barney
            Participant

              Thanks Neil.

              Initially I thought I could use screw terminals but soon realized that the male pins that protrude from them are not long enough to provide a secure plug-in to the 20-pin headers. Perhaps my best solution will be to solder screw terminals to a small perfboard or proto board, along with male headers which would plug into the 20-pin females on the Mayfly.

              Matt

            • 2020-08-17 at 12:37 PM #14475
              neilh20
              Participant

                There is a Mayfly Protoshield rev1 – but I can’t find if its for sale anywhere.

                I have one, and no plans for it right now so if you wanted it I could send it to you.

                The details are here, but no gerbers.  With gerbers it would be possible to order the base boards directly from oshpark.com

                https://github.com/EnviroDIY/EnviroDIY_Mayfly_Logger/tree/master/hardware/protoshield

                https://photos.app.goo.gl/ocKSN3AuoqvJJx1L8

                I have a base board defined in my PCB package, I could look at what it would take to generate a PCB  and then you could order it directly.

                This would be the simplest, small spacing  2.54mm/0.1″ using,

                https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/on-shore-technology-inc/OSTVN10A150/ED10567-ND/1588870

                but practically speaking, it could be any connectors that you define how they fit round the Mayfly 2×10 connector.

                I have a PCB that fits on the analog side – for Electrical Conductivity  Stream Disconnect for (which I’m hoping to to write up pretty soon ) so it would look something like this..

                https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/WSMDBFEB

                 

                 

                 

                 

              • 2020-08-17 at 12:55 PM #14476
                Matt Barney
                Participant

                  Oh, now I see the Mayfly protoshield: https://www.envirodiy.org/mayfly/hardware/accessories/. It happens to be out of stock at Amazon at the moment, but that’s OK, I don’t have an immediate need. It would work, but would also require adding/moving the Grove sockets to the protoshield if one still needed those.

                  I was implementing a TTL-based sensor using a software serial port, and initially it seemed like it would be easiest to connect to the Mayfly’s digital pins via the 20-pin header, but I realized that I could instead use one of the Grove ports and a Grove to screw terminal adapter, so that’s what I did. In the future, if I need access to additional/different Mayfly pins, I’ll either get a protoshield or make my own.

                  Thanks!

                  Matt

                • 2020-12-02 at 8:13 PM #14870
                  LittleManistee
                  Participant

                    I’ve got a lot of my prototype wires and headers at SparkFun and Adafruit.  They both have pages and pages of connectors for the final product.

                    I have been buying a couple of each of the Mayfly add-ons when I see them in stock so I have them when I need them.  I have two mayfly proto boards and will probably just need one.  Let me know if you get in a bind.

                    SparkFun has all kinds of headers since most of their products come minus headers.  The soldering was a little intimidating at first.  Once you learn to time the heat up of each connection (I just count) they come out pretty good.  I have a 10x loupe from my engineering days that I go over them with under a good light for quality control.  That has saved me a lot of head scratching.

                  • 2020-12-03 at 10:31 AM #14871
                    Matt Barney
                    Participant

                      Thanks. I have a couple of protoshields now, as well as some 2×10 male headers, so I’ve got options to work with!

                      Matt

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