Lucky Resistor
Menu
  • Home
  • Learn
    • Learn C++
    • Product Photography for Electronics
      • Required Equipment and Software
    • Soldering for Show
  • Projects
  • Libraries
  • Applications
  • Shop
  • About
    • About Me
    • Contact
    • Stay Informed
  •  
Menu

MicroMaTch Connector to Breadboard in 5 Minutes

Posted on 2021-03-222021-03-24 by Lucky Resistor

Ordering a board with perfect spaced pads to use an SMD connector takes a few days of patience unless you live near a PCB prototyping facility. With striped prototyping boards, you can stick a MircoMaTch or similar connector into your breadboard in under five minutes. πŸ˜‰

First cut a small piece from the prototype board. I use a paper knife, scratching groves using a ruler at the right locations and break the board using pliers.

It’s messy, but the board breaks more or less along the right locations.

Next we need to remove the middle section. The stripes must not be connected.

With the paper-knife, I first cut the stripes, then scape the copper from the board. It’s like cutting thin slices from smoked salmon (google instructions): You need a flexible knife, moving it flat under the copper layer. With four such cuts, the middle part is removed and copper free.

Now the tricky part: Because of the 0.1 inch spacing of the connector, you have to remove half of each stripe on each side. I use the hole as a starting point for two small cuts, then scraping the copper away. After this step, I use a loupe to check if all copper is removed and there are no shorts.

Before start soldering, clean all the copper dust from the mat and board.

Soldering is simple, carefully keep the holes near the connector open for the pin header.

Next, insert the pin header into a breadboard and put the prototype board with the connector on top.

After soldering the pins to the board, I check with a loupe if everything is connected, ideally with a line of solder.

I use a side cutter to remove any excess sections of the board to make the adapter as compact as possible.

Done! πŸŽ‰πŸ˜…

Now I can connect the device to the breadboard with style, but you may ask:

Why using a connector instead of single wires for testing?

If you build larger projects using multiple small dedicated boards you have to connect them. Soldering ribbon cables into place make only sense if you never plan to ever disassemble or repair a device. Adding connectors to the boards makes repair and testing easy.

In an extreme case, you can start building every module of your device using breadboards and use the final connectors connecting them. Now, you can start replacing module by module with soldered prototype boards or manufactured boards.

Because you have the connectors and ribbon cables, you can easily interchange modules just by reconnecting them. It is an easy way to switch between e.g. the breadboard version of a module and the final version to see if they behave correctly.

Conclusion

I hope this article gave you some inspiration, and motivation to use more connectors in your projects. πŸ˜„

If you have any questions, missed information, or simply want to provide feedback, feel free to comment below or contact me on Twitter. πŸ˜„

More Posts

Rail Grid Alternatives and More Interesting Updates

Rail Grid Alternatives and More Interesting Updates

I published another large update to the storage boxes project in the last two weeks. All buyers who subscribed to update emails already got a summary of the changes. If you read the email, you ...
Read More
Extreme Integers – Doom from Below

Extreme Integers – Doom from Below

As a beginner or immediate C++ programmer, you heard never mixing unsigned and signed integer types or avoiding unsigned integers at all. There was also this talk about undefined behaviour. Yet, in embedded software development, ...
Read More
Large Update to the Circle Pattern Generator

Large Update to the Circle Pattern Generator

Today I published a significant update to the circle pattern generator. Version 1.4.1 of the application is available for macOS and Windows for download. This new version adds various shapes, rotations, colours and a generator ...
Read More
Logic Gates Puzzle 101

Logic Gates Puzzle 101

The message you got does not make any sense. Can you decypher it with the following logic puzzle? The circuit was not optimised for functionality but to create a challenging puzzle and gorgeous artwork. If ...
Read More
The Importance of Wall Profiles in 3D Printing

The Importance of Wall Profiles in 3D Printing

In this post, I write about wall profiles in 3D printing, and I will explain why they are essential to creating stable parts with minimal filament use. Also, I will show common mistakes that result ...
Read More
Better Bridging with Slicer Guides

Better Bridging with Slicer Guides

I got questions about a particular feature you find if some of my 3D models. In this short text, I will explain why I add it and why you should add features like this too ...
Read More

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Stay Updated

Join me on Mastodon!

Top Posts & Pages

  • How and Why to use Namespaces
  • Storage Boxes System for 3D Print
  • Circle Pattern Generator
  • Use Enum with More Class!
  • Real Time Counter and Integer Overflow
  • Circle Pattern Generator
  • Logic Gates Puzzles
  • C++ Templates for Embedded Code
  • C++ Templates for Embedded Code (Part 2)
  • Logic Gates Puzzle 101

Latest Posts

  • The Importance of Wall Profiles in 3D Printing2023-02-12
  • The Hinges and its Secrets for Perfect PETG Print2023-02-07
  • Better Bridging with Slicer Guides2023-02-04
  • Stronger 3D Printed Parts with Vertical Perimeter Linking2023-02-02
  • Logic Gates Puzzle 1012023-02-02
  • Candlelight Emulation – Complexity with Layering2023-02-01
  • Three Ways to Integrate LED Light Into the Modular Lantern2023-01-29
  • The 3D Printed Modular Lantern2023-01-17

Categories

  • 3D Printing
  • Build
  • Common
  • Fail
  • Fun
  • Learn
  • Projects
  • Puzzle
  • Recommendations
  • Request for Comments
  • Review
  • Software
Copyright (c)2022 by Lucky Resistor. All rights reserved.
 

Loading Comments...