Most common connectors that anyone would have.

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)

Some "real life" issues have been zapping my Propeller time as of late,
but I'm pleased to be able to have some time to work on projects again!

Question:

I'm putting together some "weekend" type projects for the blog which incorporate the use of a Propeller protoboard and some common controllers.

My plan is to have the project replace the various strange controller connectors with something much more standard that folks may have at home, or so common that a walmart (yes I said walmart) would have. In other words, VERY common.

At most it'll be a four-pin connection to the Propeller.

What types of quick and dirty connection systems have you used? My mind is reeling in what type of male/female connectors might be common to the typical junk drawer. Even brilliant rigs would be interesting.

Yes, I'm going back to my junkbox roots with this project.

Thanks
OBC

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)

Wow.. thread forked... Excuse you forum software! Please reply to this one.

Thanks mods!

John Abshier

I cannot think of anything that people that do not read this forum would have or available at Wal Mart. Readers of this forum have connectors in parts drawers, but there is probably no consensus. I would vote for a polarized connecor. I mostly use 0.1 inch male or female connectors (Digikey part no for female 3M9515-ND). But I bought a crimper to crimp pins and sockets. For polarized I use Molex KKs. Sparkfun has a breakout board for USB mini and micro. They also have breakout boards for ethernet and 6 wire phone cables.

John Abshier

Unknown

I would probably use phono wires or telephone wires unless you want to use ethernet or lan wire. Even they break.

You might want to check out Pro-Advantage to see if they have your connector:

http://www.proto-advantage.com/store/index.php

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

Even Wal★Mart probably has modular phone connectors. The females will either be in wall blocks with wires or just separate with wires.

-Phil

zappman

Instead of Walmart, why not use connectors that can be purchased at RadioShack?
Where I live, there are more RadioShack stores than Walmart stores.

They have;
D-Sub connectors
Interlocking connectors
Modular connectors
A/V connectors
DC power connectors
and other connectors.

But the most common connector is the good old DB-9

John R.

I'm with Zappman on the RadioShack thing. I like using the D-sum connectors, because the pins and female sockets also make nice ends for jumpers for use in a breadboard. Add a hunk of heat shrink and your "good to go". You just need to have an appropriate crimper.

If you insist on household stuff, modular phone jacks are nice, as you can get pre-made cables.

I'm not sure what you're after here, but I've found that using an inappropriate connector is probably one of the best ways to increase frustration, either from bad connections, or broken wires.

John R.

localroger

At Walmart your pickings are going to be very limited. Cable-wise you can get USB and audio stereo, and that's about it. But they won't have the jacks the cables plug into, and even Radio Shack won't have USB jacks. (L-COM *cough*)

If you think "Home Depot" instead of "Walmart" you're a little better off, because they will have phone and cable TV stuff including both wire terminations and receptacles. For 4 wires your choice is RJ11 modular phone hardware. There really isn't anything else. Just be sure you don't plug your prop into a real phone outlet that might blast it with 100 volts of AC ring voltagee, the prop might not like that.

TinkersALot

Respectfully, I have to admit, I don't understand the premise behind this question. To restate how I read the premise: the user has a propeller protoboard (presumably through parallax or some other distributor) but would have access to a walmart for parts? I don't get that.

Might I suggest this: reference connectors that parallax sells at its site (for convenience in case the builder buys their protoboards from parallax) but provide alternative sources for these (mouser, all electronics, jameco, digikey, etc) should the builder be savvy enough to shop other sources.

John R.

TinkersALot wrote: »

Respectfully, I have to admit, I don't understand the premise behind this question.

I believe the premise is along the lines of "OK, I got the proto/demo board, and I've played around some, now I want to do something neat, on the spur of the moment. I want to run out to my local WalMart [RadioShack] and grab some stuff and make LEDs from an old pair of shoes flash (or something like that).

John R.

TinkersALot

ah so....so I'll agree with the radio shack (at least until the stop stocking all that stuff). I wonder if outfits like gadget gangster could be persuaded into keeping the OBC "parts pack" ?

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)

Great suggestions gang!

Sorry, I'm being a little vague on my requirements, but the idea here is to accomplish amazing things with a Propeller using only items that are common to most households. (Love the Home Depot recommendation!)

I've had some time to process the last demonstration at UPENE in which robots are being built using simple parts which are around the house. I'm looking at a Cookbook update (last one was 2007!) which will incorporate more ideas like this. In other words what could a home user do with a simple USB protoboard, a cheap soldering gun and various items which are common either re-purposed, junk drawer, or easily obtained at common discount stores.

Frequent readers of this forum (myself included) have well stocked shops with connectors, wires, resistors, all forms of sockets, etc. Typical newbies won't have these resources. I'm keen to see what can be done with little at all. Paperclip challenge anyone?

I've got a contest I'm going to kick off which incorporates these ideas. Everyone got a "Dollar" type store around them?

OBC

Spiral_72

Oldbitcollector wrote: »

.........Everyone got a "Dollar" type store around them?

OBC

No, not "A" Dollar store.... about 50 of em'



I'd vote DB-9.... I use them pretty much by default, unless I need more pins, then I go DB-25. Both ends of either are at radio shack. Soldering required of course.

David B

I also like to use the DB-9 and DB-25 connectors. They are great.

There are cheaper and simpler single and double row parallel pin connectors, but I've had their pins fall out while trying to solder them, and have plugged them in backwards too many times, and have plugged them in offset by a pin or two, and have spent time trying to figure out the connector orientation when first wiring them, and had them wiggle loose when they were the sole support of a small device board.

The DB series of connectors have none of these issues.

localroger

I've read some books and articles of the type OBC mentions and it is kind of neat that people are trying to get kids interested in what you can do with junk around the house. That used to be a big, common thing in the 50's and 60's, when you could actually build the stuff in Popular Electronics with parts that were readily available or scavenged from tossed-out TV sets. Then stuff started getting less and less salvageable and hackable, and the 90's were a real desert, before you had internet vendors like digikey and sparkfun to fill what used to be Radio Shack's niche in the 1970's. In fact our current hosts at Parallax were one of the few rays of light in that era.

I have Tilden's intro book on BEAM robotics and of course the Robot Builder's Bonanza, which is now a bit out of date but still golden. Tilden's genius with BEAM is that the very goal of the hobby is designed to focus on cast-off stuff, so that being able to order a thousand bucks worth of parts doesn't put you at a huge advantage over someone who has to scrounge for tossed-out microwave ovens. It's a bit of an arbitrary focus and not of direct interest to me, but it's inspired some clever circuits and mechanical designs so I keep an eye peeled in the BEAMers' direction. Meanwhile, I just spent a thousand bucks of my boss's money ordering parts...