I am relatively new to Arduino community and so far everybody has been very supportive.
I am planning to use a protoshield to power some LED strips. Now I know I have to have a DC Power Jack on the protoshield to supply 12V power to the LED strips, since using the DC Power Jack through the Arduino board would only yield 5V to LED strips (and that wouldnt work).
I was hoping to actually unsolder the DC Power Jack off of the Arduino Mega board and slap it on the protoshield to power the LED strips. Is that safe? Is that advisable? and will there be any problems or issues I should be aware of by doing so?
Well most would say to not hack your Arduino, but just get another jack. However you can power the Arduino and your proto-shield from one power jack. Just make sure the shield routes the +12vdc to the Arduino Vin connection pin, that will allow both the Arduino and your shield connected LEDs to share one power source. If the total current draw is less then 1 amp, then the power can come in from the Arduino's external power jack and into the shield via the Vin pin. IF the current requirement is greater then one amp then use a new power jack on the shield and route power to the Vin pin to power the Arduino.
i got my dc power components from arduinofun.com excellent shipping... if you'rer using on a breadboard get u a pcb from radioshack or whatever and solder on the connect then solder some male header pins so it can snap into your breadboard...