Best place to buy headers in North America?

Other Hardware General Electronics
1

I bought my first Arduino. A Leonardo. Being cocky (and having been thought electronics a long time ago) I figured I would buy the headers-less version and simply buy headers myself and solder them on the board.

Boy was that a mistake! Finding the headers seems to be a huge pain!

I searched through DigiKey, Mouser, Future Electronics and Newark.

The best source so far has been Newark. There, I can find the following headers

Am I on the right track? Should I look elsewhere? For what part names should I be looking for?

The 12V DC header seems prohibitively expensive (and makes me regret deeply to not have bought the board with headers already soldered on.. stupid me.

Also, will the 8x1 header for the right digital pins be alright? I read numerous times that those pins were too close to the left Digital pins and the headers didn't fit. They needed to be bent. Do I simply bend the pins myself?

Thanks !

2

Headers worth having:

https://shop.ruggedcircuits.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=30&zenid=c72999a4e242cb5949fec79e179914bd

https://shop.ruggedcircuits.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=31&zenid=c72999a4e242cb5949fec79e179914bd

The odd spacing between those headers makes it hard to make your own boards because it's "off grid" (off the 0.1inch grid). If you're just putting headers onto an existing board then there's no concern. The pin spacing is still 0.1in.

Fair enough?

3

The usual Arduino type female headers with long pins are not something the major suppliers
like digikey, mouser carry. No one uses them, to my knowledge, except for Arduino. They
are available from places like sparkfun and adafruit.

4

I have been relatively unimpressed by the cheap headers out there, so those ones from Rugged Circuits might be worth a look.

I also happen to live in Grand Rapids, MI, the location of Rugged Circuits LLC, so the shipping ought to be really fast.

5

Thanks for your answers guys!

I checked at Sparkun. They have what they call a "Arduino Stackable Header Kit - R3" (Arduino Stackable Header Kit - R3 - PRT-11417 - SparkFun Electronics) which they sell for 1.50$US. I would lack the 6x2 ICSP header. Also, I don't need the long pins (Stackable). I guess I will have to cut them. (I don't see a "header kit" with short pins).

Problem is, it is backorder.

Adafruit sells the "Shield stacking headers for Arduino (R3 Compatible)" (Shield stacking headers for Arduino (R3 Compatible) : ID 85 : $1.95 : Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits) which is pretty much the same thing for 1.95$US and they have it in stock.

They both carry the DC connector.

I checked "Rugged Circuits" but I can't find 10 pins headers. They I missed something?

You are helping very much. Thanks again.

6

Try dipmicro.com
They have 6,8,10, and 20 pin headers.