Prototype soldering on platine with odd pin strip distance

Hi all,

I have a project designed, wired, developed and tested on a breadboard. Now I'd like to put the components (MCU and sensors) to a platine. I'm planning to use plug-in sockets to keep MCU and sensors swappable.

Unfortunately there is one component (SparkFun GPS-17285 GNSS sensor) with an odd distance from one pin strip to another (see picture below). Within one pin strip the distance is 2.54 mm, but distance to the other pin strip is N x 2.54 + 1/2 x 2.54.

On the breadboard it was not a problem, hanging left one pin strip over the edge of the breadboard. But on a platin I'd like to fixate things.

One solution could be to cut the lower pins off from plug-in socket and to fix the plug-in socket with glue on the platine. Not that nice, but should work, since I only need to connect the pins of one pin strip.

Are there any better solutions? Or even parts that I have missed yet (eg. 2-to-1 plug-in sockets)?

Does anybody know (or can imagine) why SparkFun designed the breakout this way?

Thank you.

How about opening up 2 adjacent holes on the strip board into a slot to allow for the odd spacing ?

They did it to annoy you just like the socket spacing on the Uno board :grinning:

Already thought of that and rejected for two reasons:

  1. stability issues of the whole platine
  2. impossible/instability to fixate the plug-in socket in this (probably big) holes

It will make very little difference to the stability or strength of the stripboard

The holes will be longer but not wider and when soldered will be very strong. You could keep the increase in hole length to a minimum by doing it to both sets of holes but this means more work

All of this depends, of course, on the tools that you have and your expertise in using them. I would have no hesitation in elongating the holes into slots

Drilling holes would be the easiest, but you could carefully bend the pins so that they will fit into the holes.
Custom made PC board would of course solve the problem, since spacing can be anything you desire at that point.

If you are going to drill holes between two existing holes then you might just as well join two adjacent holes to create a slot

Thank you for the hints.

Just cut off half of the pinstrip and solder it on top of the protoboard.
Leo..

Solder something like this on top of the board (not through-hole) and plug the sensor there.
Or you can cut a DIP socket in half and bend the pins.

Thank you, @rainyshadow !

Excellent idea!

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