3 ms·
Only usecase for female header pins on board like this is sticking bare wires into it, which is highly unreliable. If you want reliable connection, both female
by dfox 13y ago
Only usecase for female header pins on board like this is sticking bare wires into it, which is highly unreliable. If you want reliable connection, both female PCB mounted headers and male cable connectors are significantly more expensive than other way around.
If you want to read some analog sensor and it is at least somehow critical for you, you still have to use external ADC. There are some processors that have usable precision ADCs (MSP430AFExxx comes to mind), but they are not exactly SoCs capable of running Linux. Generally, ADCs on MCUs/SoCs are meant for non-critical applications, mostly concerned with user interface.
- tdicola 13y agoPrecisely, bread-boarding circuits with wires is why I prefer female connectors. Once you have something working and want to take it beyond a one-off prototype then you're going to want to build your own custom circuit board anyways, so I really don't see reliability being a huge issue for dev boards. And having an ADC on board for non-critical stuff is still super useful for many projects. For example reading a thermister or LM335 to check the temperature of a water bath in a DIY sous-vide setup would be a great application of a cheap ADC on a Linux-based dev board. You don't need a crazy 24-bit ADC with precision voltage references, etc. just to measure if water is 140 vs 150 degrees F. A simple 10-12 bit ADC is great for many uses.