I've found it useful to have a bunch of 2.54mm headers laying around. They fit nicely into breadboards
Now I'd like to use a connector to connect to them. Something like this:
I'm not sure how to look for these in the catalogs.
I see these in mouser mouser part: 538-47054-1000 for $0.06 each.
Or these mouser part: 571-103688-7 for $0.50 each
My questions:
- how do I shop for these in the catalogs?
- how do I know if the crimp terminators (what's the proper term) are included?
- If they're not included, how do I spec those?
- How do I actually connect these to my wires?
Best Answer
tl;dr:
You can get the 36-pin female version of that header, like this one, and solder it to your perfboard/pcb (not recommended as a long term solution for wires, but it will be fine for breadboarded circuits) or you can do it with connectors like the ones you showed.
For the special connectors, you probably want to find a like you like (I like mini JST (aka XH)) and just stock an assortment of those for all your connections. You will need the 'crimp terminators' (usually called "crimp terminals") for that, as well as a crimper (which is often expensive, but cheap universal ones/ebay specials can be had).
Extended answer:
Of course, it all depends on what you want to do. For a PCB-PCB connection, the obvious answer is a female header like this one. It's the counterpart to the .1" header you showed above. They are ideal for connecting a PCB; see the Arduino shields for examples. However, compared to the connector in your second image, they are much weaker, which is OK for two PCBs (you can put some #4 standoffs between them it if you need strength, but there's usually little force acting on them sitting in an enclosure or on a workbench). Of course, you can always just solder some wires onto the female one. That's your cheapest, easiest option. A little heat shrink around the pins and your wires will go a long way towards stopping breakages.
However, if you want to plug cables into your breadboard or other project the right way, for long-term stuff from your projects, you're going to need/want something different. You'll want a connector that is polarized, that has a reasonable insertion force, and some lock or click that verifies the connection is often nice. The other big difference is that the cables you connect to it have to be able to flex. The real-world answer to this is crimped connectors (Like the one you showed) and stranded wire (unlike the solid stuff on your breadboard, so it doesn't break at the connection point).
For this, I like the mini-JST (for 2-10 wires) and AMP-Latch (for 26, 34, 60+ wires) series. The mini-JST series will fit a breadboard (don't miss that the .098" will also fit in your Digikey searches). They have vertical (pulls out of breadboard) and right angle (works great!) headers to go into the same female cable-side connectors. In addition, you'll need a pack of these crimp terminals: Photo. The flying leads on the right go around the insulation, you strip off 3/16" of insulation for the short ones to grab, and the header pin goes in the spring-loaded socket. They're not bulky, but still easy to handle, quite durable in my experience, have a great assortment, and ... require a $440 crimp tool.
You'll find the crimp tool issue to be a problem. If your school/work has one, you can borrow that and make a bunch of crimped sections one day to bring home, but otherwise you just have to look for what other hobbyists. Try ebay. Alternatives like this 'universal' one from Molex will work, but if you're going to be in this for a long time, you'll want to find one designed for the connector you're using.