Is there a specific purpose for jumper wires like these where they have female pins at the ends? I'm assuming they are mainly useful when you want to chop a wire into something like a breadboard, but the wire is too thin or flimsy. If the wire is thick enough, I'm assuming a wire with the insulation cut off on both sides is equivalent, right? Seems like a common sense question, but I haven't really seen wires with female pins attached on both sides before.. 🙂
Electronic – Are jumper wires just wires with insulation cut off on both ends
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Both choices seem acceptable.
I'd tend towards the RJ11 solution and use 6P6C for flexibility unless you were absolutely certain no extra facilities would be needed subsequently.
Both systems run the risk of other equipment being plugged in by careless users in an uncontrolled environment.
Cannon a.k.a. XLR connector (see below) is a superb solution if you need the robustness.
Stereo audio cable has the advantage of shielded balanced pairs being available if desired. While I'd expect a 10 metre cable length to be no problem in a benign environment, the shielding is a bonus in severe environments. Balanced pair is less of an issue as you will be using an unbalanced against ground data circuit. Reasonable cost. Cables are available that stand up well to use as a flexible lead. 4 pole versions are available. Connectors tend to short momentarily on insertion and removal - not usually an issue but worth noting. Some risk of connector damage from ham fisted users.
"RJ11" 6P4C or 6P6C cable and connectors has the advantages of low cost, good availability, balanced pairs, additional pair for "something else that turned out to be handy" if 6P6C is used. (Even 6P4C gives an extra wire (unbalanced against ground) for "other use". Cable is designed for use as a flexible cord within reason so is damage resistant. Current carrying capability is reasonable (not a major issue here). Shielding not usually provided. Locking tab connectors. Cheap versions prone to lock tab damage but otherwise resistant to user abuse. Versions can be had which allow pullout without damage - cheaper versions tend to break locking tabs off if abused. Not so good for inline connections usually (but parts are available if this is required).
Other:
Nothing stands out except perhaps Cannon microphone connectors.
"Cannon" a.k.a. XLR*: Possibly the most professional solution at a reasonable price if robustness matters. 3 pin and ground and higher pin count versions. Larger connectors than RJ11 or 3.5mm. Connectors available from cheap plastic with modest robustness to reasonably priced near bulletproof full-metal-jacket versions. Latchable. Can use variations on shielded or unshielded cable
6.5mm microphone connectors. Very available. Good prices. Larger connectors. Various number of poles. More user damage resistant than 3.5mm. (The photo below actually shows adaptors but the plug barrels are the same.)
Video cable with DB15 connectors. Thicker, more expensive. Available premade in various lengths to beyond 10m. Some shielded pairs or whole cable may be shielded. Quality connector. Larger connectors. Not usually good for inline connection.
Mini-DIN and similar: Small. Dearer. Damage prone. More connections but no real advantage.
Std DIN. Larger. Less damage prone. More connections but no real advantage.
Cannon / XLR:
"The XLR connector was invented by James H. Cannon, founder of Cannon Electric in Los Angeles, California (now part of ITT Corporation), and for this reason it is sometimes colloquially known as a cannon plug or cannon connector.
Originally manufactured as the Cannon X series, subsequent versions added a latch (Cannon XL) and then surrounded the female contacts with a resilient polychloroprene, which resulted in the part number prefix XLR
I disagree with Chris in that you don't just want to shorten the cable. It's not the length of cable I'm worried about, but that tiny connector you don't want to replicate. The connector and the wires immediately coming out of it look to be intact. Replacing that will be a major pain in the butt, so I'd go to reasonable length to preserve that piece.
Since that piece is now short, you'll have to make a splice. Just realize up front you're not going to make a splice in such small cable that is anything like the size of the cable. The splice will be big, fat, and ugly in comparison. It looks like it can be made to serve as the strain relief too, so that helps a little.
To splice such tiny wires, see if you can sortof stick the stranded ends into each other. That may take some persuasion under a magnifying light, and then some weighty objects on your bench to hold them in place while you solder. This won't be easy, but it should be doable. If that just isn't practical, give up and bend each wire into a U and hook the two U ends together, flatten them together with a needlenose, then solder.
Once you have the connections made, wrap each one individually in a small piece of electrical tape, then wrap the whole bundle in electrical tape so that is looks like one fat section of cable. Like I said, big, fat, and ugly, but it should work. All that tape will act like a strain relief, so that section shouldn't break again.
Best Answer
If you are connecting to actual female pins, it does help to have the right sized male pin crimped onto your jumper wires. But if you're just using them on a breadboard, bare wire ends are fine. Just make sure to cut the wire with diagonal cutters, not scissor-type cutters, so that you get a nice pointy end. The shearing action of scissor type cutters can sometimes roll the wire end enough to make it snag in the breadboard.