Pin-throughs with TFT on Uno?

Hi Andrew,

Shields are for solving various problems, but as you've observed, can cause problems when you want to use multiple shields simultaneously. There are some shields that allow stacking, so that may be an option (not always possible).

Another way to solve the physical issue of attaching more than two connections together, is to assemble some cables to attach to the shields (i.e. do not plug them on the Arduino directly).

Here's one example in the photo below (this is not using an Arduino, but it's the same principle). The photo below shows an Arduino-like board (black, bottom-left) but other boards are not plugged on top. Instead, cables are used to connect to the green boards in the photo.

To make the cables, you need thin wire (e.g. 10/0.1 wire), 0.1" header pin crimp sockets0.1" header pin crimp sockets, and a crimping toolcrimping tool. Plastic shellsPlastic shells are also available.

You'll still need to make sure there are no clashes. If you run out of useful Arduino Uno pins then you may need a different Arduino, or consider different ways (e.g. using a port expander chip (google will provide more information on this, and your code will need to change if you use it).

Here is a closeup of what the tool does (this is not the same crimp socket as the one linked above, but similar). The photo shows two wires into the same crimp socket (stripped cat-5 cable!).

Hi Andrew,

Shields are for solving various problems, but as you've observed, can cause problems when you want to use multiple shields simultaneously. There are some shields that allow stacking, so that may be an option (not always possible).

Another way to solve the physical issue of attaching more than two connections together, is to assemble some cables to attach to the shields (i.e. do not plug them on the Arduino directly).

Here's one example in the photo below (this is not using an Arduino, but it's the same principle). The photo below shows an Arduino-like board (black, bottom-left) but other boards are not plugged on top. Instead, cables are used to connect to the green boards in the photo.

To make the cables, you need thin wire (e.g. 10/0.1 wire), 0.1" header pin crimp sockets0.1" header pin crimp sockets, and a crimping toolcrimping tool. Plastic shellsPlastic shells are also available.

You'll still need to make sure there are no clashes. If you run out of useful Arduino Uno pins then you may need a different Arduino, or consider different ways (e.g. using a port expander chip (google will provide more information on this, and your code will need to change if you use it).

Here is a closeup of what the tool does (this is not the same crimp socket as the one linked above, but similar). The photo shows two wires into the same crimp socket (stripped cat-5 cable!).

Connecting via wires to the screen/shield instead of plugging in directly!?!  That is just way too obvious and simple, no wonder I didn't think of it .  Would dupont-type wires work do you know - I have enough of those to hand already to save making more up.

I actually don't have more than one shield: just the UNO to connect to a touchscreen TFT for UI/control and then analog and digital pins to ADC and DAC on a separate PCB. 

Thanks for your help.

Hi Andrew,

If you've got ready-made dupont wires, that would work. Optionally, if you wanted to, you could buy the type of plastic shells linked earlier, and they have a tab, so you can remove the single plastic shells on your dupont wires, and insert into (say) a 8-way or 10-way shell. It's not essential, but handy sometimes. The crimp tool is cheap ($36USD/£20GBP+VAT), so longer term you might want to buy that anyway, to roll your own custom-length cables.

Agreed - and I probably want to keep those wires as short as possible.