Bus Pirate Breadboard Connector

The title says it all: a simple connector to facilitate the use of a Bus Pirate with breadboards.

Why?

I really enjoy using my Bus Pirate to program AVR chips and debug prototypes. To shorten the iteration cycles, I started using SPI in-system programming set-ups with optional UART connections for debugging. Since all connections can remain unchanged between programming and testing, it made sense to create a connector that allowed hooking-up the Bus Pirate to the breadboard using a single cable.

I have tried using a commercially available 2x5 pin header connector. The one I bought connects well to the breadboard, but it comes off very easily. It works for connecting quickly, but not for the case where I have the connector installed semi-permanently.

How?

I started out with a prototype on perfboard. I used a shrouded header to avoid connecting the cable the wrong way. Since OSH Park offers cheap high quality PCBs, the next iteration will be using custom PCB.

BOM

• Perfboard or PCB (1x)
• 2x5 pin shrouded header (1x)
• 5 pin headers (2x)

References

• Bus Pirate
• OSH Park
• KiCad