Anyone know where I can get mini JST connectors like this but with the female part at 90 deg so that the cable would come in from the side of the PCB instead of the top?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150658268760&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123
for through hole JST I’ve had good luck just bending the pins. I’ve used the 2pin variety at 90 degree for a bunch of stuff… not a lot of extra metal to solder to, but enough… I’ve since switched to surface mount for JST, as the available female connectors are much beefier. More plastic and a tighter connection seems to hold up better, especially when yanking wires in and out of these while prototyping. For some reason, the through hole ones don’t seem to be available in the “beefy” variety.
Hmmm… Surface mount would solve the problem quite nicely. Can you point me to your source?
2 pin variety here: [url]http://www.sparkfun.com/products/8612[/url] . Have not seen a 4 pin one, but then, I’ve never needed one. Cheaper at digikey, but harder to find the exact part!
They have a 3 pin model that would work. They also have the through hole version with the pins already bent as I was initially looking. They’re more than double the cost of the ones on eBay though…
The through hole variety at SF are pretty flimsy. They’re fine if you plug it in once and that’s it, but I found that once the plug/unplug count goes to double digits, they’re not so good. At first I thought I was mishandling them, but even when careful, I’ve had issues. Make sure you go with something that is made with an “official spec” (whatever that is), and is not a knockoff.
It goes without saying, SF makes a good profit marking up low cost items way more than most. We’re paying a premium for the convenience of having everything on one site. Heck, they sell plain old screws [italic]individually[/italic] for a quarter.