Connect Blinkt! LED Strip and GPIO breakout cable?

Hello, everyone -

I am a newbie to this forum and am planning to build a simple signalling device using the Blinkt! 8-element LED display strip and a series of momentary rocker switches. Both the Blinkt! and GPIO breakout cable need to plug into the GPIO connector with the Blinkt! on top of the connection stack for viewing.

There’s got to a simple way to do this so I can communicate with the Blinkt! for display and the GPIO breadboard breakout cable for the switch inputs without damaging anything, but I can’t find a simple solution.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Angus

Does your GPIO breakout cable go to a breakout board that plugs into a solderless breadboard?
If yes for testing you could use male to male jumpers to connect the Blinkt to the correct pins on the breakout. The pinout is here, https://pinout.xyz/pinout/blinkt# its only 4 wires
For a more permanent solution you could stack the Blinkt on top of Proto Zero or Proto Hat
https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/protozero
https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/adafruit-perma-proto-hat-for-pi-mini-kit?variant=1038451613
Just use an 11mm stacking header instead of the one that comes with it.
https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/2x20-pin-gpio-header-for-raspberry-pi-2-b-a?variant=1132812269
Then wire your switches to the Proto board.

Alphanumeric -

Many thanks for your prompt and detailed reply. This is my first project with a soon-to-be-purchased Raspberry PI 3B+. This looks to be the exact solution I was seeking.

This is a very positive experience for my first-time appearance on this forum.

Many thanks,
Angus

1 Like

Thankyou very much, glad to have helped. My Pi build pictures are here,
https://1drv.ms/f/s!AjOYwiwlwDtpgUMsp2qnevKpGEHb
The weather clocks, pirate radio and rovers use proto pHats and proto Hats to connect all kinds of external bits. Real Time clocks and all manner of i2c devices.
I like to use 90 degree male headers on the proto boards then connect female to female jumper wires from there to a male header on whatever I’m connecting. makes for easy disassemble when trouble shooting or upgrading things.

Alphanumeric -

Many thanks for the additional information in your reply. I am continuing to research how to implement my project across several networked Raspberry Pi 3B+ machines.

Thanks again,
Angus