# Mini Black HAT Hack3r - How to connect 2 HATs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Support\ **Created:** [May 9, 2016, 2:00am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/mini-black-hat-hack3r-how-to-connect-2-hats/2344 "2016-05-09T02:00:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![brentwomble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@brentwomble](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/brentwomble)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 2:00am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/mini-black-hat-hack3r-how-to-connect-2-hats/2344/1 "2016-05-09T02:00:00Z")
I bought a Piano HAT and a Drum HAT, as well as a Mini Black HAT Hack3r to connect them both to a Pi. Do I just mount both HATs on the landing area pins, then run the ribbon cable from the top pins to the Pi? Also, the top landing area is big enough for a pHAT, but not a HAT. Is there a good way to setup 2 HATs on the Mini, or should I just order the full size Black HAT Hack3r next time? -Brent ---
**Author:** ![gadgetoid](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/gadgetoid/32/13_2.png) [@gadgetoid](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/gadgetoid)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 8:00am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/mini-black-hat-hack3r-how-to-connect-2-hats/2344/2 "2016-05-10T08:00:55Z")
The Mini Black HAT Hack3r was designed for a pHAT and a HAT or two pHATs, so you’re right- there’s overlap and the Piano HAT/Drum HAT wont fit together. All mine have gone walkies, but I don’t believe the full-sized Black HAT Hack3r fits two HATs either. It was a productisation of something we used in-house for scoping and testing. You can use two mini black HAT hackers, and jump the relevant GPIO connections over from one to the other. ---
**Author:** ![RogueM](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/roguem/32/311_2.png) [@RogueM](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/RogueM)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 9:12am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/mini-black-hat-hack3r-how-to-connect-2-hats/2344/3 "2016-05-10T09:12:55Z")
You could use the larger version but the boards would still overlap slightly, though not a huge deal for those 2 specific HATs. You’d also have to fit a female header in the middle ‘lane’ though and use the ones either side to plug the HATs. Here’s a pic: ![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/pimoroni/original/2X/7/7d9c859ac16fea2ccd635bed23e56c47350c589a.jpeg) … whether that is worth investing in a ‘regular’ Black HAT for you, I don’t know, but I can vouch for the usefulness of this ‘BHAT’ (Black HAT Attached on Top), by far my favourite config for testing/debugging! ---
**Author:** ![pi\_dummy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/76d3ee/32.png) [@pi\_dummy](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/pi_dummy)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 3:52pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/mini-black-hat-hack3r-how-to-connect-2-hats/2344/4 "2016-05-11T15:52:40Z")
Old ribon cable might do the trick for connecting two HAT one Pi … with caveats: - You need to avoid cable select for master/slave, so the ribbon cable need to be without twist. - IDE connector are of the wrong gender for HAT, you can use long pin to do two gender changer - Ribbon cable is flexible, so you might want to attach them to a structure. Would Pimoroni distribute such ribbon cable? ---
**Author:** ![pi\_dummy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/76d3ee/32.png) [@pi\_dummy](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/pi_dummy)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/mini-black-hat-hack3r-how-to-connect-2-hats/2344/5 "2016-05-11T16:09:08Z")
Here is my gender changer solution for Pi 40 pin connector: [https://twitter.com/DavidGlaude/status/718575909729656832](https://twitter.com/DavidGlaude/status/718575909729656832) Here it was to correct a mistake… but it works with ribbon cable connector too. ---
**Author:** ![brentwomble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@brentwomble](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/brentwomble)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 12:53am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/mini-black-hat-hack3r-how-to-connect-2-hats/2344/6 "2016-05-13T00:53:30Z")
It doesn’t seem like there’s a great way to mount 2 HATs at once, which is too bad. I originally got the idea from the Drum HAT product description: “Works with Piano HAT - We made sure Drum HAT and Piano HAT could be used together on the same Pi. All you need is a little creative wiring or the help of a Black HAT Hack3r or two.” Anyway, I’ll just need to rethink this project. I might use the Piano/Drum HAT with a Unicorn or DAC pHAT. @RogueM, I really like your BHAT (Black HAT Attached on Top) solution, but I bought the fully assembled (soldered) Mini Black HAT. Regarding wiring, do I just mount both HATs on the landing area pins, then run the ribbon cable from the top pins to the Pi? I’m guessing this works as long as the 2 HATs/pHATs don’t use the same pins. -Brent ---
**Author:** ![sandyjmacdonald](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/sandyjmacdonald/32/393_2.png) [@sandyjmacdonald](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/sandyjmacdonald)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 8:39am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/mini-black-hat-hack3r-how-to-connect-2-hats/2344/7 "2016-05-13T08:39:32Z")
Another option is to use a couple of Mini Black HAT Hack3rs and just use jumper wires to connect the appropriate pins on the two MBHHs. This way you can have the two HATs sitting side by side. You could even run the wires underneath the MBHHs and mount them both on a piece of perspex if you wanted it to look really neat. ---
**Author:** ![RogueM](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/roguem/32/311_2.png) [@RogueM](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/RogueM)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 5:23pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/mini-black-hat-hack3r-how-to-connect-2-hats/2344/8 "2016-05-13T17:23:36Z")
[quote=“brentwomble, post:6, topic:2344”] Regarding wiring, do I just mount both HATs on the landing area pins, then run the ribbon cable from the top pins to the Pi? I’m guessing this works as long as the 2 HATs/pHATs don’t use the same pins.[/quote] sort off. I2c is special in that it uses the same 2 pins for bus communication but can address multiple devices as long as they don’t share the same address (which is what the product description tried to convey). [http://pinout.xyz](http://pinout.xyz) should be all you need to work out whether you can combine boards. pHAT DAC + Unicorn is kind of problematic (there are workarounds though) but either will work fine with Piano or Drum HAT (or both in fact). ---
**Author:** ![brentwomble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@brentwomble](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/brentwomble)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 8:18pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/mini-black-hat-hack3r-how-to-connect-2-hats/2344/9 "2016-05-14T20:18:16Z")
@RogueM That pinout reference is super useful! What’s the workaround for getting the pHAT DAC and pHAT Unicorn to work together? -Brent ---
**Author:** ![RogueM](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/roguem/32/311_2.png) [@RogueM](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/RogueM)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 11:58pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/mini-black-hat-hack3r-how-to-connect-2-hats/2344/10 "2016-05-14T23:58:36Z")
@sandyjmacdonald is the man to ask as I believe he’s done it? ---
**Author:** ![sandyjmacdonald](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/sandyjmacdonald/32/393_2.png) [@sandyjmacdonald](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/sandyjmacdonald)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 7:48am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/mini-black-hat-hack3r-how-to-connect-2-hats/2344/11 "2016-05-15T07:48:06Z")
Hi again Brent. I think I may just have answered it in [this](http://forums.pimoroni.com/t/unicorn-phat-incompatible-with-retropie/2345/10) thread? ---
**Author:** ![brentwomble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@brentwomble](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/brentwomble)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 3:52pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/mini-black-hat-hack3r-how-to-connect-2-hats/2344/12 "2016-05-15T15:52:35Z")
@sandyjmacdonald You did, thanks.