Could anyone tell me if the OnOff Shim is able to be used the same way that the PiFace Real Time Clock is used.
The PiFace looks very similar in the way it is used when compared with the OnOff Shim, it merely slides onto the GPIO pins and another module can then be attached on top of it.
http://www.piface.org.uk/products/piface_clock
I was hoping to use this shim with my Picade, and was undecided as to which forum would be best as didn’t want to cross post, I decided on this one hopefully this turns out to be the right choice.
Yes, it’s designed with this use in mind. The suffix “SHIM” stands for “Stuff Hardware In Middle” since it’s designed to go between the Pi and a regular HAT/pHAT. The header is supplied for people who don’t want to solder it directly to their Pi.
Oh I didn’t know what SHIM stood for, I think my question has been answered, but you mentioned the header is supplied for people who don’t want to solder it directly to their Pi.
Will it still work if I don’t use the header and also don’t solder it to my Pi, and just hold it in place with another device like the PiGlow or the PiCade board.
Your mileage may vary, but generally no. It wont work without solder or a header. The header pins are square, and the holes in the PCB are round, so it’s a literal square peg into a round hole. Without solder to form an electrical connection there just isn’t enough contact surface for it to be reliable.
Ah I see, I wasn’t aware of that, also for the piface clock, there is no mention that it needs to be soldered, but looking at the pictures it is identical, square peg into a round hole.
Would it be possible to solder a double header onto the on/off shim, like a female header on the bottom and a male header on the top of the on/off shim? If so do you even sell such a thing?
You could use one of these: https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/gpio-header-for-raspberrypi-a-b-pi-2-tall-2x20-female-header
It has two plastic spacers which can be removed to reveal the longer pins.
If you soldered an On/Off SHIM to that, it would be fit onto your Pi, and then be able to accommodate a HAT/PHAT on top.
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That’s a perfect solution thank you!