Hi All,
I am a complete Noob when it comes to electronics so sorry for asking such a basic question. I have a model train set and want to connect some LED lamp posts to the MDF base board and then power them. In total I will have 10 lamp posts and the LEDs are 3V.
I have done some research and have decided on a plan. As I want to make it safe I am getting a case with a PCB in it. In there I am going to put a Micro USB interface breakout board that will output to the voltage I require (3.3V), which should mean I don't need any resistors. This will act as my 'PSU' if you like. I know I could use batteries but I would rather have it mains powered.
I understand the wiring I need to do to get them lit (I am going to use parallel as it seems the best option) but what I dont know is what option to use to connect the Power Supply to the LEDs.
I know I could obviously just solder the wires directly to the PCB but this wont work in practice, the wires are not long enough and I don't want the 'PSU' always connected to the Train Set. So what I would like is some sort of connector going form the 'PSU/PCB' to the Train Board, that I can plug in and out as needed. This should also make it a little safer.
So this is the bit I am stuck on, what do people suggest I use. As I don't want to do a lot of soldering or customer wire making (I dont have the tools) , I was thinking of putting a header on the PCB and a header on the MDF board and then using a pre-made wire/connector to join the two.
If I am correct (which I possibly may not be) then I would need 20 wires in total (10 positive and 10 negative). I cant really see any suitable 20 pin connectors so I was wondering if I could use 4 ICD10 Male pin headers (2 in PSU and 2 mounted on the MDF board) and then use 2 IDC10 Female to Female ribbon cables to connect it up. Would this be suitable or are Ribbon cables not sufficient for the job. Or am I looking at it in completely the wrong way and is there a much easier method?
As I said I am completely new to this so sorry for the ramble, I am sure it is very easy to do and I am probably making it more complicated than it needs to be.
Thanks in advance for all your help.
I am a complete Noob when it comes to electronics so sorry for asking such a basic question. I have a model train set and want to connect some LED lamp posts to the MDF base board and then power them. In total I will have 10 lamp posts and the LEDs are 3V.
I have done some research and have decided on a plan. As I want to make it safe I am getting a case with a PCB in it. In there I am going to put a Micro USB interface breakout board that will output to the voltage I require (3.3V), which should mean I don't need any resistors. This will act as my 'PSU' if you like. I know I could use batteries but I would rather have it mains powered.
I understand the wiring I need to do to get them lit (I am going to use parallel as it seems the best option) but what I dont know is what option to use to connect the Power Supply to the LEDs.
I know I could obviously just solder the wires directly to the PCB but this wont work in practice, the wires are not long enough and I don't want the 'PSU' always connected to the Train Set. So what I would like is some sort of connector going form the 'PSU/PCB' to the Train Board, that I can plug in and out as needed. This should also make it a little safer.
So this is the bit I am stuck on, what do people suggest I use. As I don't want to do a lot of soldering or customer wire making (I dont have the tools) , I was thinking of putting a header on the PCB and a header on the MDF board and then using a pre-made wire/connector to join the two.
If I am correct (which I possibly may not be) then I would need 20 wires in total (10 positive and 10 negative). I cant really see any suitable 20 pin connectors so I was wondering if I could use 4 ICD10 Male pin headers (2 in PSU and 2 mounted on the MDF board) and then use 2 IDC10 Female to Female ribbon cables to connect it up. Would this be suitable or are Ribbon cables not sufficient for the job. Or am I looking at it in completely the wrong way and is there a much easier method?
As I said I am completely new to this so sorry for the ramble, I am sure it is very easy to do and I am probably making it more complicated than it needs to be.
Thanks in advance for all your help.