First, check that you have all the parts! Look over the parts list here and shown on the left.
Since we released the R3 version we now include stacking headers! The PCB is slightly different to break out all of the Arduino pins, and the 2x3 ICSP header is now part of the stacking kit
Soldering with Stacking Headers
Stacking headers are included with the R3 Proto Shield. They let you stack another shield on top but are not as strong as the non-stacking headers. Also they are taller. If you aren't planning on stacking another Shield on top, we do recommend going with the plain headers as they're smaller and more durable.
Start by placing the shield in a holder as shown, you shouldn't see the large Adafruit logo (its on the bottom)
Then slide the 6, 8 and 10 pin headers into the outside rows of the shield as shown. You will likely have an extra two stacking parts, just put those aside for now.
Now carefully plug the unsoldered headers into a spare Arduino. Make sure all of the long pins plug into the sockets on the side of the Arduino. There will be a gap between the shield and Arduino and the Printed Circuit Board will be loose
Flip over the Arduino and place it flat on the table so that the PCB sits flat against the stacky headers and the stacky headers are flat against the table
Now from above, solder the two end pins a stacky header to the PCB. You don't have to do a great job soldering, just make sure it's tacked together.
Carefully remove the shield from the Arduino and insert into your vise with the ends of the stacking header pointing up
Now that you have aligned the stacky headers using an Arduino it's easy to finish the job
Solder the remaining header pins, including the two end pins just to make sure they are super solidly soldered :)
Installing plain headers
If you want to install the plain header rather than stacking headers, follow this part:
Next its time to make the male headers from the long strip. use diagonal cutters or pliers to clip off 4 parts, one 6-pin, two 8-pin, and one 10-pin
Place the pieces of header into the Arduino so the long pins are in the side sockets and the short pins stick up
Installing Extras
The Proto Shield comes with some extras like 2 buttons, 2 capacitors and a red/green LED set. These aren't essential but you may want to have them installed! Here's how you go about doing it!
Installing Capacitors
There's two spots for 0.1uF ceramic capacitors. These are nice little additions that help keep your 5V power-supply clean
Place the two ceramic capacitors in the spots shown. They are symmetric so you don't have to worry about putting them in backwards.
Bend the two little capacitor leads out so that you can flip over the PCB without the caps falling out
Installing Buttons
There's two optional buttons you can solder into your Proto Shield. One is connected to the Arduino reset pin so you can quickly reset your Arduino. One is not connected to any pin, you can solder a wire from it to any other Arduino pin
Snap the two buttons into the top corner of the PCB. They will snap into place and sit flat against the PCB. They are symmetric so you can insert them 'either way'
Next it's time to place the two 3mm LEDs. LEDs are directional, and if you put them in backwards they wont work.
LEDs have a positive lead and a negative lead. The positive lead is longer.
On the Proto Shield PCB, you'll see a circle indicating where the LED goes, and a small + sign. That's the indicator for which pad gets the longer leg of the LED
Next to the red LED you can bend one of the 1K ohm resistors over and insert it in the O- shaped silkscreen pads to the left
Resistors do not have a direction, so they can be installed either way.
Next insert the small green LED between the two buttons. Like the red LED, check for the tiny + symbol on the PCB, aand place the longer leg of the LED into this pad.
Then insert the other 1K resistor into the 0- marked spot right next to it
On the Proto Shield PCB, you'll see a circle indicating where the LED goes, and a small + sign. That's the indicator for which pad gets the longer leg of the LED
Bend out the leads of the LEDs and resistors so they sit flat againt the PCB
Flip over the PCB in your vise
SPI/ICSP Connector
If you need to stack with a board that uses hardware SPI, or maybe you want to reprogram your Arduino with an AVR programmer, you'll want access to the 2x3 pin SPI/ICSP connector.
5-Pin power rail connections
If you're using the proto shield with a tiny breadboard you may want to solder in the two 5-pin headers to the 5V and GND rails near the end of the Proto Shield, its pretty easy!
Place the two non-stacking 5-pin headers into the matching slots on the right hand side of the PCB. Use tape to keep them in place.
Or…if you have an extra length of regular pin header…you can insert that into the 5-pin socket headers (with 2 pins spanning the gap) to help align and hold these in place temporarily.
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