Header Pins

We'll use standard sized header pins that came with the Adafruit Trinket. We only need about half of the header pin, so use a pair of flush cutters to cut them in half. Be sure to remove the header pins from the black piece of plastic.

Ring Complete

Double check the data is flowing in the correct direction, from DIN to DOUT. Also double check power and ground on the NeoPixel Stick is correctly soldered to the NeoPixel Rings. You can easily short out a whole stick or ring if they are incorrectly aligned.

Measure Wires for NeoPixel Ring

Now we need create a set of three wires for connecing the NeoPixel ring. Lay the ring over the RingBody housing. Then, grab a piece of wire and see how long it needs to be to reach the neopixrl ring to the middle of the part as shown in the picture. We'll need to measure and cut three wires, for power, ground and data.

Then, use wire strippers to remove a bit of insulation from the tips of each wire. Next, tin the tips of each wire with a bit of solder. This will make it easier to solder the wires to pads on the NeoPixels. This also prevents strands of wire from fraying. Then, solder the wire to the pads on the NeoPixel PCB. Make sure it's the NeoPixel with the first Data-In! Use third helping hands to hold the ring up while soldering the wires to the ring.

Thread NeoPixel Wires

With the wires now connected to the NeoPixel ring, we'll need to thread the wires through the opening in the NeoPixel housing. Pull the wires all the way through and fit the NeoPixel ring into the housing. The PCBs should have a loose fit. Next, we'll work out how to secure the NeoPixel PCBs to the housing. 

Tap mounts

NeoPixel sticks have two mounting holes on the PCBs. We can secure the NeoPixel sticks to the housing with machine screws. We'll need to create mounting holes on the housing.  Start by marking the mounting holes onto the housing using a marker.

Then, use a pro needle tool to poke holes through the markings. Heat up the tip of the pro needle tool to make it to make a poke. Don't make it too big! Small hole is fine for now.

Next, we'll use an M2 sized machine screw to tap threads onto the newly created holes. We'll need to do this for all four mounting holes.

With all four mounting holes created and tapped, we can then fasten the machine screws through the NeoPixel PCBs and secure them to the housing.

Flex PCB

The Trinket only has two available pins for power and ground. We'll need to connect several wires to these pins, so we'll "expand" them by adding new pins!

These Flexible PCBs are excellent for this. They're connected a lot like breadboards but they're thin and flexible. So we can use a pair of scissors to cut pieces.

We'll only need to cut two pieces of flex PCB. Each piece should have 1x3 pins. 

Tin Pins

Next, we'll need to attach the pieces of Flex PCB to the pins on the Adafruit Trinket. But first, we should tin the pins with a bit of solder. The best way to do this is to use a pair of tweezers to hold onto the flex PCB and then secure the tweezers to third helping hands. This way the flex PCB is secured without creating bite marks. Then, apply a bit of solder to each pin.

Attach to Trinket

With our pieces of Flex PCB now tinned, we can attach them to the power and ground pins on the Trinket. We recommend handling the flex PCBs with tweezers so you have better control over your placement (and so the heat from the solder doesn't burn your fingers).

Solder each Flex PCB piece to the BAT and GND pins on the Adfafruit Trinket.

Enable Switch on Lipo Backpack

To enable the power switch on the lipo backpack, we'll need to cut a trace. You can use a hobby knife to scratch off the trace as shown in the picture. It may take a minute or two of scoring to fully remove the copper trace.

Tin Pins and solder to Trinket

Next, tin all of the pins on the Lipo Backpack with a bit of solder. Now we can connect the three wires to the pins (5V, G and BAT) on the Lipo Backpack. Then, connect the three wires to the Adafruit Trinket. Connect the BAT wire from the Lipo Backpack to BAT on the Trinket. Then, connect GND to GND. The 5V wire from the Lipo Backpack connects to the USB pin on the Adafruit Trinket.

Wire Slide Switch

Next, we'll need to connect wires to the slide switch. We'll only need two of the three leads on the slide switch so go ahead and trim one of them off (either the far left or far right, but not the middle!). Secure the switch to third helping hands and apply a bit of solder to the remaining two leads. Now grab the two wires for the switch and connect them to the leads. Next, connect the two wires from the slide switch to the two available pins on the Lipo Backpack. 

Mount Components

With our connections made, we can now mount the components to the mounting clip. Place them onto the clip and orient them properly. Then, fasten M2 size machines into the mounting holes and secure them to the clip.

The switch doesn't have any mounting holes, so we'll snap it into the little cavity on the clip. Position the switch so the actuator is accessable. Insert and press the switch into the cavity to mount it in place. Our components are now mounted and secured to the clip!

Connect NeoPixels to Trinket

With the mounting clip attached to the housing, we can now connect the NeoPixel ring to the Adafruit Trinket.

Solder 5V from the NeoPixel ring to BAT on the Adafruit Trinket. Then connect ground to ground. Last but not least, connect the Data-In from the NeoPixel to pin #4 on the Adafruit Trinket.

Again, we recommend using tweezers to help maneuver the wires into each pin.

Install Tripod Thread Insert

Lastly, we can install the 3/8" to 1/4-20 thread insert into the NeoPixel housing. Insert the tripod thread into the spot with the protruding hole. You'll need to use a flat-head screw driver to fasten the thread insert into the housing. Fasten thread insert until it's flush with the surface of the housing.