A Framework For Making Affordable & Stylish Modular Controllers (USB to MIDI, HID, or Serial)

Step 9 Connecting It Together

Alright now that you have built the top panel and the PCB it is time to connect them together. 

First fasten your PCB to your bottom layer with some hardware. Note that I did not include the PCB mounting holes in my laser cutting files cause I knew I would want to specify the position of the PCB hereafter. 

Hopefully you were wise and purchased many sizes of crimp housing connectors. You need to connect you crimp wire ends into the crimp housings. There is a specific orientation that causes the crimp connection to 'click' into the housing. Once the wire is connected properly to the housing you will notice that you cannot pull it out - perfect. In the case you have made a mistake and need to remove the crimp connection from the housing just tilt the tiny plastic flap in the front backwards and gently remove.

Now it is important you plug all ground/power/reading connections into different housings. Note the orientation of the ground/power/reading header pins on the PCB. If you understood step 4 it should become obvious how the crimp housings are to be created and connected. Using zip-ties or tape to group wires for certain types of components is highly recommended (see image). 

Do not mix up the power/input/ground potentiometer connections when plugging them into your board. Since I did not color coat my wires very well I did this once. I plugged them incorrectly into my CD4067BE and smelled burning shortly after plugging in the Teensy++. I immediately unplugged the USB and luckily did not fry the chip - close call. 

If you have many components you may just want to hookup and test a few at a time.