Double sided male headers - ease your FTDI cable to breadboard connections woes!

When prototyping circuits I often use a breadboard and an FTDI cable which usually leaves some kind of hacky looking unstable connection using wires stuck into the FTDI cable female header connector. This arrangement often leads to failiure as the wires fall out. After much searching I’ve managed to locate a solution to allow neat connection of a female header to the breadboard.

See below for details: Surprisingly there seem to be only one or two retailers carry the part to solve this issue, a double sided male header:

The small downside to the part I used is that the pins are slightly too long and could damage the female connector if forced on. The part I used was Samtec TSW-150-16-G-S which comes as a row of 50 pins with ~8mm of pin above and below the plastic, with hindsight TSW-150-08-G-S with ~6mm above and below would probably have worked better if you’re planning to buy some. (I’m probably going to get some and then update). You buy them direct on Samtec’s website. WHile you’re there have a look around, there is an amazing array of potentially useful hard to find connectors.

Edit: I’ve now tested the shorter TSW-150-08-G-S and this is indeed the perfect length to fit into the breadboard and female header without damaging either.