Depending on your goal or use-case, the dongle may be soldered in some different ways.
In all descriptions below, the topside is the side with the opto-coupler and the bottom side is the side with all the small SMD-components.
Cutting pin-strips and headers
You may need to cut the pin-strips and headers to correct lengths.
Use a wire strippers or pliers to cut them to the lengths you want.
NOTE! When you cut the female header you must be aware of that you need to waste one position where you make the cut. If you want a header with 5 positions, you need to make the cut on position 6.
The provided female header is meant to give three headers, one with 5 positions and two with 3 positions each. As you need to make 2 cuts, you also need to waste 2 positions. Therefore the provided header has 5+3+3+2 = 13 positions.
Use it as a MIDI add-on for manikk modules
If you want to build the regular manikk MIDI add-on, you need to solder it like the pre-built version. See the picture before you solder each step below.
The microprocessor pins (5V, GND, RX, GND, TX) : 5 position female header pointing down and soldered on the top side.
SJ1: Solder a short between the middle pad and the pad nearest the C1 symbol. This selects output A to be an additional MIDI THRU output.
Solder a male 2×3 pin angled pin-strip to the IN and output A holes. Mount it on the top side, pointing backwards (not over the SJ1 pads). Do not mount it too tight to the pcb. It must be easy to attach headers or dupont-cables here later.
Mount the second male 2×3 pin angled pin-strip on the bottom side, pointing forward in the holes for outputs C and D. The opposite direction from the first 2×3 pin-strip. You must solder this from the bottom side. The same side that you have mounted it from. This can be a bit tricky and you need to have a narrow and pointy tip on your soldering station. Same here, do not mount it too tight against the pcb to make room for attaching things later.
As you can see we have skipped the output B. It cant be used because it is not possible to solder any pins there.
The placement of the angled pin-strips makes it possible to have headers and dupont-cables attached when the module is mounted in the case. And it takes less space backwards, than having the straight pin-strips.
Free mounting
You may have other use cases and want to solder the pins in your own way.
You can cut the pins and headers and solder them as you wish.
For example you can use the straight male pins and mount them for all places pointing up. Solder them on the bottom side.
You still need to solder SJ1 to select what output A should be:
| MIDI output from the microcontroller | Solder a short between the middle pad and the pad nearest the version label. |
| A fourth MIDI thru for the MIDI in | Solder a short between the middle pad and the pad nearest the C1 symbol. |
Creating a MIDI cable
See here how to solder the MIDI cable.