Hey, you! Need a basic breakout board for a weird component you want to try in your Arduino project? Can you handle basic through-hole soldering, but wouldn't know where to get started designing your own breakout circuit board? Download one of my simple breakout boards, get it made and sent to yourself for a few bucks, and continue on with your project!

THE FILES

So far this collection includes:

- A PS/2 socket breakout - add the ability to interface and communicate with a PS/2 keyboard or mouse!
- Breakout for the Adafruit ADA504 5-way navigation switch (4 directions + centre press-switch)

WHAT TO DO WITH THEM

All you need to do is:
1. Download the .zip file for the breakout you want (it contains several files that define the board, its layout and text etc)
2. Upload that file to somewhere that makes PCBs - some options are AISLER in Europe, OSHPark in the US and JLCPCB in China
3. Basically click next with all default options until they ask for a mailing address and some money
4. They'll manufacture a few (3-5) copies of that breakout board and post them to you
5. Order the matching parts to solder to the board (from eBay, AliExpress, or your local electronics supply place if they have the part you want)
6. Once everything arrives, solder your part(s) to your board, and continue developing your project!

THE FINE PRINT
                                                    
Every breakout board in this repository was designed by me and used in some project or other of my own. Each file is available for download under a "CC-BY" license; use them in your projects, modify them for your own use, get them made for other people, do whatever you like with them - just credit me for their use in your project by linking to this page to make it easier for others to find them and use them as well!

While each design here has been (at some point) made into an actual board and used in one of my personal hobby projects, and thus should generally work, I make no guarantee about them working in your project or particular use case. Feel free to get in touch (gmail dot com, timixretroplays at) if you're not totally sure.

If you've come here hoping to find a board, but I haven't made/uploaded one for the particular part you're interested in using, also get in touch - chances are I might be able to whip one up for you. As long as I can find a "footprint" for it that's compatible with Fritzing (or it's simple enough to reproduce using dimensions and normal through-holes and so on), I'll give it a go. There's no cost to doing this, except that I have to fit it into whatever my schedule is at the time, and the result will be shared for free in this repository.

WHY NOT JUST LEARN PCB DESIGN? IT'S NOT THAT HARD!

One word: Time. If I'd had a resource like this, with simple breakout boards I could download and have made for my own projects, I'd be years ahead of where I am in terms of making stuff. PCB design only seems trivial once you've done it before; IMHO, most tools and tutorials are at a level way above what most "Arduino hobbyists" will ever need. I've taught myself some basics out of necessity, in order to make the simple boards you see here, and I wish I'd had a resource like this repository a decade ago.

If you'd *like* to learn PCB design, good for you; my simple breakouts might even be a great way to start, by just opening them in whatever software you can find and dragging stuff around to get a feel for what happens. If all you want to do is find an easy way to plug a PS/2 keyboard into your Pro Micro, well, that's what this repository is for.