[alright2565]

I relate a lot with this. Especially cables--what an absolute nightmare, especially when you need to interface with commercial devices that have standardized on a different cabling standard!

I have learned about Mini-PV connectors, which are compatible with P=2.54mm headers and do not loosen up over time: https://www.mattmillman.com/info/crimpconnectors/dupont-and-...

> When I first saw a commercial install made of random Amazon modules, I thought "They shoulda made a PCB" and I had all these ideas.... but then I realized that when the random Amazon modules breaks, I can swap it in a few minutes, and fix it later if I want.

I can see this, and I've definitely created custom circuit boards for devices that I only need one of & would be straightforward to build with random modules.

But at the same time, for a commercial product or a product where quantities of > 10 exist, making a circuit board makes a lot of sense, introduces a lot of reliability and saves significant cost. It's really not hard anymore to make a PCB, and there's so much opportunity for error & poor connections when assembling things from Amazon crap.

[eternityforest]

Once you get to 10, or even 1 if it's a handheld (a pocket is a very rough environment) a PCB makes sense.

PCBs easy to make, and probably worth it a lot of the time, but there's also some pretty nice module options. Seems like going straight for PLCs is pretty common these days.

Mini-PV looks really nice! I'll have to check that out!

For dealing with commercial stuff on random cable standards, a lot of the time I'll get a pigtail and use Wago lever nuts to connect it to a longer cable, so it's easy to swap out stuff and make up whatever cable I need at the moment.

I've ever wagoed an 0.1" pigtail before, it works fine as long you keep the big heavy thing you're wagoing it to from pulling too hard.

Some people seem to like bananas for quick connections in the lab... but they are so easy to get wrong. A cheap banana plug last I checked was kind of bad.