Adafruit Proto Doubler PiCowbell for Pico and PicoW

SKU: ADA5906 Brand: Adafruit

The Adafruit Proto Doubler PiCowBell is intended to be treated like a mini solder-less proto plate to simplify programming and sensor connectivity for...

$16.60 AUD, inc GST

$15.09 AUD, exc GST

Available with a lead time
Expect dispatch between May 19 and May 21

Quantity Discounts:

10+ $14.49 (exc GST)
25+ $14.04 (exc GST)

The Adafruit Proto Doubler PiCowBell is intended to be treated like a mini solder-less proto plate to simplify programming and sensor connectivity for your Raspberry Pi Pico board. Reset button? Yes! STEMMA QT / Qwiic connector for fast I2C? Indeed. Battery with recharging and on/off switch? Affirmative. Plug-and-play so no soldering necessary when used with a Pico H or Pico WH? Here you go!

The Doubler is like if Adafruit used a 'Clone Tool' on the Proto Under Plate PiCowbell - you get two slots side-by-side which means you can easily add accessories to your Pico or Pico W without soldering on any stacking headers.

LiPoly Battery Charging Support

The Doubler also gives you Lipoly/LiIon support circuitry so you can take your Pico project on the go. Use any 3.7V/4.2V single-cell Lithium battery with a JST 2-PH connector in the correct polarity. The battery will automagically charge with the Pico is plugged into USB, and switch over seamlessly to battery when USB power is removed.

By default the charge rate is 500mA for use with 500mAh+ sized batteries. You can cut a jumper to reduce the charge rate to 250mA if using 250mAh to 500mAh battery. So you don't have to unplug the battery often, a slide switch is connected to the Pico Enable pin, so you can disable the Pico's 3.3V power supply completely - this is as close as Adafruit can get to 'turning off' the Pico.

Alkaline/NiMH Battery Pack Support

You can also cut a different jumper to disconnect the charger completely from the battery, which means you can use 3xAA or 3xAAA battery packs for alkaline or NiMH battery usage. Of course, you will need an external NiMH charger in that case.

Double Socket Headers

This board has double sockets already soldered on, you can plug in your Pico and 'Bell boards directly in, and get access to a prototyping area underneath as well as a second row of socket pins. The second row means you can connect wires just by poking them into the header, either directly to LEDs or buttons or to jumper to a breadboard. So you don't have to look up or count pins, each socket is nicely labeled. There's also 4 mounting holes for easy attachment to an underplate.

The dual socket headers Adafruit use are 'hollow' - that means you can connect through the back if desired. Specifically, you can use Pico Stacking Headers to plug through to some other device that is expecting Pico pins. Also, in theory, if you soldered pin headers on the 'wrong side' of a Pico, you could plug it up through the bottom.

Adafruit recommend picking up a set of little rubber feet to protect your desk if you're not mounting this board to something else.

Features:

Two 2x20 slim socket headers - plug in your Pico and desired 'Bell and have an extra row of sockets for each pin!
JST PH connector for LiIon/LiPoly or Alkaline/NiMH battery usage - be sure to cut the "disable charge" jumper to use Alkaline/NiMH batteries.
LiPoly/LiIon charging circuitry for any 3.7V/4.2V nominal 1-cell battery. Default rate is 500mA, can be set to 250mA by cutting the charge-rate jumper on bottom. Two indicator LEDs let you know if battery is charging (orange) or complete (green)
Slide switch connected to the Pico Enable pin, which will disable the 3.3V power supply.
Reset button that sticks out the end
JST SH connector for I2C / Stemma QT / Qwiic connection. Or can use it for plain GPIO wiring if you don't have any I2C devices to attach. Provides 3V, GND, IO4 (SDA), and IO5 (SCL)There is an extra set of 4 breakout holes next to the JST SH if you want more I2C connections or want to re-assign the I2C port.
3 hole-connected strips are in the center areas. You can cut the traces between the holes, but they're intended to be treated like a mini-mini breadboard
Nearly-every pad on the Pico has a duplicate hole pad next to it for solder-jumpering
The ground pads have white silkscreen rectangles to easily identify, plus one long ground strip near the reset button
One long strip of connected holes for 3.3V power
Gold-plated pads for easy soldering

We do not have I2C pullups on the board, but your Qwiic/QT breakout board or accessory likely already has them onboard. If using the Philhower Arduino core, the Wire peripheral is already set up to use IO4 and IO5. If using CircuitPython or MicroPython, you'll need to let the code know to look at 4+5 for SDA+SCL pins.

Technical Details

Product Dimensions: 67.3mm x 52.0mm x 5.6mm / 2.6" x 2.0" x 0.2"

Product Comments

Start the conversation

Exact shipping can be calculated on the view cart page (no login required).

Products that weigh more than 0.5 KG may cost more than what's shown (for example, test equipment, machines, >500mL liquids, etc).

We deliver Australia-wide with these options (depends on the final destination - you can get a quote on the view cart page):

$3+ for Stamped Mail (typically 10+ business days, not tracked, only available on selected small items)
$7+ for Standard Post (typically 6+ business days, tracked)
$11+ for Express Post (typically 2+ business days, tracked)
Pickup - Free! Only available to customers who live in the Newcastle region (must order online and only pickup after we email to notify you the order is ready). Orders placed after 2PM may not be ready until the following business day.

Non-metro addresses in WA, NT, SA & TAS can take 2+ days in addition to the above information.

Some batteries (such as LiPo) can't be shipped by Air. During checkout, Express Post and International Methods will not be an option if you have that type of battery in your shopping cart.

International Orders - the following rates are for New Zealand and will vary for other countries:

$12+ for Pack and Track (3+ days, tracked)
$16+ for Express International (2-5 days, tracked)

If you order lots of gear, the postage amount will increase based on the weight of your order.

Our physical address (here's a PDF which includes other key business details):

Unit 18, 132 Garden Grove Parade
Adamstown
NSW, 2289
Australia

Take a look at our customer service page if you have other questions such as "do we do purchase orders" (yes!) or "are prices GST inclusive" (yes they are!). We're here to help - get in touch with us to talk shop.

Have a product question? We're here to help!