Assembly
The LTE shield comes with complimentary stacking female headers (the ones you see on most Arduino shields) but you have the choice to solder wires directly to the pins without using any headers at all or use different headers. The different options are described in this section.
These are the most common types of headers and they allow you to easily connect Dupont wires your board to breadboards, other boards, etc.
If you are using the LTE board as a shield, that is, as an add-on attachment to an Arduino, please note that you will not be able to use Dupont wires after you place the shield on top of the Arduino using this option because the pins would go into the Arduino. Also make sure you have the pins pointing the right way!
NOTE: If you're using the LTE shield as a "shield", that is, as an add-on attachment to an Arduino, then you won't want to use this option. These are the standard female headers that you see on Arduino boards and many other boards that accommodate the male headers described above. These are useful if you want to quickly connect Dupont wires to the board in cases where you might want to use the LTE board as a standalone module instead of a shield. You can buy this Arduino-compatible female header kit.
Stackable female headers are the same as the standard female headers above except with much longer pins. This enables them to stick out below the board they're mounted on so that another "host" board with standard female headers can attach to the first board from below. This is why most Arduino shields use these pins, and they are included as a loose (not assembled) kit with the LTE shield.
If you're a complete newbie to soldering I would suggest going through Adafruit's Guide to Excellent Soldering.
Some people like to use tape or sticky tack to temporarily hold the headers in place, but personally I like to use this method, and it works for male and female headers of all sorts:
- Insert the header into a set of holes on the board and rest the header in the holes. By no means does it have to be exactly where it should be in the end and it will inevitably be at an angle
- Put just enough solder on one pin of the header so that it doesn't move or fall out on its own
- Hold the board in your hand and gently squeeze the body of the header against the board
- While gently pressing on the header, use your other hand to melt the solder on the pin. The header should now move to where it's supposed to be!
- After ensuring the alignment is correct, fully solder a second pin (doesn't really matter which one)
- Revisit the first pin and add more solder to it if needed. If you're a pro you can do it all in one go and move the the header while the solder is still melted!
- Note: if you try to add solder to the first pin before doing the second pin, the header will fall out! Don't be that guy to make that mistake!
- Another note: if you are using male headers attached to the bottom of the LTE shield for attaching to an Arduino, it would be easiest to simply place the headers into the Arduino first, then put the LTE shield on top and solder all the pins on