SteveD0 good point! I honestly don’t use the clip that much since I’m doing lots of in circuit design. Last time I used it though it should fit even with headers. (I know it was tight though)
Thanks for the feedback!
Board re-design
I’ll provide some pictures tomorrow. If I use regular headers there is not quite enough room for the retaining clip board unless I cut or drill it back a bit. If I use stacking headers there will not be enough room for the tag-connect itself unless there is some bending or sanding.
One solution that could work is using one of the Adafruit prototyping feather board wings and just not stack.
- Edited
@SteveD0 You’re totally right here. One thing you can do is use just one of the posts. I seemed to have misplaced the one that fits but I use a larger one to accomplish the same thing.
You can see I used one of the posts instead of all 3. Still holds it in ok IMO.
Also it may just make sense to nix the tag connect and use the standard 10-pin connector.
I can successfully use the one post. Thanks. If I use the stacking headers I want to understand the 10-pin connector suggestion you mentioned above. Does this mean I could connect dupont cables from the headers on my nRF5340 to directly to the headers on the nRF9160? If this is the case why 10 pins when only 6 are used? Or am I missing something.? And, if I used the 10 pin Debug out on the nRF5340 where do I find a cable that is a j-tag 2×5 female cable to dupont cables? I searched Segger, J-Tag Connect and around the web but couldn’t find one. There are some adapters available, but then I still would need the cables to connect to the adapter. How would you approach this or what are you using?
SteveD0 If this is the case why 10 pins when only 6 are used? Or am I missing something.?
Functionally only 4 pins are being used. So the extra 6 on the JTAG connector are not being used at all! It’s standard this way because other chips do require more control pins, etc.
SteveD0 that is a j-tag 2×5 female cable to dupont cables
Why would you need a female one? I don’t believe those exist.
SteveD0 There are some adapters available, but then I still would need the cables to connect to the adapter. How would you approach this or what are you using?
I’m not sure what you mean. Currently I’m connecting the tag connect from my programming board of choice directly to the programming pins on the board. Can you clarify?
I’m definitely not understanding something. I’m currently connecting the tag connect from my programming board directly to the programming pins on the board as well and if I want to add stacking headers the 6 pin (3×2) connector is too thick to allow for the stacking headers at the same time unless I file down the thick black plastic just above the 6 pin connector. Since I’m not so keen to do that I was trying to better understand what you meant by “nix the tag connect and use the standard 10-pin connector”. Where on the programming board does the standard 10 pin connector connect and where on my nRF9160 do the 10 pins go?
To the second point, if I only need 4 connection, can I use 4 dupont cables to connect between the 4 header locations on the programming board and 4 stacking header locations on the nRF9160?
SteveD0 “nix the tag connect and use the standard 10-pin connector”.
I’m talking about V2 adjustments for the future. 
SteveD0 To the second point, if I only need 4 connection, can I use 4 dupont cables to connect between the 4 header locations on the programming board and 4 stacking header locations on the nRF9160?
How are you stacking the boards? If you stack the nRF9160 Feather on top then you don’t have to worry about accessing it. Most Adafruit boards come unsoldered so you can add a female header instead of a male. Or, alternatively, use a doubler or tripler.
Got it. Got it. Thanks.
Back to one of my questions earlier, is there an issue stacking (or connecting via a doubler, etc.) two MCUs as the Rx and Tx are connected to the same and not reversed to each other?
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SteveD0 No issue. This can be remapped in the nRF9160.
Perfect. Thank you.
I just noticed they also have quadruplers… https://www.adafruit.com/product/4254 or https://www.adafruit.com/product/4253.
SteveD0 There you go! The more the merrier. Remember as you start using these boards you need to make sure other signals play nicely with each other. I’ve been working with a Particle Xenon + nRF9160 Feather an I had to cut the battery trace between the two. The battery chargers were not happy with each other. 
2 months later
jaredwolff I checked out V2 looks like the tag connector is still there and V3 appears to be tag. Just another $60 tool, still better than the $300 molex crimp tool!
K2AAE Yea exactly. If you’re nice to it, it lasts a good while. Pays for itself for big projects in no time. 
8 days later
Personally I have come to like the TagConnect, yeah its an investment to get one, but I am seeing more and more boards that use the TagConnect. To name a few, Nordic dev baords, Texas Instruments boards, etc. It saves board space and BOM cost on pins/connectors.
I am starting to use TagConnect on boards at work, see how the other people at work react to it, I really didn’t ask before I had the boards made. Not leaving my personal cable at the office to disappear, they will have to get some for the office.
If you do buy one, get both a 10 pin and 6 pin version, with all the pins wired straight through (with the larger 0.1″ connectors). You can make adapter boards to route the pins as you need for different uses.
Suggestion, the pin numbers on the silk don’t match the GPIO numbers on the nRF9160, was there a reason for this? I guess does not really matter if you got a schematic to check the pin connections, was this to match the pin numbers on the Adafruit Feather platform?
aldras exactly. The idea being its showing which pins can be use for what purpose. You can use the pins by their names in the DTS but I haven’t had a chance to create an example based on it.