[sdiy] breadboard

[harry]

Hooboy that would be a long one...

The board is available from Mouser and other sources.   The large sizes
are made of  CEM-1 Epoxy Glass Composite... you get more sq. inches
but the board is easier to break (and cut....) The FR-4 material is the same
stuff normal etched PC boards are made from.

You can cut to size (hopefully before you start... its easier) by scoring along
the predrilled holes with a knife and breaking it over the edge of a table or
so (like you would cut glass)

The pins (see a catalog picture) are pushed into the holes in the board with
a tool (about $10 or so... but you can make your own pretty easy). The
pin has a slot in the top that accepts a resistor lead, etc. The part that sticks
out the bottom has a tiny hole that you can stick a wire through... or just
wrap around the pin and solder.

You use one pin per component lead (best) so any component can be removed.
you CAN fit more than one lead in... if you need to tack in a cap across a
resistor (for instance) that is easy to do as an afterthought.

I use some 22ga wire... and strip the insulation and use individual strands
(thats 28ga each). these fit through the holes easily. I use teflon insulation
as insulation (like 24ga tubing to fit over the 28ga wire...). Solder one end
of a wire...and leave long. Cut the insulation to length, slip over the wire...
solder. If you are daisy-chaining several connections... then keep running
the same wire... adding insulation as you go. The teflon is expensive... but a roll
will last for years of use. AND teflon will NOT MELT at soldering temperature...
so there is no chance of getting shorts that way !!!

If you plan ahead (on paper) you can make most of the connections with no
insulation at all. I just use it if the wire will cross another.

The technique of "how to" lay out the components is something that you need
to learn. I learned as a child when my father set me up with some parts to
solder (so I would shut the fvck up and leave him alone....) I said "Hey Dad
how does this look ???" He said "That looks like shit... kid..... If your gonna do
this
then learn to do it right.  See this transistor... it has three connections... one
resistor
up... one down... one to the input.  So lay the parts side by side... like logs...
so you can use ONE WIRE to make all the connections at once...."  The idea is this
keeps
the connections short... and this is really the basis for printed circuit layout as
well.
That lesson probably will be worth at least a half-million dollars over a career...
so
the criticism was WELL worth it !!!

P.S.   Use IC sockets.

H^) harry

alex dickey wrote:

> > I use unclad perf board (vector board) with T-42 push in terminals... and
> > when I'm done (unless it gets too big...) it can go right from the development
> > bench into a box to be used on the road for the next twenty years... which
> > the solderless breadboard cannot do.
> >
> > OTOH those terminals cost $.04 each... in thousands. But they allow as much
> > re-soldering as you can stand... perfect for trying out new values.
> > If you leave the leads a little long you can reuse components just as easily.
> >
>
> can you say more about this?  not sure i understand the concept.  links?
>
> alex
> --
> http://www.geocities.com/aurelialuz