From breadboard to....

[Guest Fatal_Byte]

Hey guys,

    I'm in college right now and we usually build all projects and labs on breadboards. I was wondering if some of you more expierienced builders and techs could tell me what might be best to work with next when it comes to building circuts? Like PCB boards, or preforated borads etc.

        Thanx all

[audioguru]

Hi Fatal,
I make circuits on Veroboard which is also called stripboard.
It is perforated and has strips of copper printed wiring running in one direction and all in parallel.
Half of a pcb is already done by the strips and the resistors, capacitors, ICs and transistors bridge the strips where needed. A few wire jumpers complete the board and it is almost as small as a pcb. Parts can be easily unsoldered to be changed if you want.
I cut the strips with a drill bit, sometimes by hand and if there are many strips to be cut then I use a drill press gently.
I use graph-lined-paper to plan the parts layout:

[steven]

:)bread board it, test it, then design it and biuld it , ive been doing that to find a circuit redraw it into an easy to biuld thing then make it onto bread board then make any changes to it and post it and exsperts like audio guru will tell you whats wrong and what needs to be changed then you can make the changers to the circuit you biult on the bread board , then you can work on the printed circuit version , you can do it easy or the  harder version but if you look at my printed circuit board versions  you will see the easy way ,  as for the corect hole spaceings for intergrated circuits  and resistors etc ive found an easy way to that to

[logan_dslasher]

Hi Fatal!

i also use breadboard for designing circuits.. it's easier when you can test the cricuit first and if you see somehting wrong you can easily correct it because it is not yet soldered..

Just a tip: if you're working on a quite complicated schematic and there is not enough space on your breadboard that is why you have to place the wires and everything close with each other, it would be wise to list the coordinates of  the wires you are placing.. i do this so that when i accidentally remove i wire, i can easily know where it should be.. of course you need a lot of patience and time to do this.. but it really pays off especially on those sleepless nights when you are designing a circuit and aat the same time cramming for a fnal exam for your first period in the morning.. Also, when you can ask other people's opinion about your design, you won't have to explain to them everything because they can easily trace it themselves ..  ;D