[sdiy] breadboards

[danial stocks]

>On that note, I've only just recently gotten into using wishboards or
>breadboards for building electronic circuits. These are quite groovy
>in that it is very much like building Lego, just pushing in the
>resistors, caps, trimmers and IC's without having to use a drop of
>solder. In fact, you can even wire up your switches and pots by using
>crimping tools.
>
>They are kind of expensive, these boards though, probably will take
>up a lot more space for construction, but I think their are just as
>many pro's for takin' this route as their are con's.
>
>Most people use these for small prototype circuits and the such, but
>i'm just curious if any one on the list actually have built, say, a
>complete synthesizer just using breadboards. It seems to "hold" the
>parts pretty firmly in place.
>
>Its definetly making building electronics a lot more fun of an
>experience. No pissing around with etching PCB's and chemicals, no
>solder smoke fumes, easy to fix up mistakes, la de la......
>
>I'm curious to how people on the list view complet construction using
>only breadboards and crimping methods.
>

I sometimes use them for big logic wire ups.. I've run 30-40 logix on a 
wishboard before, but I find they are none too portable ie bits can drop off 
in transport, and if you make a complete 'permanent' unit on one then you 
have to get one for each thing you make - and at $50-80 for a biggish one, 
that's a hefty addition to the price of a unit, especially as I pay next to 
nothing for my parts.. not to mention poor size , and unsuitability for high 
frequency use [rf stuff].. so I usually only use them for prototyping...

Strip boards [ the pcb's with long strips of conductor] are something I 
LOATHE.. there is nearly always an invisible hairline short somewhere you've 
had to cut a track which can take ages to find, and all the chopping takes 
longer than to make a proper board IMO.. I avoid them in all but the 
simplest of ccts, and even then will usu make a board if I'm making 
something else @ the time..
Cheers,
Dan
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