[sdiy] Building on Pad Per Hole?

[Michael Baxter]

Hi Charles,

On Wed, 19 Nov 2003, Charles Brodeur wrote:

> Hello all,
>  This is my first time posting to the list, I've been reading for a few
> months now. I have have decided that I want to build my first synth and
> right now I am in the design phase.

Wish you well on your first DIY synth!

>  However, my electronics skills are not quite up to par. I've built
> simple stuff like a 555 circuit, but nothing more complex. I have seen
> many places online with what look like simple circuits, sometimes with
> a layout, sometimes without.
> 
> This is the oscillator I am going to try to build:
> http://www.uni-bonn.de/~uzs159/vco4069.html
> 
> I choose this one because it provides the layout on pad per hole board.
> I cannot make PCBs, I don't have the facilities. Do you experts think
> this would be a good first module to try (after the power supply)?

I'm sure others can comment on the circuit you found in the URL. I thought
I'd mention some issues about building on pad-per-hole, if you've never
done that before. Maybe useful?

I definitely recommend that you obtain copper clad pad-per-hold board that
has plated-through holes, instead of bare or blank pad-per-hole that has
no copper.  Even copper on one side is better than not having it. The
reason is that with a plate-through hole (where there is plating material
over the copper, and there is actual copper within the hole), you have 
much more surface area with which to solder onto.

For instance, if you stuff resistor or capacitor leads into the holes, 
then solder these leads at the holes, there is much more for solder to 
grip to then the case for mere leads by themselves.

Of course, copper clad boards are slightly more expensive than boards 
without copper, and it is possible to build projects on pad-per-hole perf 
board that is unclad. But, IMHO, it's more tedious work, and risks heating 
the components more than tying them to a solder pad would.

Then, an embellishment beyond pad-per-hole plated holes might be perf 
board material which has some small number of power and ground buses, to 
simplify distribution and bypassing of power supply voltages to your 
circuits elements.

Kindly yours,
Michael