[sdiy] Building on Pad Per Hole?

[mab at cruzio.com]

> 
> Am Donnerstag, 20.11.03 um 05:36 Uhr schrieb Michael Baxter:
> 
> > 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.
> 
> What is "pad-per-hole board that has no copper"? I thought the pads are 
> made from copper, no?

So, there are two  or three kinds of prototype board board. I may have stated
things a little too far, by calling regular perf board as a pad-per-hole board
by mistake -- apologies there.

Plain vanilla perf board is just FR-4 laminate material with typ. 0.042" holes
drilled every 0.100". I've definitely seen some DIY projects built on this
material. At various times, for example Radio Shack, here in the US, has offered
this kind of prototype board.

Other prototype board companies offer that same kind of board, but as an acutal
PCB, with additional plating through the inside of the holes. It's just a PCB
where the pattern is an array of pads, which are then drilled and then plated.
These make for a nice soldering surface, and I've also seen DIY projects done
with this material.

Another form of this kind of pad-per-hole prototype board was also offered by
Radio Shack, and this was pure copper pads on one or both sides of the board.
These are less effective, because without plating, the copper easily oxidizes,
and with out plating (e.g metalic deposition over copper) the pad can rather
easily be burned off while soldering.

I was just recommending plated pad-per-hole for new DIY enthusiasts, to save
from some of the soldering and reliability hassles with the alternative solutions.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Michael