BuddytheReow
Breadboard Baker
In part 1, we talked about the basics of stripboard, how they work, and some general tips on designing a layout. For part 2 I thought it would be a good idea to write up a "build along" post for a simple, 1 transistor circuit. For this example I will use the Copper Clad Fuzz. For those of you this is pretty much an Electra distortion and IMO should be one of the first things you try out on a breadboard to get your feet wet with regards to circuit building. Below is the schematic we will be working with. We will be building this circuit stock without any mods. Of course if you find mods you like feel free to branch off and discover your own tone that works.
Before we continue further I want to mention that there will be multiple posts here since there will be a number of pictures/screenshots to walk you through the process. Please hold your comments/questions for a little while today as I do this writeup.
But Buddy, isn't there multiple ways to layout a circuit just like a breadboard?
Great question! Since I love you guys so much I figured I would give you 2 separate layouts for the same circuit so you can see the multiple ways to skin a cat. Heck, you might even learn a thing or 2. For this tutorial I think it's a bit more important to show you my thought process while putting these together. Hence, the many forthcoming pictures.
OK. First things first. Let's get a nice clean board ready to go. Your first step should be what size to make your board. Refer to Part 1 for board sizes dependent on the enclosure you want to put this in. For this circuit I chose a size, almost at random, that would definitely fit in a 125b or 1590b. Our working board will be 15x12. My first step will be determining where I want my power to go. I chose + right in the middle of the board for starters and GND right on the end. Ground points are much more important than you'll realize and you'll definitely need a lot of them in pretty much any given circuit. Jumper wires can provide more ground points and I'll cover that later on.
I'll be switching back and forth between our 2 layouts, so I will refer to them as A and B. Let's start with the power block using D100 and R100, but designing around C100 and C101. See above schematic for ref des. Like a breadboard, I like to throw the filtering caps in the power rails and then forget about them, so I am going to make the power rails rows A and C. The question is how do I get there from the above. In A, I decided to move my + power down a few rows so I can work vertically.
In B I am going to work more horizontally, but end up in the same area. If you can't see the polarity of the diode, it's there but note that there is a cut under the diode. Using a cut is a great technique to work horizontally.
Then just add the filtering caps into our newly created power rails.
Once we have our power section done here, it's good practice for me to get the CLR and a LED hookup point. In A I worked vertically and B horizontally with an added jumper wire. For A, I wasn't concerned about the "official" power rails, but did mind the polarity protection. In B, we have also now created a separate 9v rail with polarity protection.
Now that power and LED is up and running let's focus on the input section of this circuit. Most circuits have a pulldown resistor and coupling capacitor before going into the first stages. We'll get to the later in a moment. Looking ahead at the schematic, we see a lot of ground points being used, but we've taken up nearly half the space already before even powering our transistor. To solve this problem, a simple jumper wire is added.
For the input I chose to go in between the power hookups since there is a gap in between them. Keep in mind that you want to make this as compact as possible early on because it can spread out really fast in terms of unused holes. From the input, we tack on R1 and C4 going to ground.
If I remember correctly, I think the maximum number of pics per post is about 10, so I will continue on separately. Stay tuned...
Before we continue further I want to mention that there will be multiple posts here since there will be a number of pictures/screenshots to walk you through the process. Please hold your comments/questions for a little while today as I do this writeup.
But Buddy, isn't there multiple ways to layout a circuit just like a breadboard?
Great question! Since I love you guys so much I figured I would give you 2 separate layouts for the same circuit so you can see the multiple ways to skin a cat. Heck, you might even learn a thing or 2. For this tutorial I think it's a bit more important to show you my thought process while putting these together. Hence, the many forthcoming pictures.
OK. First things first. Let's get a nice clean board ready to go. Your first step should be what size to make your board. Refer to Part 1 for board sizes dependent on the enclosure you want to put this in. For this circuit I chose a size, almost at random, that would definitely fit in a 125b or 1590b. Our working board will be 15x12. My first step will be determining where I want my power to go. I chose + right in the middle of the board for starters and GND right on the end. Ground points are much more important than you'll realize and you'll definitely need a lot of them in pretty much any given circuit. Jumper wires can provide more ground points and I'll cover that later on.
I'll be switching back and forth between our 2 layouts, so I will refer to them as A and B. Let's start with the power block using D100 and R100, but designing around C100 and C101. See above schematic for ref des. Like a breadboard, I like to throw the filtering caps in the power rails and then forget about them, so I am going to make the power rails rows A and C. The question is how do I get there from the above. In A, I decided to move my + power down a few rows so I can work vertically.
In B I am going to work more horizontally, but end up in the same area. If you can't see the polarity of the diode, it's there but note that there is a cut under the diode. Using a cut is a great technique to work horizontally.
Then just add the filtering caps into our newly created power rails.
Once we have our power section done here, it's good practice for me to get the CLR and a LED hookup point. In A I worked vertically and B horizontally with an added jumper wire. For A, I wasn't concerned about the "official" power rails, but did mind the polarity protection. In B, we have also now created a separate 9v rail with polarity protection.
Now that power and LED is up and running let's focus on the input section of this circuit. Most circuits have a pulldown resistor and coupling capacitor before going into the first stages. We'll get to the later in a moment. Looking ahead at the schematic, we see a lot of ground points being used, but we've taken up nearly half the space already before even powering our transistor. To solve this problem, a simple jumper wire is added.
For the input I chose to go in between the power hookups since there is a gap in between them. Keep in mind that you want to make this as compact as possible early on because it can spread out really fast in terms of unused holes. From the input, we tack on R1 and C4 going to ground.
If I remember correctly, I think the maximum number of pics per post is about 10, so I will continue on separately. Stay tuned...
Now I see exactly what you mean. This is a really helpful clarification for the future, thank you!!
