Making the "Ultimate" Prototyping Breadboard - A BtR Creation

[BuddytheReow]

With the mkIII under way I thought it would be a good idea to share what's going on for those that have been following.

The protoboard has a wonderful feature of "plug and play" for various voltages that I will blatantly copy, but with a few added tweaks. First, the charge pump goes up to ~26V instead of capping at 18V. THe other feature is a SAG control for stepping down the input voltage to 1.7V-8.3V. An excellent control for all your fuzz needs.

Schematic and vero layout included. THis has been verified this afternoon by Buddy. The fuse is a resettable fuse that's already included in the protoboard and a good safety feature in case too much current goes through. Charge pump is a TC1044SCPA (i bought extra when making my protoboard many moons ago). You can use a 2n3904 like I did or any other common BJT. Mind the pinout of course.

 

[Danbieranowski]

For some reason, I really enjoy going through iterations while getting my own work stuff setup. It sucks that it never feels complete, but it's nice to learn and adapt and continue to grow in a tangible way.

 

[BuddytheReow]

I need a signal tester on here. Not a guitar pickup simulator, but just some audio that I can quickly inject into the circuit to test to see if it's working or to help with troubleshooting. Breadboarding a few schematics out there I settled on using a 40106 schmitt trigger and a BC547. One output is square waves and the other triangle. I don't have an oscilloscope so I cannot verify the true shape, but they sound different enough to me to allow it. I just finished the schematic and vero layout. Now I need to fire up the iron to try it out. This circuit will always be on (or maybe I can choose to have an additional pole turn in on), but the output switch is a ON-OFF-ON. I'll circle back with my findings.

Edit: This layout is verified

 

[BuddytheReow]

Gosh, I’ve spent nearly all day (ok probably about a solid 6 hours) on this and it’s nearly done. The main power supplies, signal injector, multi voltage module, and probe are all hooked up. Tomorrow if I have time (probably will) I’ll put together the battery circuits. A 9v battery, mounted externally, will power the volt meter and also a low battery indicator circuit. I have a vero layout ready to go and will finish that tomorrow. This is starting to come together nicely and I’m happier with this version. All hooked up components have been tested.

 

[BuddytheReow]

Here's the low battery indicator. There's an extra hook up for 9V to power up whatever your needs are in the top row. There are also plenty of ground connections. Will try this out tomorrow.

 

[BuddytheReow]

Another afternoon working on this. This is about 95% complete with the exception of painting the enclosure. The stubbornness in me REALLY wants a volt meter on here, so I tried hooking it up with a battery and the low battery indicator. The indicator works nicely (set it to around 7V), but the volt meter does not read voltage. I had to scratch my head for a few minutes and then it hit me. The meter needs the same power to test voltage (common ground). The battery work work in this application, so tomorrow I’ll hook it up to the bench supply only.

Why a volt meter? @fig was gracious enough to send me a few in a recent care package and thought they were pretty cool. Chuck asked why don’t I just use a DMM like everybody else? I don’t want to be like everyone else, lol! The volt meter would be for just troubleshooting and not playing through the circuit.

I’m getting excited. I’ve spent nearly a month on this and it will probably be done tomorrow with maybe a half hours time if I’m lucky. Just in time for a New Years build report? We’ll see…

 

[BuddytheReow]

It turned out to be closer to an hour and a half. Trying to solder two wires together when you’re a little cranked on coffee takes longer than you think. In any event, she’s done! This took about a month from a simple shower thought to designing, then redesigning, then redesigning yet again. A more in depth build report is coming for all you circuit nerds out there. Once finished I whipped up a Bazz Fuss real quick as a test drive. The inaugural circuit? A TS variant - an EQD Plumes

Happy New Year, y’all

BuddytheReow