Protoboard Power Question

apc42069

Well-known member
Forgive my naivety - again, I'm a life sciences guy evolving from a pedal-by-numbers place to a hmmm-how-does-this-all-actually-work-and-can-I-learn-to-color-outside-the-lines place.. So thanks in advance for taking a min to read this.

Was going to DM the chef de cuisine, a one @BuddytheReow , but don't want to take time away from his incredibly helpful tutorials (if you're breadboard curious, I urge you to take the plunge & head over to The Test Kitchen)!

I keep getting really confused when translating power schematics to three dimensions. I'm using the Protoboard, and wondering what all the business (e.g. 0.1u cap, the shottkeys, etc) between DC jack and power supply headers is doing.

Do I pretend it's not there on the board, and lay out the power section of the schematic as written? Feels redundant since power is passing through many of those components already? Properly setting up VCC and VREF is my Sisyphean boulder.. any and all help is appreciated as always!
 
First, you can always DM me. Whether or not I'll respond is a different question :p. jk

Are you asking about why the protoboard has all the caps and diodes on there? If so, then those components along with the charge pump and fuse provide filtering and protection from polarity and current as well as provide different working voltages to choose from for whatever project you want to make. That being said, most schematics out there have some sort of filtering and polarity protection out there so this would be redundant to build on the protoboard. The protoboard already has 9v, -9v, 18v, 5v, 4.5v (Vref in most cases), and 3 volts that have already been "cleaned". I mean, it won't hurt you to build an extra power section for good breadboarding practice.
 
First, you can always DM me. Whether or not I'll respond is a different question :p. jk

Are you asking about why the protoboard has all the caps and diodes on there? If so, then those components along with the charge pump and fuse provide filtering and protection from polarity and current as well as provide different working voltages to choose from for whatever project you want to make. That being said, most schematics out there have some sort of filtering and polarity protection out there so this would be redundant to build on the protoboard. The protoboard already has 9v, -9v, 18v, 5v, 4.5v (Vref in most cases), and 3 volts that have already been "cleaned". I mean, it won't hurt you to build an extra power section for good breadboarding practice.
thank you jefe!

that was more/less my question. Which of course poses another question..

is there a sneaky way of knowing the VREF just by reading the schematic? Is it always half the VCC?
 
In many cases it is half the VCC voltage. You can look on the schematic and see if there's a voltage divider going right before it with equal value resistors. If so, then yes.

Jefe. That's funny. There are tons more people on this forum that can run laps around my circuit knowledge and building skills. I just contributed what I could. It also helps me solidify the learning process by being able to regurgitate the knowledge back. Nevertheless, I appreciate the compliment.
 
For the record, I've made it good practice on my tutorials to build the power section. The protoboard is great, but not everyone has one. Can you get away without filtering/polarity protection? Sure, but you may get unwanted noise in your effect and you should be extremely careful making sure you have the correct power supply plugged in.
 
Is Ohms law not taught anymore? Genuinely asking. It was a major part of my early (basic) electronics knowledge. I highly encourage everyone to learn it. Do some figures, calculate current, voltage drops,etc. Then get an app that does it for you..:cool:
 
First, you can always DM me. Whether or not I'll respond is a different question :p. jk

Are you asking about why the protoboard has all the caps and diodes on there? If so, then those components along with the charge pump and fuse provide filtering and protection from polarity and current as well as provide different working voltages to choose from for whatever project you want to make. That being said, most schematics out there have some sort of filtering and polarity protection out there so this would be redundant to build on the protoboard. The protoboard already has 9v, -9v, 18v, 5v, 4.5v (Vref in most cases), and 3 volts that have already been "cleaned". I mean, it won't hurt you to build an extra power section for good breadboarding practice.
Just extra careful question/clarification: 5v and 3v only if you’ve soldered the LDO voltage regulators in place. I couldn’t find the 5v when I built mine, so I don’t have the 5v option. Don’t know if anyone else is similarly afflicted.

there are good apps avail to figure voltages for those times where you have a 18k/10k or something voltage divider. Lol
 
Just extra careful question/clarification: 5v and 3v only if you’ve soldered the LDO voltage regulators in place. I couldn’t find the 5v when I built mine, so I don’t have the 5v option. Don’t know if anyone else is similarly afflicted.

there are good apps avail to figure voltages for those times where you have a 18k/10k or something voltage divider. Lol
Yes, don't try using those pins yet. I *was* identically afflicted actually! I think the last of my (many) backorders arrived today matter of fact. send me a DM, and we'll figure out how to get a few your way.
 
Is Ohms law not taught anymore? Genuinely asking. It was a major part of my early (basic) electronics knowledge. I highly encourage everyone to learn it. Do some figures, calculate current, voltage drops,etc. Then get an app that does it for you..:cool:

no clue, but I'm excited to research it. again, I'm a life sciences guy...and even still, I had to fulfill my degree's organic chem requisite at the community college (because that summer course eschewed formulae!)

conceptually, every new problem I encounter makes perfect sense...but learning how the numbers explain the sound is far and away my biggest hurdle with respect to figuring this stuff out.
 
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