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Hey,
I am slowly learning how what the parts are for building electronic gadgets. I happen to be very confused with this:

What is better and why?
1> PCB Board
2> Strip Board
3> Bread Board

I think after what some people have told me, I realize that Bread Board is for quick testing of your gadgets. You don't solder anything to it so there is no risk of a dead circuit. Does Bread Board have any other functions other than testing? Does it require any other components or can I just plug Diodes and LEDs into it and it will run?

Now I am not entirely sure what the other two are all about. By appearance it looks like Strip Board is the same as Bread Board, but I assume you have to solder this one. Can someone give me the full details on what Strip Board is all about?

PCB Board I have no clue about.


In addition of what everything does can someone please tell me what are reasonable prices for them and how much do you get for that reasonable price? Example: 4in x 4in should be no more than $5. Just tell me what amount I should be recieving of each without being ripped off for a price.

I did find this site which contains quite a bit of boards that look rather cheap, but I don't know if there is some kind of catch:
http://www.futurlec.com/ProtoBoards.shtml

People keep telling me I should get Strip Board. Well should a noob such as myself get that? And are the values on that site a good deal for me?

I think I remember someone telling me that if I were to get Bread Board I would need jumpers for it. Can someone please tell me what each board needs to work properly?



So to sum it all up can you guys answer me these questions:
1> What is the difference between the three boards?
2> How much should I be paying for each and for how big a piece?
3> What is best for a noob?
4> What does each board require in order to function?
5> Is there a special way to resize these boards?

Thanks,
The Lone Programmer

It's been a while but from my electronics GCSE (Of which I got an A+ Yay!).

PCB is Printed Circuit board, you use an acid proof ink to draw on the copper side of the board then dunk the thing into an acid tank. The alternative method is to use a UV pen and expose the metal to UV light until it's developed, and again put it in an acid bath. This provides a custom made circuit pattern for your circuit diagram.

Strip board is usually used in the experimetal stage. When you don't want to go through the fuss of etching a board or simply don't have the equipment. What you do is use the lines of copper as conductors as you would with a PCB, I use a scalple to cut the lines when I don't want components to be linked to each other.

Breadboard is usually a white device with holes for you to insert componets into. It uses strips of copper like a strip board or with some models you make links between componants by inserting the end of a wire into the same hole as the component then plug it in wereever you want the current to flow in the circuit. This is used for prototyping circuit designs because nothing is soldered in.



1) Covered.

2) Just go to maplins, their prices are pretty much the industry standard. http://www.maplin.co.uk/?AID=10297371&PID=1413184&SID=ukmaplin3q

3) Please don't use the word noob it's really an insult. But I recommend designing your circuit on breadboard, if you mess up, it's just a matter of swapping cables around.

4) Nothing, it's just something to hold your components. If you wanted you could just solder wire to component's but I don't recommend it.

5) Breadboard is fixed, strip board is cut with a knife, and PCB is usually bought in sheets, cut up with a knife or saw, then developed in acid.

By noob I was referring to myself and not to anyone else. So it shouldn't be offensive to anyone.

Say I wanted to cut up my Strip Board or PCB. Could I just hack away at it or must I cut it in a certain fashion? Like maybe I have to cut down the lines if there are any? Hack-a-Way method is good for me cause I can't cut stuff with a knife or scissors worth crap.

I won't go to Maplins because it is a UK site that is located in the UK. Shipping would be too crazy to ship to someone in the US. Pluss I looked and it looked rather pricey. Maybe I did incorrect conversion between Euro's and USD.

Lines for copper on Strip Board? I don't understand.

Since Bread Board is re-usable I should just get one sheet then right?

I don't have any acid or any of the things you meantioned for PCB so Strip Board is probably what is best for me.

As for applying stuff to it like I said a little higher in this post, I don't know what to do. Example: The Copper Lines.


Thanks For Your Repsonse.

All help is appreciated,
The Lone Programmer

Basically which type of board you use depends on what you want to do with it.

Breadboard - About 2cm thick. Comes in a range of colours and has a matrix of holes all over it. It is split into three sections. The top section all holes that are horizontally next to that hole are joined together underneath. The middle section features holes that are joined vertically. The bottom section is the same as the top.

eg.

--------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------- Top
--------------------------------------------

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Middle
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

--------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------- Bottom
--------------------------------------------

You can then place your components into the holes and they will be joined together according to which way the underlying copper tracks run. Breadboard is only really suitable for prototyping as it is very large and cumbersome compared to a small piece of PCB.

Strip Board - Also known as veroboard this is a piece of plastic with copper tracks arranged in a lattice. From what I understand you solder your components to this board and then break the tracks with a stanley knife or a scalpel. I really wouldnt use stripboard as it doesnt give you the final finish quality of PCB and it isnt hat great for testing either.

PCB - Printed Circuit Board. This is definatly the way to go I feel. It is very easy and can be done quite cheaply. There are two methods you can use. The first is to draw your design onto the PCB with a UV resistant pen (you will need to use Copper Clad UV light sensitive board). The second, and the much better way, is to design your circuit on the computer and have it convert this to PCB artwork. You can then use a laser printer to print this design off. Spray the piece of paper with WD40 so it becomes transpaprent. You can then place this on your board in a lightbox and you will have perfect tracks for you to etch. If done properly your design will look exactly like it did on the computer screen.

You then need to expose this to light and then place it in acid. Although special etching tanks can be used, you can just mix some chemical together and etch your circuit in a plastic container. You can pick the acid up in ready made bottles, or in crystal form. Both are really cheap and easy to use. Most come with instructions too. I know that Maplins also sells a begginers etching kit for about £25 with some chemical, some board, a pen and an etching container.

As for cutting, Breadboard is not designed to be cut, it is sold as is and would really defeat the object for you to cut it. Several breadbards can also be slotted together to make a larger board. As for stripboard and Copper Clad board, you can cut these just as you would normal plastic. For bests results you should use a gullitene if you have access to one. (No not the type the use to cut peoples heads off, the type of gullitene you would find in a workshop).

So to sum up, if you are serious about making little gadgets then you should invest in a begginers etching kit and some PCB copper clad board. This will set you back about £30. There is also plenty of sites on the internet to guide you through this process. If you just want to mess about and arnt concerned with size then breadboard is probably the way to go for some projects, at least until you get started. Personally I'd avoid stripboard as it really doesnt have any huge strengths over breadboard or PCB.

Hope that helped,

Mike

Agreed.

Allthough PCB looks alot better I still use Strip board and Bread boards mostly as they seem to hold up better under higher wattage circuits and are easy to repair. I mostly use Strip Boards.

This is breadboard. It is connected via virtical strips underneith.



for full details goto:

http://www.iguanalabs.com/breadboard.htm

This is Strip board



For detailed instructions goto:

http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/stripbd.htm

This is PCB



for detailed information goto:

http://www.semis.demon.co.uk/PCB/PCB.html

This is too complex for a beginner, stick with stripboard and breadboard until you know what you're doing.

Breadboard you must follow the way the holes lead whether it be vertical, or horizontal.

Do you have to use stripboard the same way? Or can you just attach any part anywhere on the board? By the looks of stripboard it looks just like a board with tons of holes and no hole pattern. Where as breadboard is separated with gaps and stuff.

So I can cut stripboard with scissors correct? I could even make a zigzag pattern if I wanted to and it would still work?

PCB board seems way to hard for me right now. Half the stuff you said about it, I didn't know what you were talking about.

I am going to purchase some strip board and a breadboard.

Only questions I have in this post is:
1> Can components be attached freely to a stripboard?
2> Do I not have to be cautious at all with cutting stripboard?


Thanks,
The Lone Programmer

read the links I provided.

You wont be able to cut strip board with scissors. Youll need a stanley knife or a saw to cut it. And yes you can cut it any way you like, even into a zig zag shape if you like.

Components cant really be attached freely to strip board. You will find they fall out and you have loose eletrical connections. Breadboard is solder free, strip board you need solder.

Ok I looked at the links.

It appears you still need to follow a vertical or horizontal pattern when attaching pieces to the stripboard. Am I correct?

I know nothing about this stuff, but I am trying to learn. I assume by following these patterns one would put the battery on one end of the board, the current would run to the other end of the board, you would model your pieces in the path of the current. Am I correct?

For Example:
Say I had a battery, resistor, stripboard, and led. I would attach the battery to the bottom of the stripboard. I read you can't have battery power run straight to an led because it will burn out the light. They say you need a resistor. So say i put the resistor after the battery. Now lets say I put the led after the resistor on the board. It looks like this:
Battery >> Stripboard >> Resistor >> LED

Do I have the right idea? I mean I don't really know how to interconnect the pieces yet so that way they work together. Can anyone help me out?

My questions are:
1> Do I follow a similar horizontal / vertical pattern as the breadboard?
2> Do I have the right idea about setting up pieces on the board as far as the current goes?


Thanks,
The Lone Programmer

With stripboard you can cut the track with a face cutter or a twist of a drill bit. You can link tracks together with pieces of wire.

I dont know how clear this is but the following is from an old circuit I was making for my home audio system. I try to keep the +V line to the top and the -V to the bottom


Edit: the x's signify cuts to the stripboard