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Schematic to reality conversion

electronoobz

Jan 14, 2012
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where to wire a schematic? I searched the net and i saw many of them but i dont know what to use, breadboard? Pcb? Etc.?
Well i think, breadboard cause it is easy to use than pcb. Coz i think pcb is complicated, and i dont know where to wire the ground zero in pcb. Well my questions for you guys are:
how to do the ground zero in schematics.
Where to wire it.
Is there an alternative for it? Like plywood or cardboard?
 

duke37

Jan 9, 2011
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The ground or earth connection does not necessarily have anything to do with ground! It is merely a reference potential that all other parts of the circuit uses. In low voltage circuits it may not be connected to anything, in mains circuits it is normally connected to physical ground for safety.

The mode of construction that you use depends on many things, experience, number to be made, ease of construction, ease of modification.
My first breadboard consisted of three valve (tube) holders nailed to a plank of pine - impossible to modify.

PCBs are quite difficult to make and modification perhaps impossible. These are ideal when you have sorted the circuitry and need to reproduce several.

I have never used the plug -in breadboard but these seem to be ideal for the beginner.

If you wish to use plywood or cardboard as a support, you can make connections by soldering to drawing pins. There may be difficulty if you want high resistance values between pins.

I tend to use the dead bug technique for experimental circuits where the components are laid on their backs and connected together by soldering. If done on a piece of copper clad board or tin plate, there is a close ground connection.

If I want one circuit to be used reliably, I will build it on matrix (Vero) board, I find it difficult to work on both sides of the board and cut the tracks in the correct places. I think there are computer programs to help in this area.

So, you pays your money and take your choice.
 

electronoobz

Jan 14, 2012
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duke37 thanks for so much infos u gave me, as u can see im super new here. By the way, can i just use cardboard or plywood instead of breadboards, pcbs,etc. I think they are all the same to me coz im just building a mini guitar amp.
 

electronoobz

Jan 14, 2012
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Boards!!

if somebody here knows ruby amp, then what kind of board i need to use? Well for those who dont, ruby amp is a mini amp powered by 9v battery.

ok, so again my question is.

can i use any kind of board?
Or can i just use illustration board or plywood?
What are the diff, between to all kinds of board. Ex. Pcb, breadboard, etc.
 

(*steve*)

¡sǝpodᴉʇuɐ ǝɥʇ ɹɐǝɥd
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Jan 21, 2010
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Breadboards have built in conductors (wires) so you don't need to solder anything.

A final construction should be on veroboard or a PCB, or at a pinch, on matrix board.

Also manufactured are boards with the same conductor arrangement as breadboards. This allows you to transfer a bread-boarded circuit to a more permanent form quite easily.

Breadboards are cheap and easy to use. They would be my strongest recommendation for a "super new" person.

Something like this.

I can't find the boards with the same layout, but this is quite close.
 
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(*steve*)

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We still don't know what a ruby amp is. and please don't start multiple threads for what is essentially the same question

edit: OK, I've found it. You could just follow their layout on matrix board (actually, this has pads under the holes, so it's more like this.

I would tend to advise having an input cap on that amplifier.
 
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Laplace

Apr 4, 2010
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My favorite wiring technique is to use perforated Vectorboard with point-to-point soldered wires. See attached photos from a current project. For testing circuit ideas where only a few elements are involved, I tend to use solderless breadboard.
 

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electronoobz

Jan 14, 2012
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wait, are you guys telling me not to use breadboard? Or you are just explaining?

based on what i understand on what steve did reply is that on breadboard you dont need to solder unlike any other.

so if i will use pcb as my board then, i can finish it already unlike breadboard?
 

electronoobz

Jan 14, 2012
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and i almost forgot, still not answering my question. Can i just plywood or cardboard ang i'll just put holes in there and solder things in there? Pls answer.
 

Laplace

Apr 4, 2010
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Solderless breadboard is the easiest to use but it is not a permanent solution. PCB is only for the professional or advanced hobbyist. I expect most people use solder on perf board. If you want to manufacture your own perf board from plywood or cardboard, I don't see any reason that it couldn't work.
 

(*steve*)

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Breadboard is great for experimenting, or for making a prototype.

In this case it sounds like you want a permanent solution *AND* the web site shows an example. There is no reason to risk making a mistake (especially as a beginner) by trying to reinvent the wheel.

You have received multiple different sounding suggestions because you failed to give all the information we needed at the beginning. As we discover more relevant facts the solution changes.

Sure you *can* do it differently, but you're just making more demands on your (admitted) low level of experience.
 

electronoobz

Jan 14, 2012
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oh, that's nice. So by drilling holes and by soldering whatever elements in there would work? By making my own perfboard i could make many mini projects.
 

alfa88

Dec 1, 2010
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Mr. Noobz,
Hopefully you have a Radioshack nearby or better yet a real electronics store. Ask for a perf board. They are phenolic with 0.1"X 0.1" spaced holes and preferably non clad. Well suited for prototyping. I start with wiring the ground bus, then the power buss finishing with the signal connections. There is a grounding protocol but I can't quite recall it right now. I've found that those proto boards are, while reusable, are a bit fussy with lead thickness sometimes. In the olden days they used to use wood boards and tie points but frankly those parts are hard to come by now.
 

davelectronic

Dec 13, 2010
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I never started on bread board or punched vero board, but went on to copper strip board and use euro cards ( nice quality copper strip used for interfacing ) but you will have your ups and downs, eventually you will fall into one of the prototype / permanent methods, i would like to move on to pcb production, but cost and space make it unpractical at the moment. :)
 

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niftynev

Mar 20, 2010
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i used to use veroboard, with the continuous copper tracks with holes at 0.1 inch spacing. but i blew up too many circuits cause i forgot to make a break in a track here or there! it got very frustrating.

so now i use what i think is called protoboard. anyway, instead of long copper strips going down the whole length of the board, it just has a circular solder pad around each hole. i have to run all the 'tracks' between them. there's no chance of forgetting to cut tracks then! - i have to run them or there's no join!
 

electronoobz

Jan 14, 2012
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ok guys, so im about to start the ruby amp project, but before i start can i trim the resistor,caps,etc? Coz they are too long, you know what i mean? Or just stick with it,


another question, what's important is the thing are soldered correctly right? So can i just use a nail to put holes in my pcb? Hehehe.

and one more thing, what kind of wire do i need to use? Do i need to wire resistor to another resistors, caps, etc? Or just the pots to like this, like that.
 

(*steve*)

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What are you building it on?

The answers will be different for different construction techniques.
 

niftynev

Mar 20, 2010
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electonoobz, it's very difficult to understand what you're even asking! have you got anyone there who can proof-read your posts before you send them?

i just wanna help ya mate, but you need to be a bit clearer on what you need to know.

anyway, what sort of board are you going to use to solder the components on?

what do you mean about "trimming the resistor"? do you mean the length of the resistor wires? just cut them to whatever length they need to be. you won't know how long until they're soldered in.

you should send in some photos of what you're doing, as i'm a bit confused.
 

electronoobz

Jan 14, 2012
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sorry for that niftynev,

well im planning to build it inside the pringles can via pcb, to be honest, im not starting yet coz my pcb has no holes that is why im asking if i could use nails to put holes in it? Since if i soldered them correctly it would work somehow isn't? if not then i would use stripboard instead.

is this enough information?
 
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