I used to buy a prototyping board from RS in the 1980s. It was a bit like veroboard: a single-sided pcb with a 0.1" grid of holes, but with individual pads on the copper side instead of strips. (They might have been used for wire-wrapping, but I used to solder to them. The non-copper side was blue.)
I can't seem to find them again. Anyone know what they might be called and where I can buy them?
Some in the shed somewhere, might dig out an RS part number.
But, looking here, small bits are cheap (but not blue)
10pcs Universal DIY PCB Prototype Paper Matrix Circuit Board Stripboard 50x70mmKey word is Matrix?
BartC laid this down on his screen :
Ah, having been to the shed...
Square Pad Board.
Thanks. Those are very similar to what I used.
There's hundreds of different types. Have a poke through:
Theo
Never really saw the point of them over Vero. I suppose you could pack things in more densely - but not usually a priority for prototypes.
You can use things that aren't DIL - PGAs, PLCCs, connectors etc. You also aren't governed by the strip layout. It's better for high speed stuff.
These days I sometimes use similar but it's all surface mount - strips would be hopeless for that. Haven't used a DIL chip for years.
Theo
I did use to have quite dense layouts (over 100 ICs on one board for example). But I liked the 100% flexibility of placement without worrying about conforming to the strip layout, or having to cut loads of copper strips to avoid shorts. Also my wiring was on the underside (where it was easy to solder several thin wires to the same pad) rather than on the component side where you might need a hole for each wire.
Yes there was also something similar with no holes called rather disgustingly blob board as I recall, you either drilled holes where you wanted them or simply built it on the foil side. I never did figure out how they bonded the copper to the glass fibre so well. Brian
The 'genuine' ones from Vero were (and are) pretty pricey, but IMO it it vital to go for a fibreglass-based board; the SRBP ones cause more trouble than they are worth.
Years ago I had a stock of blue, but not Vero, such boards. I think they came from Rapid Electronics in their earlier days.
The closest I can find in their current cataloge, and better than half the price than the Vero ones, are these:
HTH Jon N
I'm not quite clear how there is a difference if the hole spacing is the same as Vero?
I keep clear of SM stuff. Not needed for the things I make.
I'm assuming by Vero you mean stripboard (Vero made a wide range of different boards). Stripboard assumes that you can use a spare hole to cut tracks, such as under a DIL IC. Many chip (sockets) and connectors assume several rows of adjacent pins (eg ribbon cables with 2 rows of N pins) - where there's no spare hole to cut the tracks. It's fiddly to cut between two holes and keep both holes usable (and not shorted).
Plus, you don't have to layout your circuit to suit the strips. That means many fewer jumper wires. And you don't have the stray capacitance provided by the strips.
It's also nicer to use proper fibreglass FR4 board and not the paper-based FR2 that stripboard usually comes on.
If your eyesight can cope with it, it's possible to make things a lot smaller and neater...
Theo
Quite easy - I use a diamond burr in my Dremel type thingie. But it's not something often needed.
And lots of extra wires where you do need a strip. Like PS rails and grounds.
Never had a problem with decent Vero. I do use fibreglass for the proper PCB, though.
Think you must mainly be dealing with computer bits and pieces. SM is simply far too difficult for one off use. It's designed for machine assembly.
8<
Stanley knife, press fairly hard. With perforated FR2 you also should rest the board underside on something to do it, like a nail in a vice.
I find the strips useful for low density simple ccts, and just totally unwa nted for bigger & denser stuff. I'd loathe trying to build something big on stripboard, imho the stuff gets overused. With copper pads only you can ro ute wire-tracks where you want, to some extent on both sides, and overlap t hem.
The old paperboard is much criticised, but I cant say I've found it a probl em, at least until it comes to desoldering. So many times I see FR4 & simil ar used when its not necessary. If its a simple single sided board with no hf or high impedance stuff, and no damp environment, paper's usually ok. FR
3's an intermediate option with many uses too (paper pulp with epoxy).Through hole is a lot easier though for 1 offs. ICs especially.
NT
Doesn't work. The strip through pin 14 (Vcc) of a 14-pin chip for example, would also connect with pin 1 of the same chip, and all the pin 1s in the row! (Although you can of course just reserve a couple of strips in-between rows for supply rails, and have a short link to the supply pins of each IC.)
On the square-pad boards, the first job (after soldering the IC sockets and decoupling capacitors) was to wire up the supply pins with thicker wires and ensure they are tidily out of the way. After that the rest of the wiring is straightforward. I suppose you can emulate a strip by soldering tinned wire along a row of pads, but I never tried that.
I commonly use the strip board with the strips broken every 3 holes for DIL work. Here's a recent one:
I prefer to lay the circuit out more like the schematic - you don't have to do mental somersaults to fit the strips. No problem to add a few wires as power supply rails, and component leads generally do the rest.
Computer or RF, where layout does matter and SMD components are much better than through-hole ones. SMD's really not a problem for hand assembly of prototypes, it's just a different way of thinking. Tools like solder paste and hot air help as well, but I mostly use a normal, fat, iron. Of course, a PCB makes things easier (eg for SSOPs, QFPs or the simplest of BGAs), though the sort of protoboard being discussed can have breakout patterns of these things already integrated.
Theo
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