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Wires pull it all together ......................................................................

When you place components in a breadboard, you don’t get much action until

you connect those components with wire. Wire used in electronics is copper

56 Part I: Project Prep

Printed circuit boards

If you create a circuit on a breadboard and

decide that it’s worthy of immortality, you can

make it permanent by soldering components in

place on a printed circuit board. To do this, you

have to get your hands on a universal printed

circuit board. This is much like a breadboard

except that you can solder all the connections

you’ve made to keep them around.

A universal printed circuit board has rows of

individual holes throughout the board with

copper pads around each hole and metal lines

connecting the holes in each row, like in a

breadboard. You mount parts on the face of the

board and then pass leads through holes to the

components. You can solder the leads to the

copper pads on the bottom of the board.

Universal printed circuit boards are available

in a variety of patterns of contact holes and

metal lines. The figure here shows one we like

because there are rows on either side that

accommodate discrete components handily.

This circuit board is made by One Pass, Inc.

(www.onepassinc.com).

You can get custom printed circuit boards made

for your circuit; this is typically done by submit-

ting a drawing of your circuit to a printed circuit

board company. These boards eliminate the need

to solder jumper wires between components.