Make Electronics

Getting Somewhat More Serious 101

Shopping List: Experiments 12 Through 15

from Lowe’s, Home Depot, Ace Hardware, and similar stores. You’ll decide

how much to buy after you measure the distances between the magnetic

sensor switches that you decide to install.

Heat-shrink tube
For use in conjunction with your heat gun, described previously. You’ll
need a range of sizes in any colors of your choice. See Figure 3-21. Check
RadioShack part 278-1627, other electronics suppliers, or your local hard-
ware store. Prices will vary widely. You can buy the cheapest.

Copper alligator clips
These absorb heat when you are soldering delicate components. The
Mueller BU-30C is a full-size solid copper alligator clip for maximum heat
absorption. RadioShack sells smaller clips (part number 270-373, shown
in Figure 3-22) that are suitable for tiny components.

Figure 3-21. Slide heat-shrink tubing over a
bare joint and apply heat from a heat gun
to make a tight insulating seal around the
joint.

Figure 3-22. These small clips absorb

heat to protect components when you’re

soldering them.

Perforated board
When you’re ready to move your circuit from a breadboard to a more per-
manent location, you’ll want to solder it to a piece of perforated board,
often known as “prototyping board” but also called “perfboard.”
You need the type that has copper strips etched onto the back, in ex-
actly the same “breadboard layout” as the conductors hidden inside a
breadboard, so that you can retain the same layout of your components
when you solder them into place. Examples are RadioShack part 276-150
(shown in Figure 3-23) for small projects and part 276-170 (in Figure 3-24)
for larger projects, such as Experiment 15.
For very small projects in which you will connect components using their
wires alone, you need perfboard that isn’t etched with copper strips con-
necting the holes. I like the Twin Industries 7100 range (available from
Mouser.com) or Vectorboard from Newark Electronics, shown in Figure
3-25. You use a saw to cut out as small a piece as you need. Cheaper op-
tions are RadioShack part 276-147 (shown in Figure 3-26), or PC-1 from All
Electronics. These have little copper circles around each hole that are not
necessary for our purposes, but not a problem, either.

Figure 3-23. This perforated board has a

pattern of copper traces similar to the

pattern inside a breadboard, so that you

can lay out the components with minimal

risk of wiring errors, when you’re ready to

create a permanently soldered version of

your project.