breadboard tutorial

[nag hammadi]

i just got 3 used breadboards off of ebay...

now what?     

i have no clue how to use these!   

is there a tutorial somwhere?

thanks...

[sfr]

Poke components into the holes.  The holes are connected in strips, much like vero, allowing you to quickly prototype circuits w/o soldering. Think of the strips of holes as your wire or PCB traces. 

Usually you've got sets of 5 or so holes connected in one direction, and a couple of strips (either in the middle or along the sides) connected in the other direction over the length of the board. ( Usually we use these longer strips for power and ground connections.)  Often time they'll be a break, or "missing" set of holes between the shorter sets - besides indicating a break in continuity, these are usually spaced so that an IC fits in them perfectly, and the holes running out each side from this break will then connect to each of the IC pins.

If you aren't sure what connects to what, stick a couple of smaller wires in the hole (use pre-tinned wire or solid core - using stranded wire is a real pain the butt to get into the holes after the first time) and probe with your multimeter to see what connects to what and what is open.  The pattern should become fairly evident pretty quickly.

for making longer connections than your component leads allow, Radio shack sells a little package of various jumper wires, already stripped and bent at the ends for easy insertion, or just use wire you've got kicking around.  (Again, for stranded wire, pre-tin the ends.)

For FX use, a lot of folks like to attach their breadboards to a rig with standard offboard components (power connector, jacks, pots, switches, etc.)  to hold these components (annoying when you're trouble shooting a circuit and realize the problem is the input jacks wire got pulled out of the board when you plugged a cable in)   If you do a lot of protoyping you may find you want to perf up some simple that you find yourself resusing a lot - input buffers, bias networks, etc.

[Alex C]

Good stuff, sfr.  Just wanted to add these links:
http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/breadb.htm
http://www.eleinmec.com/article.asp?10

Pictures really help me understand stuff like this.

Also, here's a post I made a while ago on this topic:

I should add that there are variances among breadboards, so be sure to check information and markings on the one you have (or the one you get), and test with a multimeter. 

For example, in the link I posted above ( http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/breadb.htm ), the power connections are shown like this, with two + rails on one side, and two - rails on the other:



On others I've seen, including mine, the power connections are like this, with a + and - rail on each side:


It's confusing at first, but once you understand how it's all connected under there, it's pretty easy to understand.

-Alex

[nag hammadi]

thanks guys.  it is crystal clear to me now.